VOLTAGE?
 

never really thought to much about it till i was runnning the boat on friday. my voltage gauge is reading 17volts. does that seem high?

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

yes it's high...put a meter on it... don't rely on the guage alone then go from there...good luck

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

where is the best place to check voltage? meter right on the battery while it is running?

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

Good question...and the answer is to be accurate it should be measured at the battery while running at a normal cruise RPM. According to one Boat Electrical Book I have (Nigel Caulder??), I think the voltage should reach 14.7 volts when under full charging (going from memory here). There will be a drop going to any gauge at the helm due to the wire run, but should be minimal. I'm installing an ACR and getting rid of the simple battery switch. By having a voltage display from the engine side (smartcraft in my case) and a voltage display from a couple of displays (fishfinder/GPS) can watch the voltage level of both batteries (cranking and house).

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

What Bayouboy said and make sure your meter has a fresh battery when yoo put the meter to it.

Make sure all battery connections are clean, including alternator & voltage regulator - it is possible the latter may be on the way out or battery is bad. Maybe deep de-sulfation would solve the battery issue and definitely check your water level if a standard battery...

Good luck - I know you have fish to catch
:D

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

Its usually from dirty battery connections and the regulator can't charge the batteries enough so thinks their low. If it continues check your voltage regulator, you can burn up the batteries.

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

grab a multimeter for 20 bucks. I checked my engine alt output while running, it should be 14.2-14.4 but do check your specific engine alt output, and at the batter(ies). should be a small drop due to resistance. all while running. Next turn off the engine, trim motor up/down, check batts at rest you want to see what that is as well. As well, when at rest (no engine) check the voltage drop at the engine compared to batts. I think I see .2 volts drop which indicates a hell of a good good wiring job and big cables.

Prob good ida to clean all batt connects every couple of months. I used di-electric grease as well, never use wingnuts, use locking nuts on batt connections and posts.

http://www.veradoclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=59.0
-this info came from another site on batteries.

I upgraded to a BEP cluster from a Perko switch, for voltage regulation and isolation. Considered some different approaches-this was the simplest and cleanest.

With above tests you can at least nail down where a problem may lie by PoE :).

-Josh

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

alright finally done rewireing the boat.. time consumeing but well worth it. prolly 300ft of wire just there doing nothing and some was hooked up and hot floating around. all new wire heat shrink connectors and breakers and switches.. here the thing voltage gauge still reading almost 18v? put my meter on the battery while it was running read 14.55vdc. put meter on my wireing harness off the engine that feed 12v to everything reading 14.55vdc while running ... its gotta be a bad gauge right??

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

Sure kinda sounds like it but you have to make sure - don't you have a depth finder that shows voltage too?

Re: VOLTAGE?
 

What's the gauge read with the key on without the motor running?