BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

On 09 Jun 2004 05:08:44 GMT, obull (CCred68046)
wrote:

This problem comes up over and over again in the newsgroups and boating boards
and NO ONE has answered it...

A lot of older outboards came with un-regulated charging systems and I have
one.
I read about people reporting that their voltage had risen to 16+ volts. Last

snip

o be an answer to this. Could something
cause three VOM's to read incorrectly?

You kind of helped me answer a question I had not asked. Thanks. I
recently bought two 6 volt solar cells from Walmart and wired them in
series to charge my battery on my little boat. Since my motor does not
have any hookups to charge the battery I had to think of something.
Nothing sucks worse than being out fishing at night and having your
lights go out. Since I only use my boat for a few hours each week the
sun has plenty of time to recharge from what little use I give it.

But what had me worried was that in bright sunlight the cells were
putting out a combined 16 volts. I thought that might fry my fish
finder and although it is a cheap one, I can't afford to replace it.
Since reading the replies to your post I feel more assured that 200
milliamps at 16 volts from a couple solar cells are not a serious
threat to a fish finder. If your equipment can handle 16 volts at 5
amps I should be in the clear. Or am I wrong?