At the beginning of this season I installed an 8hp 2 stroke Nissan outboard with an electric starter and battery charger. The electric starter was a dream for roughly 8-10 starts but stopped working thereafter. The motor is connected to a 12v deep cycle battery. I checked connections and lights and found that everything works fine except the starter. My initial guess is that the battery was drained too low to turn the starter...but now for the question: what is the point of having an electric start with an alternator if the charger isn't capable of keeping the battery topped off? Afterall the main reason for purchasing this motor was so my battery would remain topped off. I ran the motor (pull start) for about an hour subsequent to this finding at almost full throttle but still not enough charge to turn the starter. What should I do? Brian H23 kickin back'
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John
How old is the battery?
I had a similar problem this past spring. I have a 15hp merc. Since I bought the boat last fall and didn't know much about battery maint. I didn't charge the battery over the winter. I did test it and found it had enough voltage. To make a long story short, it crapped out after about 10 starts. Turns out the plates inside the battery had too much gunk buildup to recharge. Also learned that I shouldn't be running my lights off my deep cycle battery. Bought a new deep cycle and installed a second battery for lights/cabin power. Looking into a trickle solar setup for the second battery. If your battery is newer it should recharge from your motor. Haven't had any prob's since. John
I had a similar problem this past spring. I have a 15hp merc. Since I bought the boat last fall and didn't know much about battery maint. I didn't charge the battery over the winter. I did test it and found it had enough voltage. To make a long story short, it crapped out after about 10 starts. Turns out the plates inside the battery had too much gunk buildup to recharge. Also learned that I shouldn't be running my lights off my deep cycle battery. Bought a new deep cycle and installed a second battery for lights/cabin power. Looking into a trickle solar setup for the second battery. If your battery is newer it should recharge from your motor. Haven't had any prob's since. John
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Scott Satur
Outboard troubles
When I first purchased my Hunter 25.5 it to had a electric start ooutboard. It worked fine for the first week or so, then I had problems with starter. Lights and everything else was working just fine, just like your troubles. After attaching a voltmeter to my batt, then starting the outboard I noticed I was not getting a charge from the motor. It turned out to be the rectifier was open. I replaced the rectifier and everything has been fine since.
When I first purchased my Hunter 25.5 it to had a electric start ooutboard. It worked fine for the first week or so, then I had problems with starter. Lights and everything else was working just fine, just like your troubles. After attaching a voltmeter to my batt, then starting the outboard I noticed I was not getting a charge from the motor. It turned out to be the rectifier was open. I replaced the rectifier and everything has been fine since.
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Brian Conneely
battery is 1 1/2 seasons old...
I used a battery pal trickle charger during the off months to keep it topped off...(.6amp charging capacity) Why were you advised to keep the cabin power and starting battery separate. thanks for the response brian
I used a battery pal trickle charger during the off months to keep it topped off...(.6amp charging capacity) Why were you advised to keep the cabin power and starting battery separate. thanks for the response brian
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Dennis
Batteries and chargers
May or may not be your battery. How old is it and how hard has it been used you should ask your self. First about batteries: the real reason some have seperate batteries for house and starter is that the loads used and recharge times are different. Therefore, the batteries are designed different as well. A deep cycle battery is designed to discharge slow to moderately over an extended period of time and to levels well below where you'd want to discharge your starter battery. A starter battery is designed to discharge high amounts for a short duration and then be quickly recharged. Since the output current is designed to be different..... then so is the input for recharging. Both batteries will take a high charge rate initially as the molecules near the surface of the plates are charged. As the charge must be deeper absorbed the process slows down and with the heat generated with high charges rates the battery will be damaged. First is that the plates become sulfated and not only are slow to charge but also slow to discharge. This is why you might be able to read 12 volts and run a light but can't get a high draw item, like a starter, to operate. The only real cure is a new battery though there are some "folk remedies" that may have some affect on a lightly damaged battery. As for your application of using your deep cycle for starting as well, it can be done but you must rember that if you've used your lights and other accessories all night for a couple of days and now you want to start the motor your asking a lot of the battery and it will need a long charge time, more than just motoring out of the slip. And once the rapid surface charge is applied you must have some long time trickle charge in order to fully re-charge the battery. This is something your alternator alone won't do. you need a charging controller available at marine stores everywhere. AS for the writer who puts his lights on the starter battery..... maybe.... steaming lights yes... position lights maybe.... house lights no. Of course if you have two batteries and a bus system and charging controller you can isolate or combine loads and charging to your benefit. Whew!!!!! If the battery is ok, check all connections to the starter and start solenoid for cleanliess an security, at both ends. any resistance here will cause problems. Good luck!!!
