Ouch! Just picked up my boat from the shop...

[JWP]

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...

[Bassmeister]

Evidently something burned thru and kept it from catching fire!! They can burn pretty good!! That stops the engine from charging, so if you don't run too far you can usually make it back to shore on the battery.

[SEAHORSE]

Did you have, or ever in the past, wing nuts fastening the battery cables instead of the factory required lockwashers and hex nuts?

[oldfishinfool]

so your not supposed to use the wing nuts that come on the battery? if not why? oldfishinfool

[JWP]

Yep, there's wingnuts. Not sure if they're on trolling or cranking battery. I will check.

Also, I saw the instructions for the new part (from CDI electronics of alabama). It said "Do not install with maintenance-free battery". My cranker is maintenance free. What's up with that?

My tech said nothing about wingnuts or maintenance free batteries.

One more thing... Is the cranking battery a standard auto battery? Maybe I can switch it out with another standard battery from my fleet of junk cars.

[Bassmeister]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by oldfishinfool &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so your not supposed to use the wing nuts that come on the battery? if not why? oldfishinfool </TD></TR></TABLE>
T, if ya got 'em on your starting battery, get 'em off there! They have the tendency to work loose and cause spikes that will harm an EMM.

[SEAHORSE]

From an Evinrude service manual, plus the factory has preached this and taught this to mechanics for over 20 years.


Connections

IMPORTANT: <U></U>Connect the battery positive (+)
cable to the battery positive (+) post FIRST. Connect
the battery negative (–) cable to the battery
negative (–) post LAST.

Install a starwasher on the threaded battery post.
Stack cables from the outboard, then cables from
accessories. Finish this connection with a hex nut.

IMPORTANT: <U></U>

Do not use wing nuts to fasten
ANY battery cables. Wing nuts can loosen and
cause electrical system damage not covered
under warranty.

Tighten all connections securely.

[Bassmeister]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SEAHORSE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">From an Evinrude service manual, plus the factory has preached this and taught this to mechanics for over 20 years.


Connections

IMPORTANT: <U></U>Connect the battery positive (+)
cable to the battery positive (+) post FIRST. Connect
the battery negative (–) cable to the battery
negative (–) post LAST.

Install a starwasher on the threaded battery post.
Stack cables from the outboard, then cables from
accessories. Finish this connection with a hex nut.

IMPORTANT: <U></U>

Do not use wing nuts to fasten
ANY battery cables. Wing nuts can loosen and
cause electrical system damage not covered
under warranty.

Tighten all connections securely. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Hummm thats a new one on me 'Hoss. I'll check mine and see what's I got. LS!!

[oldfishinfool]

learn something new everday. thats why i like this board, i know a couple of times it has saved me on mechanical problems. my hat off to all the guru's on this board. oldfishinfool