Trojan Boat Forum

I thought I would describe a strange issue I had this past weekend on my 1977 F30 Express with 2 318's.

I noticed on my weekend outing that my Starboard engine voltmeter was reading 0, no voltage at all

So I headed into my dock, and turned engines off... I tried to start Starboard engine but battery was dead. I tried using the battery combiner for emergencies, and the motor started up. I also noticed that now the volt meter reads more normal. (note that my meters always read really low charging levels for 4 years, so i just ignored it thinking that was just where they displayed)

NOTES: each of my 2 318's has it's own start battery, and these 2 batteries go to Emergency Combiner. I am on shore power, and have a 2 bank charger that keeps them topped off all the time.

To my surprise, when i went to boat today, the engines fired right up and the meters showed a more reasonable reading that i would say is closer to normal.

I would be curious to get feedback on why using the Battery Combiner seemed to "clear things up, reset, etc" my electrical situation.
I was thinking, alternator went bad, belt was slipping or broken, battery was failing, etc....

Thanks!!

If you truly had 0 volts it would not have running . My guess is you have a lose/bad connection some where .using the "Battery Combiner " shook thing up .

Prowler is probably correct on this however, don’t slap your hands together and think this is ‘fixed’. My guess is you have a corrosion and poor connection issue. Electrical connections and marine conditions are not good bedfellows, then throw in the salty ocean breezes. You may want to check your actual voltage at the battery during idle, should see up to 14.? Volts. Then check the leads by the meter and they should read VERY CLOSE to the same, only very slightly lower, then verify that with your dash meter. This verifies dash meter accuracy.

Then.... with batteries shut off, remove and clean all your electrical contacts associated with your charging system (most all, dc connections if you have the time and patience). Sand paper, wire brush, and dielectric grease are nice to have. Particularly to the grounds and buss bars near batteries and engines. Gauges requre little current to operate, so does not take much to affect this.

Although I cannot prove it, I am 100% convinced Christopher Columbus had electrical issues aboard the Santa Maria, even though electricity was not discovered yet, nor did he realize it, no doubt they were there. Every boat has it sooner or later.