Outboard suddenly died.........BANG !

[Jeff Ritsema]

Boy, wish I could. My hunch is that it happened while on shore power and using the 1-2-both-off switch. But, why? No clue.

[deacm]

AYA16 stated:" Cant you move the batteries and add a water tank to the v berth? kill two birds with one mac"

Ahhh.............water tank is already UP there..........it's the curse of having a heavy 90 HP on the transom that forced me to get weight forward.

[deacm]

Problem solved...........it was just an errant fuse that blew for no real good reason (I hope). Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas.

[windquest]

If it happens again you can grab a peice of wire and run it from one end of the fuse holder to the other, tape or wedge the old fuse in to hold together. A little sketchy though if the fuse blows for a reason

[Frank C]

Cant you move the batteries and add a water tank to the v berth?
kill two birds with one mac

It's a classic Mac conundrum:
- batteries forward to aid weight distribution;
- or batteries aft to reduce the 'distance-resistance.'

My dealer objected when I asked for just the house battery to be mounted at the 26X v-berth, arguing that it's better to have them co-located, aft-galley. It reduces heavy cable runs and resistance, and it's better to concentrate all that weight at center-hull. He also observed that a fresh water system and a healty choice of ground tackle would provide ample forward ballast.

Even our larger outboards are still sized about like the large motorcycles. A 10-pound motorcycle battery could easly start these outboards, and could be located near the transom for short wires and dedicated duty. It would make for a much easier mod of Deac's present configuration. Both of his forward batteries could be dedicated as a big house bank. That heavy bilge cable to the transom - probably weighing as much as the small battery - becomes redundant.

[DLT]

If it happens again you can grab a peice of wire and run it from one end of the fuse holder to the other, tape or wedge the old fuse in to hold together. A little sketchy though if the fuse blows for a reason

Bad idea!!!
I am normally open to all sorts of wild ideas, but I gotta draw the line somewhere, and this is way over any line I'd draw...

A fuse blows for a reason.(period)

If could be that the problem was with the fuse itself, and/or it just got cycled one to many times... Well, no problem, replacing it solves the problem. But, even here, there was a reason...

If you keep blowing fuses, then you ruled out an issue with the fuse. You ARE drawing more current than the fuses are designed to permit. FIND OUT WHY...

Maybe you just underestimated the load, and upping the fuse size is all you need to do. This is often ok, provided the wire is sized properly...

If you are drawing more current than the wire is sized for, then you have a fire hazard. THIS IS BAD! shorting a fuse just perpetuates the problem...

The only worse idea I've heard is to stick a live .22 caliber shell in place of the fuse. But, I think Mythbusters covered this one...

[aya16]

dlt have to disagree a little here. First off the engines do not come with a fuse from the factory, and were talking about bypassing the fuse to get the engine started. If there was a problem with starter or something else that caused the fuse to blow then that would be noticed as soon as you try and start the motor. But there is another solution and that would be to have a portable jump starter unit on hand. One problem when useing the portable would be the current draw to start the engine with that long of a cable run. It wouldnt work. You would have to jump directly to the motor.
by placeing the hot wire to the starter hot. Or pull start the engine, The problem doesnt end there.
because the engine needs to be conected to the battery at all times or you burn out the alternator/rectifier when its running. so a bypass wire for the fuse would have to be installed to maintain that connection. a smaller gauge wire would work. If there is fuel injection involved then again the engine wont start unless some current is reaching the engine before you start it. (as in pull starting). Now all of this would be to get you home if something happened a few miles at sea.
The real solution would be a shorter run to the starting battery without a fuse. By moving the batterys so far away it created its own problem.
A twenty pound battery in the back of the boat would not effect ballance.
A smaller starter battery wired to perko switch with its own dedicated wire to the engine would solve all the problems.

