Regular Marine starting battery on a jet ski?

[eavega]

Hello all

So, I now have a winter project to keep me busy while waiting for the lake to warm back up to usable temperatures. I was given a 1989 Kawasaki 650 TS supposedly in working condition. The battery has been removed, so I can't verify that it will crank. I wanted to to basic checks on it (Compression, Spark) before undertaking much of the restoration. I'm not looking to sink a ton of money into a watercraft that by all accounts is somewhat underpowered and definitely long in the tooth. If my checks show positive things, I'll post pictures of the find and the subsequent restoration.
Anyway, my question here is about the missing battery. I'd rather not purchase a battery for this ski just to do diagnostics. I have a marine battery from a boat I no longer have laying around the garage. The specifications for the Jetski battery is 12 V 19 CCA. The marine battery I have is 12 V 180 CCA. Can I use the marine battery for on-the-stand testing purposes, or will I blow out the electronics (CDI, Starter, Etc) if I hook up the large battery to the ski? If I understand electronics correctly, you run into problems with apmerage when too little is provided to the device as long as the circuit is protected. The device will only draw as much amperage as it needs regardless of how much is provided. The only problem will come if there is a short circuit in the system, and it begins to draw excess amperage due to a lack of resistance, but I figure I can defend against that possibility by rigging up an inline fuse. Can someone reassure me that I won't fry all the electronics on this watercraft by hooking it up to a larger capacity 12 V battery?

Thanks.

Eric

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Regular Marine starting battery on a jet ski?

its fine to use almost any battery for testing, even your car battery and jumper cables

 

[Brian 26]

Re: Regular Marine starting battery on a jet ski?

I'm not going to flat out say you should do it as it is possible to fry the electronics.

I will say If I was you I would hook up the big battery and give it a whirl. I wouldn't want to spend $75 on a battery for a ski that might be worthless (bad motor). I have personally hooked a car battery to a '87 Kawi 550 and not messed up the electronics.

 

[Noltz]

Re: Regular Marine starting battery on a jet ski?

Yes, you can hook your marine battery to your 'ski for testing purposes. You are also correct on your assumption that the 'ski will only pull as much as it needs. In the event of a short the on-board fuses should take care of any issues. There's usually no fuse between the battery and the starter itself (it's the same in cars too).

 

[jbetzelb]

Re: Regular Marine starting battery on a jet ski?

On a 89 I wouldn't worry about using a marine battery. The more modern computerized / fuel injected models are a little more risky. I blew my computer last fall and they said it looked like I arced the battery and surged the computer. I did get a little spark hooking up jumper cables about 10 minutes before it died.