Battery charging question

[dpoff]

I have a 20` proline sport with a DF150 Suzuki.
I found my battery dead for some reason. I had left the battery switch on but could not find any accessories on. I took it out and put a 10 amp charge on it in the garage for a few hours and dropped it to a 2 amp charge overnight.
After reinstalling the battery, I forgot which terminal the yellow wire hooks to. edit...this wire feeds the dash gauges and controls. Can anyone help? I tried the positive post but I got an alarm and check engine light flashed and sounded once in about every 10 seconds. I put it on the negative and everything works fine but I noticed the volt meter on the dash read 14.5 volts after starting te engine and taking the throttle up to about 1000 rpms it was just below 15 volts. I checked the voltage with a DVM. Is this normal or did I screw something up?

 

[Slow Ride]

Re: Battery charging question

Everything sounds fine to me. I assume the yellow wire you mentioned is the hot wire for your guages or some other accessory. The fact that the voltmeter shows 14.5-15 amps seems normal. The charging system is much like the one in your car or truck. The faster you run the engine, the more energy it will make. Nothing to be alarmed about. On the other hand, if your voltmeter reads less than 12.0 you could have issues. The reason your batteries were dead is probably due to things like radios with internal clocks or even your outboard may have something along this line. Be sure to turn of the main braker in the future, thats why you paid to have it installed silly!

 

[dpoff]

Re: Battery charging question

Found it. Yellow goes to the negative post. The wire feeds the ground buss bar for accessories.

Thanks

 

[sschefer]

Re: Battery charging question

You might consider changing that. It's been added by a non-professional. The only color to be used for the negative side of dc circuits in boats is black. You wouldn't believe how expensive it can be if you put power on the negative side of some boat circuits.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Battery charging question

ABYC revised the marine electrical standards which started to show up in some boats as early as 1996 model years. A big change is that the 12 volt black ground wire color was changed to making "Yellow" an optional color as a ground wire.
http://www.acbsphl.org/Tips_and_hints/ABYC_Wiring.htm