Its best to know your system and be able to trouble shoot quickly.
Because a fuse has been installed doesnt mean its suposed to be there.
you wont find on many motors if at all that have fuse between the starter and the battery. A fused link sometimes but not a fuse. The power draw from a starter will change all the time. when its hot it will draw more power, if it is old it will draw more. If the engine is warm and the starter is cold it will draw less. A fuse doesnt know this when you hit the limit of the fuse it will just blow. If someone wants a fuse in line there then a resetable breaker would be better. But I still say a closer battery is the solution.

[aya16]

double post so Ill say something else here.
In my case if I lost twenty pounds then putting the battery back would offset the weight problem.

[DLT]

ok... Maybe I should have payed more attention to the whole thread... I gotta admit that I breezed through most of it... The suggestion to short a fuse just sorta leaped out at me... If we're talking about a fuse that doesn't need to be there, then ok maybe you can get away with shorting accross the fuse...

But, it seems like we're talking about a battery bank mounted in the bow being used to start a stern mounted motor. Wow, that's a whole nuther bad idea, which I assume has been dealt with...

Bottom line, though, I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with an unfused run of wire stretching the full length of the boat... If its big enough to handle starting current loads, then its big enough to carry lots of electricity to a fault and start a fire real quick... If it isn't big enough, then its a fire hazard all in itself... Yuck... I think I'd figure out a way to mount at least the starter battery closer to the motor...

[Catigale]

....i havent used 22 rounds as fuses in at least 2 seasons...44 mags fit better on my boat

[deacm]

Ok.............six weeks later the same thing happened ..the 100 amp fuse blew!! Grrrr. If it was a short, why would it only happen once in about every 30 starts? The only time it happens is when I' m turning the ignition key on and the only thing it effects is the engine starter and the motor tilt........the rest of the electronics are fine. I guess I'll go to a 150 amp fuse and see if that does something other than melting the hull

[DLT]

Talk to your motor dealer or the factory. Your starter may well draw more then 100 amps.

I don't think I have a fuse between the starter battery and the starter. If its there, its internal to the motor itself...

[aya16]

If its a short? your right it would happen all the time unless there is a lose wire that sometimes gets grounded. Putting a 150 amp fuse in place of the 100amp will tell you that you have an ocasional short, because it will blow too. But the starter like I said before will draw some major power if it cranks for a long time, or it sticks a little from sitting.
I think frank has a good idea about a small starting battery near the engine. Even if its for a short time because if the engine is isolated from the rest of the power demands you have on board ( perko switch) and the fuse still blows you took the engine out of the trouble shooting part.
Back in the old days when we kids used to street race (not me) we used to install the battery in the trunk for more weight on the rear wheels, never did anyone install a fuse. and the engines would crank over alot slower.

If you still feel you should keep your current set up you might try larger
wires for less resistence. If you want to see for your self how much power you lose when trying to start your engine, Install a 12 gauge wire
where the fuse is now and watch it fry as someone turns the key over.
it will melt in seconds I bet.
good luck

[Frank C]

Pursuing my earlier plan, I did buy a second, giant, group 31 deep-cycle marine batt (Walmart, 115ah, ~$65). Haven't iyet nstalled it since home improvements are trumping boat improvements (temporarily). But the plan is replacing the factory starter batt with a pair of deep cycles as the house bank. They'll both fit under the aft-galley seat with just minor trimming of that hatch opening. Also have a Link 1000 battery monitor (ala Duane), and plan to fabricate a buss-box (ala Alex).

Walmart also sells a Garden Tractor battery for 20 bucks, about one-third the size of a car battery. I'm thinking of mounting one of those in the way-back, with short cables to the outboard. Long cables still run to the house bank, but switched out of the engine circuit, and also hidden behind the battery combiner ... the long run for charging the house bank, or to boost the Tractor batt in emergencies. The mini-starter battery should always get "first thirst " from the alternator, but should begin sharing with the house bank within minutes.

[Night Sailor]

Keep in mind gentlemen, when thinking of downsizing start batteries, two other things. Your tilt mechanism also uses the same power source so you need capacity for that also. And, smaller batteries seem to degrade faster over time, with or without use.

I assume you are keeping in mind that batteries on the same bank should be the same age, size, and type for proper charging, probably even if a combiner is used.