Okay all you spark chasing electron experts, I’m seeking some advice.
Here’s the sequence of events. Took the boat out on the water about three weeks ago. The motor ran great. When I turned on an accessory (bilge pump, washdown, livewell, horn, etc.) my GPS and depthfinder screens would dim. My washdown, for instance, would still work pumping out water, but the screens on my displays would remain dim. This, to me, signifies a short somewhere in my system. I stopped messing with things, ran the motor for a bit longer to let the boat stretch her legs, then put it back on the trailer and proceeded to leave the country for two weeks on a trip.
I came back, and today went to messing with the boat to try and find my short. I cleaned off all my battery leads, and double checked with my Yamaha manual to make sure I have my batteries set up right. They are. I then unsecured all the wires behind the console to let them hang free and separate for inspection. I turned the ignition switch on to give power to the boat, turned on my GPS and depthfinder. I then started by trying to turn on the washdown pump. The screens dimmed again, but this time, turned off all together after a few seconds. I powered them back up, and tried the horn, and the horn didn’t sound (only clicked), and the units powered down again. This time, however, there was no power to my accessory switches at all. When I turned the ignition switch on for power, my Hobbs meter for my motor, volt meter, and such came on still, but my accessories were still not powered. I removed the engine cover and find a blown main fuse. I have two on the motor. The one in the picture has another fuse just like it in that plastic square housing right next to it. That fuse is fine. The one that blew leads out of the motor along with the main bundle into the hull.
Between having to run some errands and get my kids ready for some soccer tonight, that is where I have left my trouble shooting. I know that this is really vague so far, and could be a nu
I would start with the ground buss. Something somewhere isn’t letting current pass like it should. Check all of your grounds from the battery all the way back to each component. Look for the usual corrosion on wires and terminals.
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fix the blown fuse
unplug the Yamaha 10 pin harness that connects the motor to the boat, and then check for problems
you are mixing boat and motor power at the dash somewhere with the gauges and accessories, and you shouldn’t, so unplug th motor to protect it, and then find your boat problem
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Thanks guys. This is exactly what I was looking for. Guidance! I’ll keep ya posted on what I find tomorrow.
You used the term “batteries”. Sounds like your start/run battery is charged and your house battery is dead. Check the voltage on each, disconnect the motor, and work backwards from there. I think you will find something shorted to ground and blew the charging fuse.
Good luck!
ZX
Hey ZX!!! The prize goes to you my friend!! I have to say (to save face here), that I figured this out before I read your response! LOL!! I followed all my wire bundles, and came to the accessory battery twice. So, I thought if I disconnected the whole smash, all leads, and connected only my accessory leads to the starting battery, it would test my power sources, of course. When I did that, and reconnected my 10-pin connection, all the accessories worked, and there was no glitching when I turned various ones on and off. So I connected the battery starting leads, and the charging lead, to the same single starting battery as well. Same result. Everything worked as advertised. My daughters then wanted to honk the boat horn, after I was done fiddling with some wires behind the console (I was looking for good connection points for my radio and such), and the horn didn’t work. In fact, it flashed the lights in my accessory switches instead of sounding the horn. I followed the wires to the back of the tachometer, and found that they were loosely connected. I tightened them up, and the horn worked perfectly. I don’t know if that was a part of the problem, but I did figure that out. So I’m off to Sellsfish because he has a tester/charger we’re going to hook the accessory battery to. It’s only about a year plus old, and I’m hoping it just needs a charge. I don’t know what could have discharged it. But realize, this motor has only run a handful of times in the past year plus with my new job and all the training. So it has sat A LOT more than it has been used.
After fully charging the battery, and giving it a test, the boat seems to be back in working order. No noticeable shorts, and everything working as it should except for my trim tab motor, but that’s just a bad motor. Thanks you guys for your help and guidance. I may still have been out there chasing wires without it. Thanks also to Sellsfish for the loan of the battery charger and tester.