Electrical System

"I know this will be slightly

"I know this will be slightly off topic, but I'd like to see if anyone has a way around this. When riding at night, I like to keep things well illuminated. The problem is, with all the court lights, nav lights, cabin lights, headlights, and stereo on, my overall voltage drops to about 9-10v DC. Everytime you switch on another accessory, everything dims a little bit more. The alternator is not bad, batteries are charging great, constantly maintains 13.1-13.9 volts across the poles all day long, but when I tax the system with accessories at night, it begins to show its inability to keep up. Is there some sort of device like a regulator or conditioner that can normalize the voltage under heavy load?"

".."Is there some sort of

".."Is there some sort of device like a regulator or conditioner that can normalize the voltage under heavy load?"

Yup. It's called a larger output alternator. I got both of mine rebuilt by a local guy (whose both cheap and good). One puts out 100 amps, the other 75. No more problems!

Jeff"

"Another way is to convert to

"Another way is to convert to LED lighting however, there's no way to keep the voltage from sagging other than having enough available current, as Jeff said."

Check your grounds! Had the ex

Check your grounds! Had the exact same problem-found a bad ground connection on the all-around light.

"Just a thought... verify tha

"Just a thought... verify that you have alternator amp problems. You've got to be burning a lot of lights to max out even a small alternator.

Under full electrical load and seeing low voltage on your dash gage, check the voltage out of the alternator or at the battery to make sure it's the same and that you don't have a ground/wiring issue."

"I would be looking for loose

"I would be looking for loose or bad connections on the lighting wires and terminal strip. Also, loose or dirty battery terminals and cable ends. Loose terminals on the gauges cause a lot of problems, too."

or....attach some of the light

or....attach some of the lights to be powered by a deep cycle battery. Just hookup the battery in parrallel with the other one every once in awhile to charge it back up.

"Actually, looking at this thr

"Actually, looking at this thread today, the first thing I would do is a current test on each circuit. Yes, lights draw current but draw a bit less after they've been on for a while (Hot conductors have more resistance) and if there are a lot of them, the draw can be substantial. I suspect that the stereo is a large part of this but I would still check the current on each circuit.

All electrical circuits should be referenced to the battery terminals. If they're dirty or the cable clamps/wingnuts ot whatever are loose, you'll have a voltage drop. If the ignition switch tab, wire terminal is corroded, fuse holders or any other terminal in the circuit is dirty or corroded, you'll have a voltage drop. Start at the battery and work your way to the devices that are drawing a lot. If you have an ammeter or digital multimeter that will show 10A or more, attach it at the battery and turn one accessory on at a time, noting the current draw. If all lights are on one circuit, remove all bulbs, then insert one at a time and note each increase in current draw.

My guess is that lights were added to the original lighting circuit and a larger fuse installed, without using a larger wire to feed the dash power strip or connector. This wire feeds the ignition, lights, blower, bilge pump, head unit, etc and if the wire can't support the current, the voltage drops to everything it supplys, including the gauges."