Electrical Problems...Help!

[shrfdeputy]

My 1995 252 came back from the shop today. It was in to have an amp and subwoofer warrantied. While it was in I had them add a third battery and a charger. While lake testing this evening I would hear an electrical popping sound when I put the boat in gear and started to put throttle forward. My trim gauge would also jump a little. Then when I accelerated the boat would completely die. It will start right back up, and it won’t do it every time. It doesn’t seem to matter if the stereo is on or not, but it seems worse if the stereo is drawing a lot of power. It’s going right back to the shop tomorrow, but it’s not a dedicated boat shop. What are some things that could cause this?

[cmattj]

My 1995 252 came back from the shop today. It was in to have an amp and subwoofer warrantied. While it was in I had them add a third battery and a charger..




. What are some things that could cause this?

Like BBp and myself always ask in the Auto industry when a uncharacteristic issue comes up..

“ Tell me.. have you had anything done recently to your vehicle??”
Sometimes it’s this simple. I’m sure the power source is incorrect and they’ll resolve it.
Keep us posted!

[shrfdeputy]

I'll let you know what comes of it. I watched the volts on the dash this morning when I dropped it off and showed it to the stereo installer. When I put it in gear and start to bring the throttle up the meter dives to zero. It has to be a short in the system somewhere. Hopefully it is something simple. Bull Shoals and TRL trip is in 7 days!

[akorcovelos]

Sounds like something is pulling WAY too much voltage and it's shutting down the ECU.

[shrfdeputy]

Sounds like something is pulling WAY too much voltage and it's shutting down the ECU.

They just found badly worn trim wires at the throttle.

[shrfdeputy]

Three of them to be exact.

[Big Block Power]

Yep. I was going to say it's related to the throttle. Time to pull them and look. Glad they found it. That's nasty!

[SAB220]

Glad you found the problem
BTW - Was the boat designed for a 3rd battery or did you install a new tray, holder, etc. and did you do anything with the boat switch or alternator?

I don't have power on the dock and am considering in 2020, or this fall, running 14g Underground Feeder (UF) wire almost 300 ft ( just under $200 plus connection boxes) through the woods to reach the dock to run my battery tender for a 2 amp radio.

[shrfdeputy]

Glad you found the problem
BTW - Was the boat designed for a 3rd battery or did you install a new tray, holder, etc. and did you do anything with the boat switch or alternator?

I don't have power on the dock and am considering in 2020, or this fall, running 14g Underground Feeder (UF) wire almost 300 ft ( just under $200 plus connection boxes) through the woods to reach the dock to run my battery tender for a 2 amp radio.

My boat was only designed with one battery. We added the second one for peace of mind last year. This year we added a big stereo upgrade that would run my 2nd battery down in a few hours. The 3rd battery was added to the 2nd in parallel (I believe that’s the term) where I essentially have two batteries on switch 2. They don’t seem to think I’ll need a different alternator.

[SAB220]

Yes, parallel. The other term is series where you have several batteries connected to each other and the last battery is connected to the load , i.e. the engine, Series can be described similar to daisy chain.

I think a third battery for me is a a project for next year. I'm told larger amp alternators (>100 amps?) require two belts.

If I remember juice (what we called electronics courses) connecting batteries in parallel increases current (amp-hours). Connecting batteries in series increases voltage, but does not increase amp-hour capacity. The radio amplifiers benefits from parallel circuits.