70hp Evinrude question
 

Just replaced the 'voltage regulator' on my 1981 Evinrude 3 cylinder
70hp. I determined I had A.C. input and no D.C. output. The mechanic at
the local shop said "Let me test it with my meter, It's just 4 diodes
in a heatsink". Then he says "Yup, it's bad, the diodes are open".
So I bought a new 'Regulator'. Upon doing my own bench testing, I find
he is exactly correct, it is just 4 diodes. So how the hell is it
'Regulating'? I seem to find there is NO regulation at all, and often
find my battery voltage above 15 volts. This seems like a poor design,
and hard on batteries also.

Anyone have an insider comment? I am guessing the newer motors do
actually regulate the voltage, or do we have to buy a Japanese product
to get that feature?

Correct. It is a rectifier- not a regulator. Newer motors have regulators.
You can turn on the lights to keep the voltage down.

-W

"gudmundur" wrote in message
...
Just replaced the 'voltage regulator' on my 1981 Evinrude 3 cylinder
70hp. I determined I had A.C. input and no D.C. output. The mechanic at
the local shop said "Let me test it with my meter, It's just 4 diodes
in a heatsink". Then he says "Yup, it's bad, the diodes are open".
So I bought a new 'Regulator'. Upon doing my own bench testing, I find
he is exactly correct, it is just 4 diodes. So how the hell is it
'Regulating'? I seem to find there is NO regulation at all, and often
find my battery voltage above 15 volts. This seems like a poor design,
and hard on batteries also.

Anyone have an insider comment? I am guessing the newer motors do
actually regulate the voltage, or do we have to buy a Japanese product
to get that feature?

gudmundur writes:

So how the hell is it
'Regulating'? I seem to find there is NO regulation at all, and often
find my battery voltage above 15 volts. This seems like a poor design,
and hard on batteries also.

You must think in terms of current, not voltage, when it comes to such
issues. Did you measure the current?

You trust the voltmeter? Has it been calibrated?

The *battery* regulates the voltage from any current-limited source, and
small outboard alternators are typically quite limited in current
delivery (5 or 10 amps, less at higher voltages). Unlikely that the
alternator could deliver enough current at an elevated voltage to be
"hard" on the battery.

Fully charging a 12 volt lead-acid battery requires around 16 volts.

Hard on your battery? Easy enough to test with an ammeter. Get the
battery fully charged, run the engine for a while, and measure the
charging current after it levels off. A big battery can take quite a
few amps in, on top of a full charge, and not be harmed.

"Hard on a battery" is a 100 amp automotive alternator sticking on the
high voltage. That will cook a battery.

On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 03:00:28 -0000, (gudmundur)
wrote:

Just replaced the 'voltage regulator' on my 1981 Evinrude 3 cylinder
70hp. I determined I had A.C. input and no D.C. output. The mechanic at
the local shop said "Let me test it with my meter, It's just 4 diodes
in a heatsink". Then he says "Yup, it's bad, the diodes are open".
So I bought a new 'Regulator'. Upon doing my own bench testing, I find
he is exactly correct, it is just 4 diodes. So how the hell is it
'Regulating'? I seem to find there is NO regulation at all, and often
find my battery voltage above 15 volts. This seems like a poor design,
and hard on batteries also.

Anyone have an insider comment? I am guessing the newer motors do
actually regulate the voltage, or do we have to buy a Japanese product
to get that feature?

It's not a regulator - it's a rectifier.

What do you mean "hard" on batteries?

Later,

Tom

Old batteries were leaky and could sink the extra current to some degree.
These newer batteries don;t and the old charging systems cause the voltage
on the system to rise. 16v is abd for elecronics and lightbulbs, and the
battery water (acid) will "boil away" faster.


-W

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message It's
not a regulator - it's a rectifier.

What do you mean "hard" on batteries?

Later,

Tom

Clams Canino writes:

Old batteries were leaky and could sink the extra current to some
degree. These newer batteries don;t and the old charging systems cause
the voltage on the system to rise.

How has the basic lead-acid battery changed in the last, oh, 100 years?
How were they ever "leaky"?

Richard J Kinch wrote:
gudmundur writes:


So how the hell is it
'Regulating'? I seem to find there is NO regulation at all, and often
find my battery voltage above 15 volts. This seems like a poor design,
and hard on batteries also.


You must think in terms of current, not voltage, when it comes to such
issues. Did you measure the current?

