Hot Battery Cable and Positive Terminal 1984 OMC 38

"I have a 1984 OMC Stern Drive

"I have a 1984 OMC Stern Drive 800, 175hp 3.8 Chevy.
Noticed last weekend that the + terminal on the battery is getting hot after being connected for a few hours of use. Too hot to grab the cable even.
It's a new battery as of spring last year. First time it went dead, I took it back and had it tested, and they said it was fine.
I recently hooked up a depth finder. The - is connected to a ground under the dash, and the + is aligator clipped to the battery directly.
Everything is disconnected when not in use, as sometime last year I noticed the battery will drain if it's left connected over about a week (key off, radio and lights off battery will go dead).

Any thoughts on how I should begin troubleshooting this, or is it normal and I've never noticed it before."

"Battery cable getting hot is

"Battery cable getting hot is a sign of bad connections or a heavy load. Check connections at starter and under dash, and check for a load or bad ground."

"That sounds like an easy fix

"That sounds like an easy fix (hopefully). There isn't much connected on this boat, pretty plain jane, so I'll check those connections and get them tight, i'll also look for a bad ground.
Thanks,"

"Heat Equals Resistence.......

"Heat Equals Resistence........

Either you've got Dirty connections on that Wire,.....
Or,.....
The Wire is Internally Corroded......"

Put a voltmeter on the battery

Put a voltmeter on the battery as it's charging and see what volts the alternator is putting out. About 13.5 to 14.5 volts is common.


jeff