Can I safely test motor ignition with a 12 Amp battery charger?

[Darren Nemeth]

I just bought a Crestliner that has a newer engine. (newer than the boat)

The previous owner says he got it to turn over but does not know how well it works.

The engine looks clean and I would like to attempt to at least see if it tries to turn over. But I dont have a spare battery or long jumper cables to connect to the car.

Can I SAFELY use a battery charger to do this? If so, what setting? 12 volt 2 amps or 12 volt 6 amps?

It will only be for a couple of split second turns of the key just to see what happens.

 

[racerone]

The starter needs a lot more amperage than what you are asking about..------Try 100 amps.

 

[daselbee]

Nope. It could burn the charger up. Maybe not the first attempt, but if you keep at it, your charger will suffer.
Besides, the starter motor draws much much more current than the charger can supply.

Use your car battery with jumper cables.....

 

[Bosunsmate]

No way
Dont be lazy :sleeping:, unhook your car battery

 

[Darren Nemeth]

Okay. Thanks. I'll get some cables today.

 

[F_R]

Properly install the battery in the boat. Jumping with cables is asking for trouble. Alternator rectifier comes to mind.

 

[Darren Nemeth]

I am getting a new car soon.

The battery in my present car is about a year old. Can I use that for the boat motor battery or do boat motors need a certain type??

 

[F_R]

Some people will dispute this, but I have a car battery in my boat. Probably 6 years old, and still working fine.