You trust the voltmeter? Has it been calibrated?

The *battery* regulates the voltage from any current-limited source, and
small outboard alternators are typically quite limited in current
delivery (5 or 10 amps, less at higher voltages). Unlikely that the
alternator could deliver enough current at an elevated voltage to be
"hard" on the battery.

Fully charging a 12 volt lead-acid battery requires around 16 volts.

Hard on your battery? Easy enough to test with an ammeter. Get the
battery fully charged, run the engine for a while, and measure the
charging current after it levels off. A big battery can take quite a
few amps in, on top of a full charge, and not be harmed.

"Hard on a battery" is a 100 amp automotive alternator sticking on the
high voltage. That will cook a battery.

With Richard on this, the older 2 stroke "charging" systems had no
regulator as such & yes could show a high voltage on a voltmeter,
however they also put out bugger all power (being a combination of volts
& amps). A few amps & as Richard alludes it takes voltage AND amps to
cook a battery, so don't over react.

Clams confirms as much when he suggests if you turn the nav lights on
the voltage drops & the nav lights are what??? 3 amps??? so even a load
of 3 amps can kill the output of the under flywheel charging systems,
it's not going to harm your battery with such a low power output.


K


So the Krause lie of the day is this thread where he denies being a
stalker & below are just a few of his posts where he admits it!!!!


Just a couple of Madcow's complaints against Krause, she was an open
honest & smart woman of great value to the NG so of course Krause had to
set about doing all he could to get rid of her, sadly because some of
you cowardly men are too chicken hearted to call him, in her case he
succeeded.

She covered his behaviour over time in this post;

Not so funny if he were to publish your real name on a newsgroup,
threaten to shoot you on sight, claim he prowls the Baltimore harbor
looking for my boat, and lives within a short driving or boating
distance of where I live. Not to mention all the stories he's made
up about me, including accusations of fraud to get government money.

Well, bb, would you consider the following to be 'stalking'?


Krause's answer is the typical stalker sexual deviants answer of; "it's
her fault she didn't protect herself from me enough" He's scum,
dangerous lying scum.

Dolores published her name, address and telephone number on her USPS
chapter web page. It was there for quite a while, along with photos of
Dolores, her boat and her boat's numbers. She's also published the name
of her marina, the name of her apartment condo building, its location
and much more. She directed readers here to visit her USPS web page, so
I did.


I haven't looked at it for a long, long time, but I suspect it no longer
shows her address and phone number.



Well, since MadCow kept her boat in a busy boater harbor area I
frequent, and she described both her marina and condo tower in great
detail, it didn't take much to see her on her boat once. Now *that* was
scary. And I certainly did save her posts. She's a litigious ass, and
you neve


and she described both her marina and condo tower in great
detail


Oh...my dislike for Kow stemmed from her disclosure that she purchased a
boat with the proceeds from a settlement from a trumped-up sexual
harassment case.


So beware; this is not just some lying union bully he is a
genuinely dangerous piece of crap.







K

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 01:00:34 -0500, Richard J Kinch
wrote:

Clams Canino writes:

Old batteries were leaky and could sink the extra current to some
degree. These newer batteries don;t and the old charging systems cause
the voltage on the system to rise.

How has the basic lead-acid battery changed in the last, oh, 100 years?
How were they ever "leaky"?

They "leaked" current internally. New lead acid batteries are built
to different specs what with new plating and housing technology.

The basic principle is still the same though.

Later,

Tom

On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 03:42:44 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

Old batteries were leaky and could sink the extra current to some degree.
These newer batteries don;t and the old charging systems cause the voltage
on the system to rise. 16v is abd for elecronics and lightbulbs, and the
battery water (acid) will "boil away" faster.

Makes sense - thanks.

Later,

Tom

SWS,
I remember when they said you could not store your battery on a concrete
floor or it would discharge. They recommended storing the battery on wood.
Is this what you are talking about when you say old batteries were "leaky".


"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 01:00:34 -0500, Richard J Kinch
wrote:

Clams Canino writes:

Old batteries were leaky and could sink the extra current to some
degree. These newer batteries don;t and the old charging systems cause
the voltage on the system to rise.

How has the basic lead-acid battery changed in the last, oh, 100 years?
How were they ever "leaky"?

They "leaked" current internally. New lead acid batteries are built
to different specs what with new plating and housing technology.

The basic principle is still the same though.

Later,

Tom