jerryellis
Recruit
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2018
- Messages
- 2
Hi there,
Recently I was out on a 2004 Legend Boat with a 2003 Mercury 60 horsepower motor. While out fishing for the day it began to beep. Three beeps - intermittently (About a couple minutes apart). I instantly knew it was a warning alarm, so decided to bring the boat back to the dock. I then noticed it sounded like the motor was running very harshly.
Upon getting back to the dock and tying it up, as I looked back there was smoke pouring out of the cowling - Engine was shut off immediately. With fire extinguisher ready I opened the cowling and noticed an embering almost on fire little box. It didn't appear to be starting to flame - so I put the cowling back on to starve it from oxygen and left it for a couple of minutes . The near fire went out and I noticed a totally fried component which after research I found out was the voltage regulator.
Does anyone have any insight into what would cause this? A local repairman has order the part to be replaced - luckily it appears it was only the regulator that was damaged from the heat. I am lucky I got it back to the dock just in time or the whole thing could have caught on fire or if not that then I would have been stuck in the middle of the lake. I realize it is an older engine, but it has been well maintained and everything under the cowling looks brand new..
I see online that voltage regulator fires are one of the more common fire causes on outboard motors (At least on older models). Still I was hoping that someone here would have some input into what could have caused this to happen and how to prevent it in the future.
I have attached a picture
Thanks!
Recently I was out on a 2004 Legend Boat with a 2003 Mercury 60 horsepower motor. While out fishing for the day it began to beep. Three beeps - intermittently (About a couple minutes apart). I instantly knew it was a warning alarm, so decided to bring the boat back to the dock. I then noticed it sounded like the motor was running very harshly.
Upon getting back to the dock and tying it up, as I looked back there was smoke pouring out of the cowling - Engine was shut off immediately. With fire extinguisher ready I opened the cowling and noticed an embering almost on fire little box. It didn't appear to be starting to flame - so I put the cowling back on to starve it from oxygen and left it for a couple of minutes . The near fire went out and I noticed a totally fried component which after research I found out was the voltage regulator.
Does anyone have any insight into what would cause this? A local repairman has order the part to be replaced - luckily it appears it was only the regulator that was damaged from the heat. I am lucky I got it back to the dock just in time or the whole thing could have caught on fire or if not that then I would have been stuck in the middle of the lake. I realize it is an older engine, but it has been well maintained and everything under the cowling looks brand new..
I see online that voltage regulator fires are one of the more common fire causes on outboard motors (At least on older models). Still I was hoping that someone here would have some input into what could have caused this to happen and how to prevent it in the future.
I have attached a picture
Thanks!
