Small Fire..:(

[hotlava007]

Hello everyone...

Ok so heres what happen to me/my boat today........ 96 Nitro Bass Boat, W/90 Hp Merc.

As a female i do not have alot of experience with these kind of things so hopefully u guys can help me out...

I left the house everything was fine, the boat was uncovered in the driveway, while i was out it started to rain really bad.. one of the worse rain storms i have seen in awhile....

came home after a few hrs, and noticed my motor was Trimmed all the way up, and i could hear the sound that sounds like when u trimmed the motor, so i figured bcus of the rain, that 1 of the 3 places that it can be used to trim it, was stuck , so i used the one on the motor to trim it back down, and instatly i nocied smoke & small Flame coming from a small box at the back of the boat ''not sure what this is called'' pls see pictured.... right away i unhooked all 3 batteries, blew the fire out and it Stoped...... can someone pls let me kno if anything like this has happen to u, and is this unit now no good?
what could make this happen..?

pls click on the link, i try to upload the picture but it would not let me... As you will notice on the picture the damaged from the fire and smoke...

http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g475/hotlava0071/?action=view&current=DSC_0124.jpg
,

 

[relocyo]

Re: Small Fire..

Pics didnt work, try again...

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

pls try the link..

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Small Fire..

Hello everyone...

Ok so heres what happen to me/my boat today........
left the house everything was fine, the boat was uncovered in the driveway, while i was out we are having one of the worse rain storms i have seen in the last few yrs, came home after a few hrs, and noticed my motor was Trimmed all the way up, and i could hear the motor been trimmed/tilted, so i figured bcus of the rain, that 1 of the 3 places that it can be used to trim it, was stuck , so i used the one on the motor to trim it back down, and instatly i nocied smoke coming from a small box at the back of the boat ''not sure what this is called'' pls see pictured.... right away i unhooked all 3 batteries.... can someone pls let me kno if anything like this has happen to u, and is this unit now no good?

Picture isn't working.
If I can decipher what you are saying, you are saying the motor trimmed it's self up due to the rain, and you attempted to trim it back down with the trim button on the side of the motor? Have I got that right?

A picture would be nice, and chances are what ever the smoke came out of is probably no good anymore. Replacement smoke is impossible to find, you usually need to replace the part that the smoke came from.

EDIT: Picture was a box with a red X when I first saw the posting. I have since seen the pic in the photobucket link.

 

[raymondpickens]

Re: Small Fire..

link works just fine

 

[aspeck]

Re: Small Fire..

Link works ... were your connections wet from the rain? Were they loose? Just looking at it, it could be as simple as a loose connection or as ugly as a burnt up motor. Let it dry out, check the connection, making sure everything is tight, then try it again.

Just be ready to unhook it if it starts smoking again!

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Small Fire..

Looks like you burnt up the wiring to the trim pump. This thread would probably be best answered by the Mercury outboard Guru's in either the Mercury outboard forum, or in the electrical forum.

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

Im sorry , yes thats exactly what i was tryn to say, Im still abit nervous, and my engliesh is not the greatest...sorry again..hope the link with the picture is working now...

 

[aspeck]

Re: Small Fire..

Im sorry , yes thats exactly what i was tryn to say, Im still abit nervous, and my engliesh is not the greatest...sorry again..hope the link with the picture is working now...

You are fine ... where do you call home port?

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

ok great thanks guys, i beleive when i was unhookin one of the wires in the batt.s, that it seemed loose, but i will try everythin u mention once it all drys up... im hoping for the best... thanks again... ill keep u upto date... thanks again...

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

at the moment im in Canada, but originaly from Portugal...

 

[reddogg]

Re: Small Fire..

Looking at the pic it appears that the main power wire to your T/T caught fire. Was there any hydraulic fluid leaking in that area? What was burned, was it just the isulation on the wire and does the T/T still work? I'd clean up the area of the fire, replace any damaged wiring, look for fluid leaks on your T/T than see if it's still operable (have an extinguisher handy). It might have caught fire due to it building up heat trying to constantly trim up. Inspect all 3 of the locations that you can trim at for damage, corrosion, etc... If it still works after the repairs, great, if not replace the T/T. Also try to water proof the T/T controlls.

Red

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

Looking at the pic it appears that the main power wire to your T/T caught fire. Was there any hydraulic fluid leaking in that area? What was burned, was it just the isulation on the wire and does the T/T still work? I'd clean up the area of the fire, replace any damaged wiring, look for fluid leaks on your T/T than see if it's still operable (have an extinguisher handy). It might have caught fire due to it building up heat trying to constantly trim up. Inspect all 3 of the locations that you can trim at for damage, corrosion, etc... If it still works after the repairs, great, if not replace the T/T. Also try to water proof the T/T controlls.

Red

Ok thanks Red, no fluid as i can see , motly just smelled like burned rubber, , i have not tried it again since i unhooked the batt's , but deff. will once it all drys up.. and will water proof everything like u said...god i though my boat was going to blow up... been so near the fuel...

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

Been a female but not scared of tackle anything like this, im sure i will get it working... i do 99% of all of my repairs . unless its something i have never had the joy of fixing in the pass... like the issue im havin now...but glad i join this forum and u all will be seen alot more of me...thanks for the quik replys , my nerves have calm down alot...pfffftttt

 

[aspeck]

Re: Small Fire..

Welcome to the forum and to North America, and good luck with your repairs. I think you have a better than 50% chance that you will get out of this one without having to replace a motor. Let us know when all is working again.

 

[relocyo]

Re: Small Fire..

Been a female but not scared of tackle anything like this, im sure i will get it working... i do 99% of all of my repairs . unless its something i have never had the joy of fixing in the pass... like the issue im havin now...but glad i join this forum and u all will be seen alot more of me...thanks for the quik replys , my nerves have calm down alot...pfffftttt

Yes welcome aboard! Tons and tons of useful info here, the search function works great! And theres always a helping hand around here... Good luck! And let us know how it works out for you....

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Small Fire..

In heavy rain, water can get into the toggle switches commonly used on PTT units. When the water settles, it allows electricity to flow between the contacts that run the trim motor in the up direction. The motor will trim up and the PTT motor will continue to run until the water dries up or the battery runs down.

When you tried to trim the motor down, I will guess that both relays were energized, providing power to both wires of the motor. Perhaps you simply cooked a relay. Let's hope so, as they are cheap to replace. See if the item that was smoking is a black cube about 1/3 the size of a cigarette pack. If so, it is likely the relay. Relays and PTT motors are avail aftermarket.

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

Thank You for the warm Welcome.... I will be here for many yrs to come, and hope to be of help also.....
I will Keep you guys updated with the repairs....ciao for now

 

[hotlava007]

Re: Small Fire..

In heavy rain, water can get into the toggle switches commonly used on PTT units. When the water settles, it allows electricity to flow between the contacts that run the trim motor in the up direction. The motor will trim up and the PTT motor will continue to run until the water dries up or the battery runs down.

When you tried to trim the motor down, I will guess that both relays were energized, providing power to both wires of the motor. Perhaps you simply cooked a relay. Let's hope so, as they are cheap to replace. See if the item that was smoking is a black cube about 1/3 the size of a cigarette pack. If so, it is likely the relay. Relays and PTT motors are avail aftermarket.

Thank you , i will check everything well before i go and buy any parts...Hoping for the best !!

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Small Fire..

at the moment im in Canada, but originaly from Portugal...

I used to live on Terceira Island in the Azores. Beautiful place. Nice people.