1988 Mariner 115 electrical issue?

davidf5252

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
168
First off i have a dual battery system on my boat. One cranking battery, lights, accessories, fish finder and the other one is only hooked to the trolling motor....

Well i started my boat up about 9pm to head back to the boat ramp and it cranked right up...Then i got to the ramp and put the boat up on the shore to go get the truck i let it idle while i was backing the trailer.

Ok, so i hop in the boat and drive it on the trailer and after it was on the trailer i was giving it gas to make sure it went all the way up and i noticed my lights get really bright when i hit the gas (this was not happening while driving it to the trailer)...kind of like they were hooked directly to the motor or something...bc that motor puts out 9amps to charge the battery while its running... the volt meter was also jumping form 10amps to 20+ when revving it up..

So i turned it off and tried to start it the battery was completely dead i mean completely...as in clicking when trying to start it (like a car with a dead battery) and the trim didnt work and lights were VERY faint...The volt meter on the boat read 0...

I went home and put the battery on charge and came out this morning to turn the motor over and it clicked again and the trim didnt work...The volt meter on the boat was showing 12+ volts

So i thought it was the battery and maybe it had a dead cell but i just took it to Autozone and the battery was 100% charged and in perfect working order...

ALSO...I replaced the regulator and stator within the last 2 months...

So I dont know what to do at this point.....

Thanks in advance for all the help!!
 

j_martin

Admiral
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
7,474
Re: 1988 Mariner 115 electrical issue?

Either the battery is completely shot, or one of the connections to it is bad.

The battery can be tested at NAPA, or Clown Auto, or even Wal-mart.

Yer charging system is good.

Note that your system does not have a voltage regulator. The voltage is limited by the battery. Routine battery maintenance will minimize the damage from overcharging, but the battery will use water, and if allowed to get too low on water it will self destruct. Don't even think about gel-cell or AGM batteries. Just put in a cheapo group 24 marine motor starting battery and plan on routine maintenance and replacement every 2 - 3 years.

hope it helps
John
 

davidf5252

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
168
Re: 1988 Mariner 115 electrical issue?

Thanks John...i fixed the problem...

After testing the regulator and the stator and the battery it was nothing more than dirty terminals which should have been the first thing i checked DOH!!

all is well thanks for the help!!
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Messages
7
Re: 1988 Mariner 115 electrical issue?

Dave i got a 1985 mariner 115 and im have an electrical problem. Just thought id ask you a question. i ran all the test and found that the trigger is bad. Im curious to weither i need to change my switch boxes as well. What im asking is does a bad trigger cause the switch boxes to go bad thanks hope you can help
 

Faztbullet

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 2, 2008
Messages
15,930
Re: 1988 Mariner 115 electrical issue?

You need to start a new post..... trigger failure can sometimes damage the scr in switchbox depending on what caused the trigger to fail but 85% of the time the boxes are ok..
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2010
Messages
7
Re: 1988 Mariner 115 electrical issue?

thanks i have another post out but no one left me any comments and i notice similarities in our problems that why i left one here not trying to make anyone mad just trying everything to get some input and i appreciate your help
 
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