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You my friend are a genius!

I'm pretty sure if it's an electric start you will have capability to charge the batteries when running.

Yes, that would be true, Curious Sailor. It would also be true that if you have a pair of scissors that you will have the capability to cut your lawn.

The issue of course is how long it will take to do it, and how efficient that would be.

Cheers.

seahouse wrote:

I'm pretty sure if it's an electric start you will have capability to charge the batteries when running.

Yes, that would be true, Curious Sailor. It would also be true that if you have a pair of scissors that you will have the capability to cut your lawn.

The issue of course is how long it will take to do it, and how efficient that would be.

Cheers.

seahouse, I'm not sure how you found out that I have been landscaping with scissors however, I have become very proficient and it now takes me no time at all.... Lol

Now on the electric start motors, although I understand charging would depend on run time and output , it should in fact have the capability to charge a battery... Faster than, I guess, a trickle charger or wind generator.. I'm not going to debate though because I've never had anything less than a 40 hp which usually does the trick. (Power boater new to sailing)

That being said, help us out here buddy! Lol

I have an older little 9.9 yamaha and it had been rebuilt..sorta like a frankenmotor from several other units. It is a pull-start and the rebuilder did not put a rectifier on it for charging, so i bought one off of ebay and installed it. Literature ahows that our motors should be able to put out 6 Amps max at 12 Volts. However, my experience shows that occurs when the motor is at high revs only, and when putt-putt-putting, you'll get less output, both Voltage and Amps (current). So yes, technically it will charge and could be a good backup method in a pinch. But realistically, you won't be carrying enough fuel to use the motor for very long at high revs, they have a limiter on them to not allow high revs at idle, and so while it WILL do it, it won't do it well, to flesh out Seahouse's point. You would be far better off getting a solar panel, even portable (and/or a small generator if you also have a battery charger). Hope that helps...

I think to clarify, your battery provides amp-hours, and you need amp-hours to recharge. So if you use 30 amp-hours during the day playing the radio, autopilot, etc. you effectively have to put 30 anp-hours back in to recharge it. At a macimum of 6 amps, that would be 5 hours, and that's why you can't effectively count on using the engine at high revs to do the job. You need a bigger amp output back into the battery, and it will take a generator or solar panels or a shore connection to do that.

I think you misunderstood my post above Curious Sailor, I was not being sarcastic with the scissors metaphor, I was being facetious. And I was confirming your thoughts.

Thanks Vizwhiz, I guess my metaphor didn't cut it (pun intended).

The point is particularly pertinent in the context of this forum (sailboats). It's a common usage pattern (even in a case without any accessory battery drains) to motor out for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes, sail for a while , and motor back in for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes. And repeatedly. The battery will never get fully recharged after each use, and at some point in time will be so far drained that it will fail to start the motor. Forewarned is forearmed.

I completely agree with both of you and I did not mistake the comment as sarcasm.. I thought it was funny..

As for the battery charging I understand the theory but as I said earlier I'm new to smaller motors and sailing (not new to clipping lawns though lol) so my experience has always been with powerboats where the motor runs for extended period and mostly at wot. Even on my power boats though, I always installed a solar trickle charger just to keep everything topped off.. That said, I'm also concerned about battery charging going forward because I have a pull start
-sans- rectifier so there is not even the little bit that I would get from -put-putting- .

I'm either going to get a small generator or perhaps solar panels but will have to do a bit of research first. All I know about solar. Appreciate the advice.