Battery Hook up wrong
 

I did. I admit it. Got in a hurry and hooked the battery cables up
wrong. Heard a hiss and a little smoke by the alternator. Unhooked it
and took it up to the shop to get it bench tested. They said it was
putting out 50amps and nothing was wrong with it. Anything else I
should look at?

wrote:
I did. I admit it. Got in a hurry and hooked the battery cables up
wrong. Heard a hiss and a little smoke by the alternator. Unhooked it
and took it up to the shop to get it bench tested. They said it was
putting out 50amps and nothing was wrong with it. Anything else I
should look at?

I'd check all wiring, and check it well. Fire on a boat is a scary
thing!

Thanks atl. any other mech parts I might need to worry about? Gonna
check the wires real good when I get to the house.

wrote:
Thanks atl. any other mech parts I might need to worry about? Gonna
check the wires real good when I get to the house.

What type of engine? Outboard, I/O?

1999 SeaRay 180 Bowrider,
3.0L Merc 135hp I/O

Anything sensitive to the +/- mix-up such as stereo and other electronic
items. As for your alt... smoke isn't a good thing and I bet the diodes got
partly fried and sooner or later it's going to die. If the diodes short out
then you will have a lot more SMOKE! Just hope you are close to shore!


wrote in message
oups.com...
I did. I admit it. Got in a hurry and hooked the battery cables up
wrong. Heard a hiss and a little smoke by the alternator. Unhooked it
and took it up to the shop to get it bench tested. They said it was
putting out 50amps and nothing was wrong with it. Anything else I
should look at?

On Thu, 5 May 2005 18:58:10 -0400, "Woodchuck"
wrote:

Anything sensitive to the +/- mix-up such as stereo and other electronic
items. As for your alt... smoke isn't a good thing and I bet the diodes got
partly fried and sooner or later it's going to die. If the diodes short out
then you will have a lot more SMOKE! Just hope you are close to shore!

And we all know that if you let the smoke out, it's broken.

Later,

Tom

Had the Alternator bench tested. Putting out 50amps. No problem witht
he Alternator. checked all the wires in the area I saw some smoke. They
all look solid with no burn marks. Boat starts fine and all guages
including the volts look good. I am at a loss.

if all seems good then you probably don't have a real problem. But I
would bet there is a wire that may have the insulation burnt off it
....somewhere. Possibly a fusable link that got hot enough to start to
melt (that's what it's made to do" but didn't burn through all the way.
And usually it would be in main output line that attachs fromt he back
of the alternator to the Bat. cable end of the starter solonoid. if
the wire DOES burn though, it will shut the alternator and/or ignition
down, but in general isn't a fire hazard.

Thanks tim,
Gave it a good looking at last night. Everything looked good. Was gonna
take her out this weekend to give her a try but the wifes birthday and
mothersday has filled it up. I will let you know how it goes.

If you come up with anything else let me know.
BPG