chargeing system

[dragon_diving]

can anyboy please help with a bit of advise i have a mid 80's 200 v6 joho acording to the read out on the gps it say's 11.5 v is this telling me my motor is not chargeing or is how much power its using , the motor seams to start ok most of the time can anyone shed some light on the matter

[newchum]

hey dragon, one indicator that your chargeing system is not working is the tacho not working. if tacho is working it may be a bad connection from the battery to the gps,if it is possible check battery volt at battery terminals and volts at fuse to gps

[ryank]

newchum is correct if tacho does not move at all wen u hit the key then u got no charging goin on. the charhge from your rectifier to bat is only a trickle charge.

[Spaniard_King]

tacho not working is an indicator not neccesarily the answer. Only true way is to put a multimeter across the battery terminals and rev the engine to at least 3000rpm the volts should raise to be more than the battery voltage before the engine was started. A running voltage below 12.75 volts would indicate that the charging system is not working correctly

cheers

Garry

[brettski3]

the better indication is to hook up an amp meter to see how many amps are going into the battery from the engines alternator this is a true indication of input

[finga64]

the better indication is to hook up an amp meter to see how many amps are going into the battery from the engines alternator this is a true indication of input
Not if the battery/s are charged. Best way is to use a voltmeter and ammeter in conjunction. Sounds hard but is easy.

Think of output of an alternator etc charging a battery the same as water in the hose with the tap turned on filling up a bucket. The water pressure in the hose can be likened to voltage (voltage) whilst the water flow is current (amps), the bucket is a battery and the hose is a wire.
The water flow (ie current measured in amperes) cannot happen until the nossle is opened up letting the water out into a bucket (battery). The water pressure (ie voltage) is greatest in the hose (wire) when the nossle is turned off.
When the hossle lets the water out the pressure is reduced (ie voltage goes down) and the water flows (ie current is flowing) and the greater you open the nossle the greater the water flow (current) and the water pressure (voltage) in the hose (wire) is reduced. When the bucket is full you have to turn the hossle off so the water flow will not make the bucket overflow (ie battery will overcharge).

So in short.
If the battery is charged the voltage should be high and current reading (flow) from the alternator etc should be low
If the battery is low in charge the voltage should be a tad lower with current flowing.
When the battery is full the current will stop flowing and the voltage will remain a tad high.
A voltage regulator is just a fancy nossle.


Hope that makes a tiny bit of sense
Scott

[1975fflh]

I had a similar problem with a Johno 90 a 1999 model and they are right if the Tacho no work 90% chance that the regulator not working. and if its only showing 11.5 volts it shouldnt start the motor or the motor will be hard to start.

Check battery voltage if its above 12 volts but the GPS is still showing 11.5 you have a poor connection or poor earth.

Hope its just a poor connection cause a new regulator for mine was $517 new yours is about $240 new but give the guys at North Queensland outboard wreckers a call they sent a used one down to me me on the South Coast of NSW for $115 all up.

[dragon_diving]

THANK YOU ONE AND ALL I WILL GO DOWN IN THE MORNING AND GO FOR THE TACCO TEST FIRST AS WELL AS CHECKING THE CONECTION TO THE GPS I WILL TRYY AND POST TOMORROW NIGHT THE RESULTS :-/

[Payneful]

With a little creativity you can use a regulator out of a motorbike from the wreckers. I did this on my 40hp 88 merc and it worked fine. The rectifier/regulator cost me about 40 bucks from memory. Genuine price was scary!

Check with the multimeter first ... it will tell the story ... make sure you idle it fast as Garry said.

Cheers

Sam