May or may not be your battery. How old is it and how hard has it been used you should ask your self. First about batteries: the real reason some have seperate batteries for house and starter is that the loads used and recharge times are different. Therefore, the batteries are designed different as well. A deep cycle battery is designed to discharge slow to moderately over an extended period of time and to levels well below where you'd want to discharge your starter battery. A starter battery is designed to discharge high amounts for a short duration and then be quickly recharged. Since the output current is designed to be different..... then so is the input for recharging. Both batteries will take a high charge rate initially as the molecules near the surface of the plates are charged. As the charge must be deeper absorbed the process slows down and with the heat generated with high charges rates the battery will be damaged. First is that the plates become sulfated and not only are slow to charge but also slow to discharge. This is why you might be able to read 12 volts and run a light but can't get a high draw item, like a starter, to operate. The only real cure is a new battery though there are some "folk remedies" that may have some affect on a lightly damaged battery. As for your application of using your deep cycle for starting as well, it can be done but you must rember that if you've used your lights and other accessories all night for a couple of days and now you want to start the motor your asking a lot of the battery and it will need a long charge time, more than just motoring out of the slip. And once the rapid surface charge is applied you must have some long time trickle charge in order to fully re-charge the battery. This is something your alternator alone won't do. you need a charging controller available at marine stores everywhere. AS for the writer who puts his lights on the starter battery..... maybe.... steaming lights yes... position lights maybe.... house lights no. Of course if you have two batteries and a bus system and charging controller you can isolate or combine loads and charging to your benefit. Whew!!!!! If the battery is ok, check all connections to the starter and start solenoid for cleanliess an security, at both ends. any resistance here will cause problems. Good luck!!!
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John
Got them mixed up
Sorry about the previous post. Thought I had the different kinds of batteries straight. Got a new STARTING Battery for my engine, and a deep cycle for my house lights etc. Read previous posts in the archives, and do alittle research. Test your battery with a meter that will put a load on it, then you will see if it's ok. John
Sorry about the previous post. Thought I had the different kinds of batteries straight. Got a new STARTING Battery for my engine, and a deep cycle for my house lights etc. Read previous posts in the archives, and do alittle research. Test your battery with a meter that will put a load on it, then you will see if it's ok. John
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UnderDog
My recent experience w/ 9.9
I had the same issue with my 1990 johnson 9.9. It turned out to be a faulty safety switch that only lets me start when in neutral. Seems it was making a poor or no connection when in neutral, so it barely turned over, and I have 2 large batteries in parallel. I also replaced the wires from the batteries to the engine, along with the connections as they were in bad shape.
I had the same issue with my 1990 johnson 9.9. It turned out to be a faulty safety switch that only lets me start when in neutral. Seems it was making a poor or no connection when in neutral, so it barely turned over, and I have 2 large batteries in parallel. I also replaced the wires from the batteries to the engine, along with the connections as they were in bad shape.
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Frank Ladd
Check the switch
Are you certain the little red start button is working? After an hour of running my battery has enough charge to start but the starter button was bad. Make certain the starter is actually getting a voltage. I hope this helps. To keep my battery topped of I have an 11 watt flexible solar panel hooked up all the time. That way any battery leakage during the week is more than compansated for and the battery is always full again by Friday night.
Are you certain the little red start button is working? After an hour of running my battery has enough charge to start but the starter button was bad. Make certain the starter is actually getting a voltage. I hope this helps. To keep my battery topped of I have an 11 watt flexible solar panel hooked up all the time. That way any battery leakage during the week is more than compansated for and the battery is always full again by Friday night.
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Marcel
Is the charger working?
The Nissan 8 hp 2-stroke comes with a charger that puts out 6.7 amps max output, that is, that it will put 6.7 amp hours back into the battery for each hour of charging. Either the battery was run down so far that 6 amp hours was not enough to do any good, or the charger may not be working. You need to check the battery with a digital voltmeter, it should read approx. 12.8 v at full charge. With the engine running you should read about 14.2 v if the charger is working. Now, on a sailboat we run the engine as little as possible, so it may simply be a case of not running the engine enough to keep the battery charged. The suggestion in the other post to use a solar collector charger in between outings is excellent and works. Also, at the end of a day of sailing, check the battery voltage from week to week. If it slowly goes down, you will either have to run the engine a lot longer or charge the battery some other way.
The Nissan 8 hp 2-stroke comes with a charger that puts out 6.7 amps max output, that is, that it will put 6.7 amp hours back into the battery for each hour of charging. Either the battery was run down so far that 6 amp hours was not enough to do any good, or the charger may not be working. You need to check the battery with a digital voltmeter, it should read approx. 12.8 v at full charge. With the engine running you should read about 14.2 v if the charger is working. Now, on a sailboat we run the engine as little as possible, so it may simply be a case of not running the engine enough to keep the battery charged. The suggestion in the other post to use a solar collector charger in between outings is excellent and works. Also, at the end of a day of sailing, check the battery voltage from week to week. If it slowly goes down, you will either have to run the engine a lot longer or charge the battery some other way.
