Charging

[BobA]

Good afternoon all
I wonder if anyone can advise me as to how I can confirm that the alternator on my Evinrude 50hp. is actually charging the batteries. The handbook says that it has a 13amp. fully regulated alternator but on occasions, when I want to start the engine there is no power and it's back to connecting a shoreside battery charger again.

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[chriscallender]

Check the voltage at the battery terminals when the alternator is running... should be around 14v ish if the battery is being charged. Its also quite possible that the battery has had it, if it will not hold a charge for long.

Chris

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[steve_cronin]

I had one of those. It is still a primitive set up consisting of a number of coils which constitute a three phase lighting coil set-up around the magneto and although it appears to output 13amps, this is only into a flat (but otherwise healthy) battery. As charge builds up this will drop to zero when the battery voltage gets to 13.8. If your battery is suspect in any way the coils will struggle to replace a start-up from cold drain in less than three hours running. For a sports runabout this might be Ok but on a boat with lighting, electronics etc., it probably will never achieve full charge. This itself will lead to premature battery failure which as others have mentioned could be your main problem.

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion