Last Thursday after a short run, I cut the big motor off and noticed a plume of thick brown/yellow smoke coming from under the motor cover. My son grabbed the extinguiser and I took the cover off, but there was no fire .... just stinky electrical smoke, and it dissapeared in a few minutes. We fished awhile, then I started the motor and it ran fine. After a few hours we ran back to ramp no problem.

On Monday i took it into the shop. The tech called me and said it was the regulator/rectifier. Said I was lucky that it didn't catch on fire. The total bill was $385! I have the replaced part - it was truly cooked. The housing where the wires exit was melted, wires were burned, with melted insulation.

Motor is a 1995 Johnson Fast Strike 150.

Just wanted to share a war story from the trenches of boat ownership...