New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

[Lindeman23]

Two weeks ago I installed a second battery. It is an Interstate (1000 cranking amp same as the first) battery with a switch. . Last week I took it out and the boat ran great. Last Friday I had a Sub, AMP, Radio, and 4 speakers installed. So today I put it in the water and I'm cruising about 30mph and the boat starts to cut in/out. I smell something burning like a rubber smell. I immediately stop the boat and pull the cover off the motor. I don't see any smoke or smell anything. No sure exactly what it was. I thought that maybe the lanyard wasn't all the way on so i fix that and continue on my way. The motor continued to cut in/out. I switch the batter from 1 to 2 to ALL and vise verse and nothing seems to make it quit. We finally make out way to our favorite spot on the river and drop anchor. We spend all day listening to the radio starting it every hour or so to charge the battery without any problem. We head about 20 min down river to a restaurant for dinner and don't have a single issue. We have dinner come out and the boat wont start. I flip the switch from 1 to 2 and it starts right up. Drive about 30 min back to the ramp with no issues and the radio on. I looked at my alternator and it looks as if I have a 65AMP alternator. Now that seems kind of small as my truck has a 130 AMP alternator. Today I took off the alternator and had it tested at Autozone and they said it failed immediately. Can I upgrade my alternator to a 105 AMP without having to rewire the power wire or should I just stick with a 65 AMP alternator. Is the 65 AMP sufficient and mine was just old? Any suggestions?

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

With a high amp stereo a bigger alt is the way to go, but I am not sure on the alt wiring changes if any.

 

[Star]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

I think you have many problems. #1 you have wiring connection or circiut problems. You don't do much good starting a motor to charge your motor because it takes time to really put power back into the battery and the curent you take out to start almost equals the amount you put back in 15 or 20 minutes. A 65 amp unit is light, and 130 is better but it must be a marine altenator so you don't blow yourself up. Your battery should be a Deep cycle to give you more capacity.

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

I think you have many problems. #1 you have wiring connection or circiut problems. You don't do much good starting a motor to charge your motor because it takes time to really put power back into the battery and the curent you take out to start almost equals the amount you put back in 15 or 20 minutes. A 65 amp unit is light, and 130 is better but it must be a marine alternator so you don't blow yourself up. Your battery should be a Deep cycle to give you more capacity.

Definitely plan on going with a Marine Alternator. That is good to know about starting it, I didn't know that it took that long to charge the battery. My problem is finding an alternator that fits my boat that is of the larger amperage. Currently the only one I have found that is larger is a 105 AMP but I'm wont be able to talk to the company until Monday to see if it fits. I just cannot imagine a 65 AMP alternator isn't enough. My sub/AMP/speakers aren't drawing that much power.

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

Just looked at the specs on my AMP. It pulls 58 AMP at max power, leaving me 7 AMP to charge/power the boat. I think I'm going to need a bigger alternator.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

And thats only if your running at WOT.

 

[mark1905]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

DB Electrical sells a decent 105A marine alternator for under $100. Upgrade the main charging and ground wire to 6AWG marine cable to get the max current out of it. My 200A marine alternator came from an EBay seller called PowerMax USA and is an incredible unit. I run 6 amplifiers with a total of almost 4000w RMS and it holds the line without even blinking.

And thats only if your running at WOT.

What are implying here? That at WOT you're putting out more power than you are at 2000 RPM? I hope not.. you would be sorely mistaken..

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

Thanks, I'm going to try and give them a call today and see if they can help.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

Sounds to me like your battery failed. Have you load tested the battery after fully charging it? Is it a deep cycle battery?

What is the alternator voltage output when on battery 1 vs battery 2?

