Boat trouble

[badbrad]

I'll try to make this as short as posssible. I went to the lake to try night fishing the other night but after launching my boat, to my surprise it could not get it to. Wouldn't turn over at all. Thinking it was my starting battery, I tried jumping the battery with cables. To make a long story short.....I never could get the boat started and have since learned my starter was bad. Here's my new problem.

While floating in the water, I tried to troll back to my trailer, and as luck would have it.....The DARMN trolling motor would not work either. No power to it at all.

My starting battery and trolling batteries are seperate, so I don't understand why I had no power. I had charged the batteries earlier in the evening before leaving for the lake.

When I got the boat home, I hooked the batteries back to my charger. They were showing full. Still had no power. When I took the boat in to have the starter replaced, I was talking with the mechanic about my trolling motor problem, when I demonstrated, the trolling motor sort of worked. The power was very weak and wether it was on 12v or 24v the speed never changed.

I really don't know what to do. The mechanic diagnosed the starter problem, but can't figure the trolling motor out. Could it be a bad switch, or plug? Or is the problem with my batteries.

I hope I've explained my problem well enough for some of you guys to help me out. I would appreciate anyones help. I hope I can get back on the water soon..............

[labill]

Brad.....to eliminate the batteries try measuring each individually with a volt/ohmmeter. Put it on dc 15 volts, the batteries should read at least 12 1/2 to just under 13 volts if fully charged. If they read good, start looking for corroded battery posts, loose wires, tighten all wing nuts. Be a good idea to check water levels in your batteries ,too. Check fuses or breakers in your battery ciircuits, sometimes they lose continuity and need to be replaced, usually in the cranking leads and trolling motor wires. Let us know what you find when you check it out. One more thing, check the voltage on your battery posts when it's hooked up to your battery charger, and record the voltage you read, and include it on your next post. Its odd that two unrelated curcuit problems surfaced at the same time.

[TAZ]

Brad - I would start by checking the voltage coming from the battery. Then check to see if it is the same at the switch and motor. I'm guessing batterys ! You can check the switch with a meter or even by jumping around it . Will the motor turn by hand? Maybe a bad bearing. Check to see if it has line wrapped around the shaft under the prop. It will cut the seal out real quick. Hopefully it will be a battery and not a stalled motor. One more thing to check would be all connections. Hope this helps!

[VietVet68]

When I got the boat home, I hooked the batteries back to my charger. They were showing full. Still had no power. When I took the boat in to have the starter replaced, I was talking with the mechanic about my trolling motor problem, when I demonstrated, the trolling motor sort of worked. The power was very weak and wether it was on 12v or 24v the speed never changed.

I really don't know what to do. The mechanic diagnosed the starter problem, but can't figure the trolling motor out. Could it be a bad switch, or plug? Or is the problem with my batteries.

Is there any possible way you could have mistakenly reversed your leads on your trolling motor?

[badbrad]

Appreciate you all getting back with me. I to thought it was strange to have two circuit problems at the same time as well. VV68...I'm almost certain I have not reversed my leads. The battery post's are very clean...no corrosion at all. When I check the outlet at the front of the boat, I'm reading 12 volts but only 20 volts on the other. I'll check the water in the batteries and the other things you all suggested. To be honest I bought the boat this past November, I'm not even sure how old the batteries are. They have held a charge good and the trolling motor has worked fine up until my trip out last week. I'll get it back tomorrow and am planning on staying with it till I figure something out. I'll keep you posted. I guess If I had to pick a weekend to have my boat down this was a good one. Thanks.

[papasage]

go to ths site for boat trouble http://www.themarinedoctor.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pla world of info on boat trouble

[stray]

If this is an aluminum boat they may have use the boat as a common ground for both batteries. Or on fiberglass may run a common ground wire. I would check the all the connections on the ground side first. I’ve found that 80% of the time when you have multiple problems that shouldn’t be related it is a ground problem. If it is an aluminum boat, I’m thinking that both grounds may run to one bolt that may not be tight or not making good connection. This could cause the starter motor to run on low voltage, and burn it up also.

[reelcrappie]

If the wiring on your boat is using the boat as a ground I would suggest that you run a common ground wire. Using the boat for a ground can lead to electrolist [how do you spell that] problems. It's more likely to occur in salt water but could possibly happen in freshwater.

[badbrad]

I'll try your suggestions out and let you know how things go. Thanks for the help.

[badbrad]

Just wanted to say thanks again for the help and suggestions with regard to my boat trouble.

My new starter has the motor running again and my trolling motor fell victim to a bad switch. Should be easy to repair.

I guess the fact that both went out at the same time just goes to show you what kind of luck I have.....Gloom despair is agony on me!

I'm ready for the water now!