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Kevin Keen
Starter Batteries are Unnecessary
All: A deep-cycle size 24 battery will have no trouble starting any size outboard. The so-called starter batteries are just a waste of money unless you plan to do most of your boating near 32 degrees Fahrenheit. - Kevin.
All: A deep-cycle size 24 battery will have no trouble starting any size outboard. The so-called starter batteries are just a waste of money unless you plan to do most of your boating near 32 degrees Fahrenheit. - Kevin.
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Alan Long
Could it be?
I had a fuse blow on my 1995 Johnson 4 stroke with electric start. It would start manually but absolutely nothing happened when you hit the electric start. Might be worth checking Alan Long
I had a fuse blow on my 1995 Johnson 4 stroke with electric start. It would start manually but absolutely nothing happened when you hit the electric start. Might be worth checking Alan Long
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Ron Mehringer
bad switch
My Honda 4 stroke has electric start and worked flawlessly for a few years on a freshwater lake. It stopped working a couple of weeks after I moved the boat to saltwater. Turns out the contacts under the rubber button switch corroded. You may have the same problem. You should also always have a voltmeter (even a cheap one will do) on board to check the battery condition and help troubleshoot other electrical problems. Good luck. Ron Mehringer s/v Hydro-Therapy
My Honda 4 stroke has electric start and worked flawlessly for a few years on a freshwater lake. It stopped working a couple of weeks after I moved the boat to saltwater. Turns out the contacts under the rubber button switch corroded. You may have the same problem. You should also always have a voltmeter (even a cheap one will do) on board to check the battery condition and help troubleshoot other electrical problems. Good luck. Ron Mehringer s/v Hydro-Therapy
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Brian
reply to kevin keen and others...
First off...thanks for all the replies, many questions answered and hopefully this weekend I'll have a solution once I bring out the voltmeter and perform some diagnostics... Secondly...Kevin mentioned that the 12v deep cycle should suffice in this setup as the starting battery which is also the impression I got when doing research earlier this year. Do others agree? yea or nay thanks again for your experience on this subject. Brian kickin' back
First off...thanks for all the replies, many questions answered and hopefully this weekend I'll have a solution once I bring out the voltmeter and perform some diagnostics... Secondly...Kevin mentioned that the 12v deep cycle should suffice in this setup as the starting battery which is also the impression I got when doing research earlier this year. Do others agree? yea or nay thanks again for your experience on this subject. Brian kickin' back
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T J Furstenau
Only deep cycle works for me.
I've had a single deep-cycle battery on my boat since I got it. I use that battery to start my Honda 15hp and run everything else on the boat (lights, GPS, radio, etc.) I typically will plug in the trickle charger when in the slip and I'm going to be away from the boat for a while. The only time I ever had problems was when one of the kids left a cabin light on, I forgot to flip the switch on the panel when I left, and didn't hook up the charger. Next weekend, no start. My fault, not the batteries. Was able to charge it back up and haven't had a problem since. Assuming that you are getting nothing when pushing the start button, I'd check some of the other suggestions out there regarding faulty switches and/or bad fuses or connections at the engine/starter side. Hopes this helps. Fair winds and clear skies - T J
I've had a single deep-cycle battery on my boat since I got it. I use that battery to start my Honda 15hp and run everything else on the boat (lights, GPS, radio, etc.) I typically will plug in the trickle charger when in the slip and I'm going to be away from the boat for a while. The only time I ever had problems was when one of the kids left a cabin light on, I forgot to flip the switch on the panel when I left, and didn't hook up the charger. Next weekend, no start. My fault, not the batteries. Was able to charge it back up and haven't had a problem since. Assuming that you are getting nothing when pushing the start button, I'd check some of the other suggestions out there regarding faulty switches and/or bad fuses or connections at the engine/starter side. Hopes this helps. Fair winds and clear skies - T J
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ross
Fuse
Had the very same problem this weekend. No electric start on the Honda 9.9, pull started fine. Honda owner's manual steered me to the 20Amp fuse on the engine. Sure enough, fuse was blown. New fuse, all better. Now why the fuse blew. . . .
Had the very same problem this weekend. No electric start on the Honda 9.9, pull started fine. Honda owner's manual steered me to the 20Amp fuse on the engine. Sure enough, fuse was blown. New fuse, all better. Now why the fuse blew. . . .
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