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

Both batteries are new. They aren't deep cycle batteries as I was wrongly told when I bought them that these were ok. Didn't find out till afterwards they weren't the right ones. I had the alternator tested on Sunday and it failed. The alternator was a 65 AMP. Talked to a local place today that had a 105 AMP ALT that I can put on. Now I'm just wondering do I really need to upgrade the wire from the ALT to the starter? It looks pretty think/original. Maybe better be safe than sorry.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

What are implying here? That at WOT you're putting out more power than you are at 2000 RPM? I hope not.. you would be sorely mistaken..

really. While it will have a large out put at 2000 plus RPM it dosnt have max out put till its at max RPM

http://www.digest.net/ihc/archive/v6/msg06644.html

 

[bruceb58]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

You can pretty much forget about drawing down a non deep cycle battery very far and expecting it to charge back up more than a handful of times. You still need to check to see if that battery failed and if it was the cause of your alternator's failure.

 

[mark1905]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

really. While it will have a large out put at 2000 plus RPM it dosnt have max out put till its at max RPM

http://www.digest.net/ihc/archive/v6/msg06644.html

I stand corrected and you right! I did a good amount of research as well..

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

Just picked up my new alternator. It is stated to be a 90 AMP(2 wire pos/neg). The old alternator was a 65 amp (3 wires). I was told to upgrade the wire going to the started since it will be pushing more amps. As I look at it today I followed the wire into what looks like a fuse box mounted on the exhaust manifold. The wire then goes down to the starter. My question is will the increase amperage mess up anything in the fuse box since it will have more AMPS? My boat is EFI and I'm sure there is a computer somewhere and I don't want to fry it. Second the new alternator is only a 2 wire and I was told to discard/tap up the second as it is no longer needed. Is this correct? I just dont want to give myself more problems. THANKS

 

[mark1905]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

I've never heard of a 2-wire marine alternator.. only a 1-wire and a 3-wire. Not saying that there isn't one, just that I've never heard of one. Which wire did they tell you to tape up? Which/what color wires do you have coming out of that thing?

Honestly, moving from a 65A to a 90A isn't a huge jump in terms of your existing wiring. If you'd like to upgrade it, go for it. As far as the existing mystery box, you'll need to investigate it and see what it is before making a decision.. obviously.

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

I've never heard of a 2-wire marine alternator.. only a 1-wire and a 3-wire. Not saying that there isn't one, just that I've never heard of one. Which wire did they tell you to tape up? Which/what color wires do you have coming out of that thing?

Honestly, moving from a 65A to a 90A isn't a huge jump in terms of your existing wiring. If you'd like to upgrade it, go for it. As far as the existing mystery box, you'll need to investigate it and see what it is before making a decision.. obviously.

They told me to tape up the excitor wire?? Leaving the Pos/Neg wires. The new alternator has 2 studs for the positive/negative.

I found a place today that does a lot of alternator upgrades on boats and has highly recommended so i'm just going to take it to them and see what they say.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

They told me to tape up the excitor wire?? Leaving the Pos/Neg wires. The new alternator has 2 studs for the positive/negative.

What he told you is correct. If you had the carb'd model of Volvo, you couldn't use that alternator.

You are correct that the wire goes to a circuit breaker box. If you want to increase the wire size, you actually have to change the wire going to the box from the alternator and the wire from the box to the starter stud.

 

[Lindeman23]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

What he told you is correct. If you had the carb'd model of Volvo, you couldn't use that alternator.

You are correct that the wire goes to a circuit breaker box. If you want to increase the wire size, you actually have to change the wire going to the box from the alternator and the wire from the box to the starter stud.

I just hope the guy that I took it to can take care of my issue. If not I'm just going to stick with the stock alternator and be done with it.

Thanks for everyone imput, Ill let you know how it all turns out!

 

[mark1905]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

What he told you is correct. If you had the carb'd model of Volvo, you couldn't use that alternator .

Why?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: New batteries + switch, radio, sub, amp now charging issues.

The L2 output off the original alternator is what powers the fuel pump. L2 is only going to output while the alternator is charging so that the fuel pump doesn't run with the engine off. The EFI engines use a different method.

This is of course if the new alternator doesn't have an L2 output.