hi from italy, i bought a used boat with a 1990 BJ25DEL electric start motor.
After the first days of use with no troubles, all of a sudden , one sunday afternoon at 6pm i went to start the motor after a 1 hour stop, and turning the key had absolutely no effect at all. Instruments didn't move, and obviously engine would not start. I had another battery with me, so i tried exchanging it, but to no avail.
Next day, a local mechanic looked at engine and found main fuse was shot. Replaced, and i had another 3 or 4 outing without troubles.
Then one afternoon, while i was cruising, i noted that the voltmeter and tach were indicatining complete nonesense, moving out of scale (voltmeter usually at 10 , tach all over the place). I got back to the marina, turned the engine off, and when i went to restart I had a complete blackout again, as if battery was not connected. I checked the fuse and it was ok.
Next day the same local mechanic was around and fiddled with the main battery external switch, which was bypassed.
It seemed to work, but,in the next outings, I would see the voltmeter give low voltage reading, then all of a sudden go to 13-14v, then go back again to 10 (all at the same engine rpm). This happens always when the engine is hot, usually in the afternoon. First trip of the morning every thing always seems fine.
I had another mechanic take a look at the motor, he tested the rectifier with a test bulb while i was starting the motor and said the rectifier wasn't giving anything in output and should be replaced, but as long as i had a good battery i could still use the motor.
Today after a perfect morning with tach and voltmeter indicating correctly,i went back to marina at noon. At 15.30 i went out again and as soon as i started motor, tach and voltmeter were all over the place. After 10 mins trip the tach was below 0 and voltmeter below 10. I reached my swimming spot, shut down the engine (which was working flawlessly). then when i went to restart... total blackout again. Had to get a tow back to the marina.
In summary:
-when running, the engine has no problem at all, I have all the power and doesn't misfire.
- i've never had problems in the morning, cold start. Problems have always arised in afternoon-hot days and motor.
- when instruments go mad with the motor running, I am almost certain that when I turn it off i want get any signs of life at the restart
- In the past days, when in the morning voltmenter was giving ok reading, the tach howevere would stay at 1000 rpm when i turned engine off. Only with the key in the ON position, would it go to 0.
- Battey has never given signs of being drained. Today I measured 12.8v, now I have replaced the battery andwill see with electronic charger how many amps i need to recharge in the battery I have used so far.
- when i left the boat this evening, I had no signs of life from instruments of motor when turning the key , but checking with multimeter on rectifier junction box, I did measure 12v on the red wire when turning the key ON position, and 0v with keu in OFF.
Even if my rectifier is bad, I don't understand why i get these blackouts... I have an electronics diploma, I know my stuff with Dc voltage, so i am willing to try and figure out whats wrong, from the schematics I have found , I think I need to check the big red multi pole connector that may be acting strange when hot, and I am also not sure if the neutral switch could be responsible for not giving ok signal.
Any ideas? Sorry for long post, but I wanted to give max information.
After the first days of use with no troubles, all of a sudden , one sunday afternoon at 6pm i went to start the motor after a 1 hour stop, and turning the key had absolutely no effect at all. Instruments didn't move, and obviously engine would not start. I had another battery with me, so i tried exchanging it, but to no avail.
Next day, a local mechanic looked at engine and found main fuse was shot. Replaced, and i had another 3 or 4 outing without troubles.
Then one afternoon, while i was cruising, i noted that the voltmeter and tach were indicatining complete nonesense, moving out of scale (voltmeter usually at 10 , tach all over the place). I got back to the marina, turned the engine off, and when i went to restart I had a complete blackout again, as if battery was not connected. I checked the fuse and it was ok.
Next day the same local mechanic was around and fiddled with the main battery external switch, which was bypassed.
It seemed to work, but,in the next outings, I would see the voltmeter give low voltage reading, then all of a sudden go to 13-14v, then go back again to 10 (all at the same engine rpm). This happens always when the engine is hot, usually in the afternoon. First trip of the morning every thing always seems fine.
I had another mechanic take a look at the motor, he tested the rectifier with a test bulb while i was starting the motor and said the rectifier wasn't giving anything in output and should be replaced, but as long as i had a good battery i could still use the motor.
Today after a perfect morning with tach and voltmeter indicating correctly,i went back to marina at noon. At 15.30 i went out again and as soon as i started motor, tach and voltmeter were all over the place. After 10 mins trip the tach was below 0 and voltmeter below 10. I reached my swimming spot, shut down the engine (which was working flawlessly). then when i went to restart... total blackout again. Had to get a tow back to the marina.
In summary:
-when running, the engine has no problem at all, I have all the power and doesn't misfire.
- i've never had problems in the morning, cold start. Problems have always arised in afternoon-hot days and motor.
- when instruments go mad with the motor running, I am almost certain that when I turn it off i want get any signs of life at the restart
- In the past days, when in the morning voltmenter was giving ok reading, the tach howevere would stay at 1000 rpm when i turned engine off. Only with the key in the ON position, would it go to 0.
- Battey has never given signs of being drained. Today I measured 12.8v, now I have replaced the battery andwill see with electronic charger how many amps i need to recharge in the battery I have used so far.
- when i left the boat this evening, I had no signs of life from instruments of motor when turning the key , but checking with multimeter on rectifier junction box, I did measure 12v on the red wire when turning the key ON position, and 0v with keu in OFF.
Even if my rectifier is bad, I don't understand why i get these blackouts... I have an electronics diploma, I know my stuff with Dc voltage, so i am willing to try and figure out whats wrong, from the schematics I have found , I think I need to check the big red multi pole connector that may be acting strange when hot, and I am also not sure if the neutral switch could be responsible for not giving ok signal.
Any ideas? Sorry for long post, but I wanted to give max information.