"TomC" wrote in message
...
FWIW. In my 2000 Sea Ray 185, the thin red fused (10amp) wire from the
battery is for the amfm radio memory. I believe it does create a small
drain because the radio needs some juice for the memory.
TomC


Hmmm, standard practice is for the thin yellow wire to be the unswitched
12V+ source for memory presets, and the red wire to be the switched 12V+
source that actually powers the unit.

could be, Tom. But even a radio's memory shouldn't drain a fresh
battery in that length of time.


TomC wrote:
FWIW. In my 2000 Sea Ray 185, the thin red fused (10amp) wire from the
battery is for the amfm radio memory. I believe it does create a small
drain because the radio needs some juice for the memory.
TomC

wrote in article
. com...

wrote:
OK, assuming the alternator is good. you need to check all your
connections. You've probably replaced everything, but double check
stuff anyhow. some wires maybe attached to the battery terminals, that
may have been left off. It's a wild shot, but I'm mentioning it anyway.

another thing, you may have gotten a bogus battery. charge overnight
on a slow charger then take it in and have it tested. it could have
come from the store with a weak cell. Just because it's "new" doesn't
mean it's "good"
But still, I would think that even with a bad battery, your volt guage
should still be above 13v when running.

an old rule of thumb is a decent charge when running is your alternator
will put out a rating of 13.8-14.2 v. providing you have a decent
battery.


Christine wrote:
As far as I know, the allternator was fine before this happened.
Replaced
the battery due to negligence (previous owner left it in the boat all
winter).

Mike



wrote in message
ups.com...
Did it seem to be working fine before you changed the battery?

probably not.

I'd say you need to take the alternator to a competent shop and
have it
tested.

If it's a Mando, or Prestolite/Motorola, the shop will know whats
going
on unlike taking it to a parts store for testing, because they
don't
hook up like conventional automotive units.



Christine wrote:
Vessel: 1999 Maxum 1900SR
Engine: 4.3l Mercruiser w/Alpha I drive
Issue: Battery is being drained by ____(something).

Details: Installed a new 550 CCA Marine Battery about 3 weeks
ago. Ran
great when first installed. Boat sat for 2 weeks, tried to start
-
"click".
Nothing. Was able to jumpstart from the truck, ran it for about
15 min
top
charge. Voltmeter on the boat dashboard reads 10.5 volts.
Hand-held
voltmeter at battery reads 13.98; test at alternater reads the
same.
Took
battery back to dealer & had tested. Battery OK, fully charged.

So, I think the alternator is OK. No visible frayed wires &
such. My
gut
tells me that the voltmeter in the dash is suspect since it reads
differently than the hand-helds.

Any sugggestions as to what could be draining the battery or
anything
else
typically to look for?

Thanks,
Mike



OK, so it sounds like your alt. is working correctly. a "volt meter"
is a simple thing. it usually has a ground wire which grounds the
meter, eventually to the battery. and the positive side has a "red"
wire that is attached to any switchable source. so..with key off, it's
dead(0) with key on, you have battery voltage,( 12.6 v.+/-) and when
running and charging
(14 v +/-) the volt meter could be defective, like it's had water in it
from rain water etc., but it shouldn't have any effect on the battery
draining . because when the power is shutoff. the guage is also shut
off with no current to feed it.off. now, if you shut the key off, and
still have a reading in the gage, then you may have power leaking to
it, via a defective relay somewhere. it does sound like you're working
int he right direction.

Here's something else you can try. another wild shot, but....

This is a fred flintsone alternator test. wit all hooked up, and the
key off. take a screw driver and place it against the back housing of
the alternator, where the back bearing is. and see if you have a
magnetic draw. there may be a slight amount due to residual magnetism
in the alternator field rotor, but it should be almost nothing. Turn on
the key and try again. if you have a pretty good pull ( it won't suck
it out of your hand) then you may have voltage coming from your key
switch or again, a shorted relay that is causing power to be fed to the
alternator. and the rotor, will take a 4-6 amp draw. thus a drian. It
would be like coming home and before getting out of your car, shut off
the car then turn the key back on and go to the house. alternator is
energized and pulling current. if that's the case hten pull the wires
(Motorola well say "exc." Delco will be wire "1" on the plug end, and
Mando will be the "purple" wire) use a test light, hook to ground (Bat
-) or direct to engine, and test the wire . if you have power on the
field or "exc." wire with key off, then you either have a defective key
switch (unlikely) or a bad relay (somewhere) or that wire kissed and
mated up to a Pos. "hot" wire.

More search and siezure....

you made mention of a thin red wire attached to the battery with a
fuse. That wire is the main hot wire that goes to the main harness ie
where the key gets it's power. if the fuse (30A?) blows, you probably
wouldn't have any power to anything.

I hope my ramblings are of some help.
-




On 6/19/06, Mike Salome wrote:
Thanks for your suggestions. We removed the battery &
took it back to the place of purchase, where it was
tested and found to be OK. So the battery itself is
not the issue.

