battery being drained by motor?

[john wester]

I've recently acquired a used boat from my brother, with a 71 evinrude 50 hp 3 cylinder motor. <br />the battery is being drained to the point you can't crank the motor(battery at a full charge and new)<br />. He thinks it's the voltage regulator that's inline with the key. Once battery power is<br /> applied, the voltage regulator (R178) gets very hot (motor not running) not sure if thats<br /> normal or not? The motor runs great when you can get it started and seem to have no other<br />problems. Any suggestions?

 

[petryshyn]

Re: battery being drained by motor?

be sure the battery cables are on correctly (not reversed polarity) If they are OK, it sounds like a bad rectifier/regulator.(whatever you are equipped with)

 

[oldboat1]

Re: battery being drained by motor?

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to check for proper wiring of the keyswitch as well, along with doing the checks Schematic discusses. If I hear you right, just turning the key on without cranking the engine causes the regulator to heat up -- sounds pretty suspicious.

 

[john wester]

Re: battery being drained by motor?

thats correct, the regulator gets hot almost instantly when I apply battery power, aswell, the<br />key does not even have to be turned on for the VR to get hot. I really need to look over the wiring diagram to verify all connections are correct. I just got the boat last night and thats my brothers opinion with what might be the problem. Along with repairing some creative wiring that has taken place before I got the boat. Thank You for your input. It is appreciated. Have a great day.