9.8 Merc Charging?

[lucky_d]

Are there any parts I can buy to make my 9.8 (early 80's) 9.8 hp Merc. charge a battery? What would be involved in doing this at a reasonable cost.

 

[galamb]

Howdy neighbour (you are just down the road from me)

No, and if you could, not worth it in my opinion.

The "lighting stator" (merc part 74367A15) sold for a little over 100 bucks before it discontinued (but it still may be available as "new/old stock" with alot of looking).

Add in some wiring and a rectifier (another 50 bucks or so) and you have a very very limited charging system.

These (stators) put out barely 60 watts (5 amp) and only at wide open throttle. Below about 2000 rpms they barely produce enough power to light up a single 10 watt navigation light, much less charge a battery.

They were sufficient to keep a "fully charged starting battery" "topped up" PROVIDED that you were running NO accessories from it (so used solely for the electric start if equipped).

To put it in perspective, if you used a 35lb thrust electric trolling motor for ONE hour you would have to run your gas motor at "full throttle" for 4 to 5 hours straight, just to replace what the electric motor sucked from the battery.

So is that kind of charging capacity worth $150 bucks in parts plus a couple hours of labour to hook it all up???

Not in my opinion. You would be better off buying a decent on-board charger and simply plugging in the boat when you get it home (or back to the dock)....

 

[lucky_d]

Thanks galamb, your right it's not really worth the bucks for the output I would get.