Engine starting issues

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Paul F

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Jun 3, 2004
827
Hunter 1980 - 33 Bradenton
relay wiring

I have written this up a few times. Purchase a small 12 volt DC relay from Radio Shack or any electrical shop. A relay is a switch which consists of two low current terminals and two high current terminals. The flow of current through the low current side trips an internal switch to flow current through the high current side. Mine is located right on top of the solenoid. The wires attached to the terminals hold it in place. To install: (Turn off the main battery swtich) First disconnect from the selenoid the wire coming from the starter button. Connect this wire to a low side terminal on the relay. With a new wire ground the other low side relay terminal. Next run a short new wire from the starter terminal (the one with the heavy red wire running to the battery). This is likey right below the solenoid. Connect this wire to a high current side relay terminal. With a new wire connect the other high side terminal to the solenoid. Your job is complete. The solenoid will now get a strong current flow to enable it to turn on the starter and in turn your engine. This set up has worked every time for over four years.
 

rfrye1

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Jun 15, 2004
589
Hunter H376 San Diego
Which relay?

is the cole herse relay/solenoid the same as the relay Paul uses? The connections look different? I'm used to seeing the Cole Herse type on Ford products. I dont see a place to connect the bigger 12v cable to on the smaller relay. Ed's diagram is great.
 

Paul F

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Jun 3, 2004
827
Hunter 1980 - 33 Bradenton
Further explanation of relay

All an added relay or solenoid(relay) is doing in this application is giving a boost to the old corroded original starting button wiring. Instead of having the wire run from the battery to the stern, to the boat's starter button, then back to the engine starter, the relay short cuts this long run by allowing the relay to switch on the starter. (the original starter button wiring is retained to turn on the relay - which in turn switchs on the starter solenoid(sitting atop the starter)that turns on the starter) All that is need is a small D.C. relay which can be purchased from Radio Shack (link below) Here is a link that talks about relays. http://www.bcae1.com/relays.htm In answer to Bob's question regarding connection to a large 12v cable. There is no need to connect using this cable. Use a wire the size of the starter button wire (12ga) connected to the large red 12v wire at the starter terminal. Connect this to the high voltage side of the relay. Connect the other high voltage side of the relay to the starter solenoid as stated in my original post. (note: high voltage is 12volts) The reason this works where the original wiring no longer does is that the original wiring is not providing 12volts of current to the starter solenoid any longer. Either method described in this thread works. This method is a lot easier to intall, costs less and has worked for many years. I will try to take a picture of the installation tomorrow and post it.
 
B

Bob F

To Paul F.

Seems simple emough. Love to see the photo. Where did you mount the relay? Bob.
 

Paul F

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Jun 3, 2004
827
Hunter 1980 - 33 Bradenton
Photo of installed relay

The attached photo shows the relay intsallation. I hope it is not over bright. My monitor is going and I have to turn up the brightness to see. The relay is not mounted although it could be. In order to keep the wires short the relay is supported by the wires. It is located directly above the starter solenoid. I marked the wires in the photo. "A" is the white wire coming from the starter button originally it was connected to the solenoid. "B" is the added Black ground wire grounded to the engine. "C" is the red (high voltage) wire connected to the same terminal as the heavy red wire "E" at the starter terminal. "D" is the red (high voltage) wire connected back to the solenoid where the white wire "A" was originally connected. I hope you can see the photo and it helps in the understanding of the installation.
 
Dec 2, 2003
4,245
- - Seabeck WA
One thing,,,,

where Paul uses the term 'high voltage', I think he means 'high amperage'. (really big wire)
 

Paul F

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Jun 3, 2004
827
Hunter 1980 - 33 Bradenton
Details, details...

Fred is right of course, but volts are easier to understand than amps and easier to measure. Just check the voltage comming off the wire returning from the starter buttom compared with the voltage off of the "really big wire" :)
 
Jan 11, 2004
65
Hunter 31_83-87 Middle River, MD
Possible answer too...

Hey John, on our boat we use #1 battery for starting and #2 is the house battery. So when sailing we always switch to #2 using the selector switch. To start the engine, switch to #1, then switch to both while motoring to charge both batteries. It's a simple system, but has worked perfectly for 15 years.
 
P

Paul

relay pic

We have this problem on our H-310 for the past season Thanks for the (pics of the fix). Is this a problem related only to Hunters none of our freinds with various other makes seem to affected with this starting issue. Paul
 
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