hooked up battery backwards

gallen · Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:51 pm Post subject: hooked up battery backwards

I just made a major mistake tonight!

I was havinig electrical system problems last time I went out fishing, so today at the marina I took out the number one battery in a dual battery system to be able to clean a breaker that looked like it had corroded connections. What was a slight sprinkle suddenly turned into a hard rain, and in a hurry I reconnected the battery. I put the switch on "both" and went to try to start the port motor. I lead a loud pop and nothing. I rechecked the battery in the rain, and to my horror discovered I had reversed the polarity.

After I connected things properly, the starboard motor started up just fine, but there is no sound when I attempt to start the port motor.

How bad is it? I can't believe I did that.

Captains Cat · Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 11:54 pm Post subject:

Hard to say. Fill out your profile. Boat, motors, etc and then we might be able to help.

Charlie

marco422 · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:10 am Post subject:

Check the fuse under the hood on your port motor...

Captains Cat · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 7:21 am Post subject:

cbgale · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 7:54 am Post subject:

You may well have fried the rectifier. Check repair manual for test procedure with VOM meter.

BRAZO · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 8:13 am Post subject:

I did this once on another boat that we owned - it only blew a fuse on the motor. I'm guessing you'll be fine.

lloyds · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:11 am Post subject:

If you have late model 50 hondas there is more than one fuse. The one on the engine will blow but amazingly you can also blow the one in the wiring loom. This may not be your case but there are two styles of wiring looms, dependant upon year of engine. In my case I had a 2005 honda 50 and there was also a fuse in the loom, located opposite the controls. If you have one it will be pretty open and accessible, but on the 16' it is behind the liner so I had to take the loom loose and pull it out to access it. When I put it back together I tied a teather to it so if I continued doing stupid things it would be easier to get at.

gallen · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:54 pm Post subject:

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. My son-in-law is an electrician, so I'm going to get him to help me trace this down. I'll start by looking for a fuse in the harness (I have 2004 motors), and go from there. This would happen right at the beginning of what promises to be a good salmon fishing season here in northern CA.

Thanks for being a great resource.

thataway · Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:55 pm Post subject:

It is always a good idea to label any wire you disconnect. I also take photos when I pull a lot of wires or circuit boards--do photos before you start--do the labeling and then more photos.

I had a friend who first hooked up his RV house batteries--and fired $600 worth of batteries. I told him to take photos--he didn't--and the next day replaced the engine start. For some reason the engine started, but 2 minutes later the back of the coach was on fire--yep--he put in the start batteries wrong. Damage was about $20,000! Unfortunately those 400 hp Cat diesels don't have fuses or breakers.

gallen · Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 10:54 am Post subject:

Well, with the help of my son-in-law, we found two burnout fuses as the problem--one under the motor hood as some of you suggested and one for the radio. After replacing those, everything seemed to work fine. I feel very lucky that there seemingly was no more damage.

And it's a good suggestion to label wires or at least not do things in such a hurry in the rain!

Thanks again.

Sarge · Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 12:58 pm Post subject:

Gallen,

You point out one advantage of living in the Pacific Northwest...it's always raining, so you learn to take your time and not try to avoid it. Smile

I'm glad it turned out to just be fuses. Enjoy your boat and fishing.

-Sarge

patrick and linda · Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:04 pm Post subject:

i'm not sure if i've read your post correctly but if you wired the batteries so that your 12 volt system became 24 volts and subsequently damaged 12 volt items, you might be able to turn this loss into your insurance carrier. power surge normally would be a covered peril. if you decided to notify them i would do so as soon as possible.
good luck
pat

Captains Cat · Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 6:29 pm Post subject:

You didn't pat. He just mixed up + and -. Fuses blew, all fixed now.

Charlie