Bob Weisner
05-24-2006, 2:28 PM
It took most of the day to get my boat across the ice and into open water. I hook up the battery and all I get is a whirring noise, then nothing. Try it again with the same result. I figure the battery is low so I pack it back up the hill, dig out the generator, locate the battery charger and hook it up. The meter jumps all the way to the top...15 amps. I leave it for an hour and its still at 15,
I pack it down to the boat and repeat the procedure. Nothing. I check the in-line fuse and find it is blown. Replace the fuse and it blows as soon as I hit the start button. Replace the fuse again. So I remove the starter and disassemble it. I douche it out with Brake Kleen. My thought is that some of that dust from the brushes is arcing to the case and shorting everything out.
I decide to take my voltmeter down and check continuity on all the wiring. Voltmeter won't work. I disassemble it and find a blown fuse. I don't have a replacement. I wrap the fuse in aluminum foil and the thing works. I check the wires and all are good.
Back up at the cabin, (which is a heck of a hike from the boat for an old guy) I hook the starter to the battery charger. It works fine.
I take it down to the boat and lay it on the bottm of the boat and hook it directly to the battery. It runs backwards. I reverse the polarity of the connections and it works correctly. I install it on the engine and hook up the battery BACKWARDS and the engine fires right up. So I now have the negative cable going to the hot post on the starter and the positive to ground.
The only thing I can figure is that the battery somehow changed polarity while connected to my solar panel all winter. I can see no other explanation. Hopefully some of you will have had a similar experience or ideas.
I pack it down to the boat and repeat the procedure. Nothing. I check the in-line fuse and find it is blown. Replace the fuse and it blows as soon as I hit the start button. Replace the fuse again. So I remove the starter and disassemble it. I douche it out with Brake Kleen. My thought is that some of that dust from the brushes is arcing to the case and shorting everything out.
I decide to take my voltmeter down and check continuity on all the wiring. Voltmeter won't work. I disassemble it and find a blown fuse. I don't have a replacement. I wrap the fuse in aluminum foil and the thing works. I check the wires and all are good.
Back up at the cabin, (which is a heck of a hike from the boat for an old guy) I hook the starter to the battery charger. It works fine.
I take it down to the boat and lay it on the bottm of the boat and hook it directly to the battery. It runs backwards. I reverse the polarity of the connections and it works correctly. I install it on the engine and hook up the battery BACKWARDS and the engine fires right up. So I now have the negative cable going to the hot post on the starter and the positive to ground.
The only thing I can figure is that the battery somehow changed polarity while connected to my solar panel all winter. I can see no other explanation. Hopefully some of you will have had a similar experience or ideas.