I still think the volt gauge in the boat's dashboard
is suspect, since it only reads 10.5 volts with the
engine running, and our hand-held voltmeter reads
13.98 at both the alternator & at the battery (both
tests done with engine running).

In addition to the red positive main battery cable,
there is a thin red wire with a fuse that's attached
to the positive side of the battery. I wonder if this
wire is connected to the in-dash volt gauge, and if
it's damaged somewhere along the line, thus giving the
in-dash voltmeter a bad reading -- and possibly
causing the battery to drain or to not receive a full
charge from the alternator. I checked the fuse and
it's OK. Do you know if in-dash volt gauges are
normally hooked up directly to the battery or if
they're hooked up directly to the alternator?

Mike

a lot of confussion on "red" wire.

interesting to know that your radio would draw .5a while off. that's
wierd! I dont' ahve any master breakers in my boat. and I have a
programmable radio in my boat. and the only time that my battery has
been down is when my daughter left a seperate 500W (questionable power
to say the least!) Graphic EQ turned on. I wired that up with the
rasio, and cured that...real quick!

I've seen main feed "red" wires hooked right straight to the battery
post from the factory, and I've seen theem also hooked up in the GM
automotive conventional style... hooked to the starter solonoid to
catch the battery cable end.

hmmm. different engineers have different ideas.....

RG wrote:
"TomC" wrote in message
...
FWIW. In my 2000 Sea Ray 185, the thin red fused (10amp) wire from the
battery is for the amfm radio memory. I believe it does create a small
drain because the radio needs some juice for the memory.
TomC


Hmmm, standard practice is for the thin yellow wire to be the unswitched
12V+ source for memory presets, and the red wire to be the switched 12V+
source that actually powers the unit.

wrote in message
oups.com...
a lot of confussion on "red" wire.

interesting to know that your radio would draw .5a while off. that's
wierd!

I suspect the .5 amp draw had more to do with being in standby mode waiting
for an IR command from the remote than it did with holding the memory
presets. Sort of like what your TV draws when it's turned off but waiting
for an IR command from the remote. But since the standby mode was the only
"off" mode that existed, there was no way to really tell. The stereo was a
recent vintage Alpine unit. But the .5 amp was definitely real. Half amp
showing on the digital VOM with the stereo connected and 0 amps when you
remove the inline fuse. I couldn't believe it either, so I called Alpine
tech support just to see if maybe mine was defective, and they confirmed
that the half amp draw was about right. Not a big deal in a car that gets
started every day. But for a boat on the trailer, that's 12 amp-hours a
day, 84 amp-hours per week!. Pretty stupid, really.

I agree that IS stupid...

Confessidly I never would have thought of that...


RG wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
a lot of confussion on "red" wire.

interesting to know that your radio would draw .5a while off. that's
wierd!

I suspect the .5 amp draw had more to do with being in standby mode waiting
for an IR command from the remote than it did with holding the memory
presets. Sort of like what your TV draws when it's turned off but waiting
for an IR command from the remote. But since the standby mode was the only
"off" mode that existed, there was no way to really tell. The stereo was a
recent vintage Alpine unit. But the .5 amp was definitely real. Half amp
showing on the digital VOM with the stereo connected and 0 amps when you
remove the inline fuse. I couldn't believe it either, so I called Alpine
tech support just to see if maybe mine was defective, and they confirmed
that the half amp draw was about right. Not a big deal in a car that gets
started every day. But for a boat on the trailer, that's 12 amp-hours a
day, 84 amp-hours per week!. Pretty stupid, really.

Christine wrote:

Details: Installed a new 550 CCA Marine Battery about 3 weeks ago. Ran
great when first installed. Boat sat for 2 weeks, tried to start - "click".
Nothing. Was able to jumpstart from the truck, ran it for about 15 min top
charge. Voltmeter on the boat dashboard reads 10.5 volts. Hand-held
voltmeter at battery reads 13.98; test at alternater reads the same. Took
battery back to dealer & had tested. Battery OK, fully charged.

So, I think the alternator is OK. No visible frayed wires & such. My gut
tells me that the voltmeter in the dash is suspect since it reads
differently than the hand-helds.

Any sugggestions as to what could be draining the battery or anything else
typically to look for?

Well, your voltmeter might be suspect in terms of the accuracy of the
display, but the bottom line is that the "click" is a problem.

I've personally never had this problem, but I've help deal with this on
a friends boat -- I spent $30 for a blue sea dual battery switch and
$15 for a short battery cable and they've never had another problem. I
would strongly recommend this approach if you don't have the time to
try to track down where the drain to your battery is (I suspect your
stereo as some posters have pointed out). I would just spend $45 and
install a battery switch. The amusing thing is that a dual battery
switch (which will work fine for this application) is cheaper than a
single battery switch. A quick check on overtons.com shows the same
battery switch for $25 (check item number 70446). They don't have any
decent batyttery cables -- I've bought some great battery cables from
custombatterycables.com -- probably want the #2 or 1/0 marine version
with the ring for the switch end and whatever end you need for your
battery.

