battery ?

[jennykatz]

Here is what I've done I've taken the batteries and had them load tested they both came back at about 12.8 volts under load from the Yamaha dealer. He agreed with Joe and Bob I need to check connections at switch and bolt down with aircraft nuts instead of wing nuts.which I have done

We went out on battery 2 (series 24) it went right to 14.4 volts at yamaha gauge and GPS so far so good ,then after about 30min or so varied RPM it started going down to 13-12volts I started to get concerned but after another 20-30 min. it started to recycle up to 14volts again is this normal? Then i put tundra refer on it started to go down again to 11.8-12 volts at gauge a little more at GPS then she recycled again up to 13.8 or so this is still on battery 2 .

My question should I be worried or no problem ?Thanks again for all your responces Once again saved by C-Brats

[jennykatz]

Another elec question I have a windlass a Tundra refer. house elec.Wallas heater, and Lenco trim tabs .Should all these have sep fuses back by the batteries they seem like they do .

I have 4 leads num 8-10 wire coming back to batteries( various amps10-20amps) I know one is the refer,one is the electronics (house ) the other 2 I'm not sure off .I would assume that one is for the windlass and one for the trim tabs Could one be for the Wallas heater. Should I pull the fuses and test if I have tabs ,Wallas,and windlass ( also windlass has its own circuit breaker at the helm 50amp) If not then what could the other be for ? thanks again Jim sorting out elec. problems

[thataway]

The lower voltage when refrigerator is running suggests that either the wiring is inadequate size or that there is corrosion (or something else) causing resistance--and is one of the problems with using the GPS as a volt meter. My guess is that the voltage at the battery will still be good. The windlass should be a heavier wire than the others--for 22 feet (it is really 44 feet since the circuit includes the negative) you want #8 wire according to the tables. You should have a 50 amp breaker within 7" of the battery to be in compliance with ABYC standards.

Usually all of the other console wiring is a single wire--and this may be the problem--this wire may be the culprit--as well as it's ground. I added another # 8 wire to both of my boats to help with keeping voltage up at the console (with a fuse at the battery).

The Wallas should be a separate wire fused at the battery. There is probably a bilge pump wire connected directly to the battery also (these may be to the battery switch instead of the battery).

Is this normal? No. The charging circuit of the engine should remain constant--and I put a separate volt meter on the battery with a guage on the "dash" to be sure that I know what the battery voltage is. I don't like the analogue guages, they are not accurate enough. There should be minimal voltage drop with the refigeration--but not 0.6volts.

Again--double check both the plus and negative wiring, including behind the console.

[jennykatz]

I checked the wiring again of the 4 wires coming back to the batteries
the first one coming back ( 8)is hooked up to a 25amp circuit breaker this is for the helm's main electronics Gps, D/S , fan,vhf radio, am/fm radio, windshield wipers,bilge pump .and also the Lenco trim tabs .There is a separate 25 amp circuit breaker for the sprint 400 windlass

Then the next wire is for the tundra fridge its num10 to a 20 amp fuse.
the next is a 15 amp for the800 single burner wallas heater.Then there is one more 15 amp fuse which i can not find a use for everything works on the boat and I've pulled this fuse out i've put it back in just in case i've missed something . The original owner had some sort of T/V going on up front round shakespeare antenna it could be that.

I'm going to pull the fridge out and look at the wallas make sure they are right wires num 8's or 10's depending on the run it's about 8ft runs time's two then I will look at the main helms wire can I run another num 8 wire and hook it up next to the exsisting num 8 wire so it cuts down the resistance. Also I've discovered that I put in to light of a switch for my fridge it's number 12or 14 wire then back to a num 10 to the main on /off1/2/switch back by the batteries. Thanks for taking the time to help me

[Sea Wolf]

jennykatz-

You wrote:

"Then there is one more 15 amp fuse which i can not find a use for everything works on the boat and I've pulled this fuse out i've put it back in just in case i've missed something ."

It's not a tap for the bilge pump which must be fused and directly wired to a battery (and not through the 1-All-2-Off battery switch) is it?

Joe.

[Captains Cat]

Joe, I think you're right. Unless the bilge was full enough to run the pump, pulling the fuse would have no affect.

You might try putting enough water in the bilge to start the pump with the fuse out. Then put the fuse in and see if the pump starts.

Charlie

[jennykatz]

Joe I will check that today that sounds plausible .I will pull the fuse and see if pump works . I'm going to pull the refer today also and check the wiring for that and the wallas .Like I said before I put a switch in the refer line so I could turn refer on and off without opening refer and turning rotary knob inside . my mistake was putting in a switch with only num 12or 14 wire so I guess there is lots of resistance going on . I wonder if I cut the wires back and go to num 10 right up to the switch would this help

[thataway]

A short run of #12 or 14 would would not be a problem. What I have found, is that at times the factory has gone for #10 to #18, with a #10 crimp connector, and the contact was very poor. A little corrosion, and it might still work, but high resistance. There are reducing crimp connectors, if that is necessary. Or the wire can be doubled up--or cut down to have an appropiate size for the crimp connector. Not sure if this relates to your problem....but you are narrowing down the potential problems.

[SGIDave]

Jim,

My boat is one model year newer than yours, but what you are describing sounds like the bilge pump fuse on my boat. I've TRIED to attached a pic showing the fuse; it is in the lower left corner.

No luck on including the pic in this post. It's in my album. Wait! On Edit I figured it out. Amazing!

/david

[Wefings]

Dave, can you show me how to put a pic in a post when you are here next so I can forget again ?
Marc

[SGIDave]

I'd be happy to Marc ...it'll have to be soon though before I forget how myself

/david

[jennykatz]

I went down to the boat pulled the refer to my surprise it had only a 12 gauge wire about a 9ft run to the batteries with a 20 amp fuse So I replaced that wire with number 10 wire back to the batteries put in a battery type switch under the sink so I will have my heavy duty switch and 10 wire should do the trick
Yes Joe that extra 15 amp fuse is for the bilge pump so now I figured out with c-brats help all my lines coming back . Tomorrow or wed I will put thing s back together and take her for a run
I get conflicting stories that I need an Isolator so the yamaha f115 can do it's job properly Leaks are fixed so now on to the Wallas heater. One of these days I might get to go out for a week or so once I get it all taken care off??

[SENSEI]

there is a nice little article about three way switch on boat test
http://www.boattest.com/Resources/view_news.aspx?NewsID=3084