Motor/battery problem.

[flapbreaker]

I went to start my Honda BF90 yesterday and when I turned the key nothing happened. The green light didn't even light on the ignition key. The volt meter would go up to a little over 12 volts. I went back and turned the battery switch to emergency parallel and received the same response. The weird thing is I was easily able to power lift and lower the motor and it didn't sound like the batteries were drained. So I started the kicker motor up (pull start) and let her run for about 5 minutes. I was able to start the main afterwards. I have two batteries, one for the house and one for the main. I have a BEP VSR module as seen here http://www.bepmarine.com/showcategory.cfm?categoryid=154 that is supposed to completely isolate the the main battery. I have the optima batteries and I did use the boat a few weeks before yesterday so I am not sure how the batteries lost enough juice to not start the motor but still be able to lift and lower it?? Any ideas on what went wrong?

The only thing I did recently was installed a navman fuel flow meter on it's own circuit breaker/switch. The unit won't come on unless I flip the switch on. I also wired my TR-1 directly to the house battery per the instructions. Can't see how these would drain the batteries.

[lloyds]

Sort of sounds like a bad cable connection between the battery and the engine, one end or the other.

[starcrafttom]

I would agree with llyods. pull off all you battery connentions and clean them. it does not take a lot of gunk to stop you from starting the motor. also try some protective gel for the post and connections.

[Sea Wolf]

flapbreaker-

Who installed the isolator? Do or did they fully understand it's function and where in the various circuits it was to be inserted?

Sounds like maybe the solenoid in the starter didn't have enough voltage to close the circuit. The tilt and trim motors probably don't have such a relay and aren't as voltage sensitive.

A lot of electronic (vs electric) devices are solid state these days and have minimum cut off voltages below which nothing happens at all.

Lloyds may be on to something when he suggests you have a simple loose connection.

As Dogon Dan once suggested, some perplexing problems are more often a case of simple connectivity rather than the Devil having been at work Haywiring the Universe and Creating Chaos!!!

Joe.

[flapbreaker]

I'll check the connections for gunk and being loose. The was new in September. I bought it from EQ Marine and they installed the the switch. I have not had trouble with it until yesterday. Of course I keep running through what "I" might have done with my wiring of the navman and tr-1 but really can't think of how that would effect the other battery. I'll also have to get a multimeter to check for any current drain but all of that is new to me. Maybe it's time to buy a "batteries for dumbies" book.