Good Luck

-Dale

Thanks a lot to everyone who replied with suggestions. I troubleshot the
radio, & a few other areas & never found a significant draw. Took the boat
out today, ran great all day. Played the radio while we were stopped for a
swim, & engine still cranked right up. One of those mysteries, I guess!

The ammeter still only reads 10.5V while running, even at speed. I'm
guessing the meter is bad. Any suggestions on how to get to it? There are
no obvious screws on the dash or underneath the console in which to remove
in order to get to the instrument cluster. See make & model of boat below.

Thanks,
Mike


"Christine" wrote in message
nk.net...
Vessel: 1999 Maxum 1900SR
Engine: 4.3l Mercruiser w/Alpha I drive
Issue: Battery is being drained by ____(something).

Details: Installed a new 550 CCA Marine Battery about 3 weeks ago. Ran
great when first installed. Boat sat for 2 weeks, tried to start -
"click".
Nothing. Was able to jumpstart from the truck, ran it for about 15 min
top
charge. Voltmeter on the boat dashboard reads 10.5 volts. Hand-held
voltmeter at battery reads 13.98; test at alternater reads the same.
Took
battery back to dealer & had tested. Battery OK, fully charged.

So, I think the alternator is OK. No visible frayed wires & such. My gut
tells me that the voltmeter in the dash is suspect since it reads
differently than the hand-helds.

Any sugggestions as to what could be draining the battery or anything else
typically to look for?

Thanks,
Mike

"Christine" wrote in message
k.net...
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied with suggestions. I troubleshot the
radio, & a few other areas & never found a significant draw. Took the
boat
out today, ran great all day. Played the radio while we were stopped for
a
swim, & engine still cranked right up. One of those mysteries, I guess!

The ammeter still only reads 10.5V while running, even at speed. I'm
guessing the meter is bad. Any suggestions on how to get to it? There
are
no obvious screws on the dash or underneath the console in which to remove
in order to get to the instrument cluster. See make & model of boat
below.


An ammeter reads amperage or amps, and a voltmeter reads volts. Either way,
if your gauge is a standard 2 1/8" round gauge, it is probably held to the
dash from behind by a "U"-shaped keeper that is held tight by one or two
nuts on the back of the gauge. Remove the nut(s) and the keeper and the
gauge will pull forward through the dash.

Oh, sorry...it is a voltmeter. And I can probably remove & replace it if I
can figure out how to get to it. Again, no obvious screws on the face of
the dash or underneath it. Anyone have a clue as to how to access the
instrument cluster?

Mike

"RG" wrote in message
m...

"Christine" wrote in message
k.net...
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied with suggestions. I troubleshot
the
radio, & a few other areas & never found a significant draw. Took the
boat
out today, ran great all day. Played the radio while we were stopped
for
a
swim, & engine still cranked right up. One of those mysteries, I guess!

The ammeter still only reads 10.5V while running, even at speed. I'm
guessing the meter is bad. Any suggestions on how to get to it? There
are
no obvious screws on the dash or underneath the console in which to
remove
in order to get to the instrument cluster. See make & model of boat
below.


An ammeter reads amperage or amps, and a voltmeter reads volts. Either
way,
if your gauge is a standard 2 1/8" round gauge, it is probably held to the
dash from behind by a "U"-shaped keeper that is held tight by one or two
nuts on the back of the gauge. Remove the nut(s) and the keeper and the
gauge will pull forward through the dash.

On Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:45:10 GMT, "Christine"
wrote:

Oh, sorry...it is a voltmeter. And I can probably remove & replace it if I
can figure out how to get to it. Again, no obvious screws on the face of
the dash or underneath it. Anyone have a clue as to how to access the
instrument cluster?

Mike

"RG" wrote in message
om...

"Christine" wrote in message
k.net...
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied with suggestions. I troubleshot
the
radio, & a few other areas & never found a significant draw. Took the
boat
out today, ran great all day. Played the radio while we were stopped
for
a
swim, & engine still cranked right up. One of those mysteries, I guess!

The ammeter still only reads 10.5V while running, even at speed. I'm
guessing the meter is bad. Any suggestions on how to get to it? There
are
no obvious screws on the dash or underneath the console in which to
remove
in order to get to the instrument cluster. See make & model of boat
below.


An ammeter reads amperage or amps, and a voltmeter reads volts. Either
way,
if your gauge is a standard 2 1/8" round gauge, it is probably held to the
dash from behind by a "U"-shaped keeper that is held tight by one or two
nuts on the back of the gauge. Remove the nut(s) and the keeper and the
gauge will pull forward through the dash.




All of my instruments are mounted in a panel that is removable. Somewhere
there must be a panel or doorway that would enable access to the
instruments. Some instruments are held in with a threaded ring. If you
posted a picture, there are folks here who could tell you how to do it.

We post lots of pictures over in alt.binaries.pictures.sports.ocean.
--
John H

******************************************
***** Have a Spectacular Day! *****
******************************************