Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

[issachar]

I decided to check my voltage to verify my regulators were working properly. I have one which seems to have melted a spot in the film it is encased in. What are the readings supposed to be a idle? It climbed to somewhere around 15.65 volts at idle.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

At idle it'll be below 13v but it should quickly rise over 13v just above idle. At full throttle you should get just under 15v. The one has failed for sure and apparently so has the other. The melted spot one probably isn't putting out and the other is apparently putting out too much.

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

So should I replace the one just to see first, or is it a given they are both bad?

 

[j_martin]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

So should I replace the one just to see first, or is it a given they are both bad?

You can disconnect them one at a time and test the other one. Connect the gray tachometer wire to the one that is still connected as part of the test. If the tach is then dead, so is that module. You can also connect one set of stator wires to the other module to determine if the module or the stator coil is bad.

Be carefull, the yellow wires from the stator develop lethal voltages, especially when disconnected. Be sure they are not in danger of grounding or you touching them.

A common arraingment for these dual regulators is to wire one output (2 red wires) to the engine battery, and the other output to the auxiliary batteries, charging each battery independently.

hope it helps
John

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

So I measured voltage at the start batt. Does that mean i need to check it at the aux. batteries also? Does that indicate the one for the start is the bad one? This dual regulator concept is a little fuzzy to me. Sorry, I am a little confused the Seloc manual's wiring diagram is not accurate for my engine so I am flying blind a bit. I doesn't show a dual reg setup for 92 135.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Here we go,
Stock hookup: There are 2 alternator coils, about 20 amps each. Each one has 2 yellow wires coming off. Usually they are paired together with a single tie wrap so they don't get mixed up.

Each pair of yellow wires goes to one regulator, which is really a rectifier and regulator in one module. Each regulator has 2 red wires coming off of it. Both are positive 12 volts. Each regulator also has one grey wire coming off. Only one is hooked up, to the tachometer.

Stock installation has all 4 red wires going to the battery connection on the solenoid, feeding the engine battery. Some, including me, will split one pair of them off and feed another battery. You have to follow the wires on your engine to see where they go.

Now, you can completely disconnect each regulator one at a time and run the other one for testing. It won't hurt anything, and what you've done is split a double system into 2 singles so you can test each one. Each one will put out about 20 amps. Each stator coil - regulator setup is a stand alone 20 amp system.

hope it helps
John

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Okay, now that makes sense. I will try that to see what I get. Thanks. After this is repaired and working properly, I may inquire further on the split sytem idea. Sounds like a good idea, but first to fix the brken stuff.

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Okay, the lower regulator is putting out nothing and the tach doesn't work when I moved the gray wire to it. The top one is starts at 13.5 volts and just sarts climing in steps to 15.65 volts(all at idle). So this means they are both bad?

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

???

 

[j_martin]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Okay, the lower regulator is putting out nothing and the tach doesn't work when I moved the gray wire to it. The top one is starts at 13.5 volts and just sarts climing in steps to 15.65 volts(all at idle). So this means they are both bad?

The top one is maybe OK. Your battery souldnn't allow the voltage to go that high no matter what the regulator is doing. I would suspect a terminally geriatric or sulfated battery.

Swap the yellow stator pairs between the regulators, you may have to swap the regulators to get them to reach. If the bug follows the regulator, it's bad. If it doesn't (now the other one doesn't put out) then the stator is bad.

hope it helps
John

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

I am going to test tonight, but how does the battery keep the voltage down? It test fine at a local auto parts store. Not sure I understand this part.

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

I hooked up the one that is overcharging to the other side of the stator. This is the one with the burned spot. It is putting out 16.57 volts at idle. At 1100 rpm it jumps over 17. So I quickly turned it off, as I have read, over 16 volts can damage switch boxes. It would appear that the stator is working on both sides though. So I am ordering two regulators. Is there anything else to be watchful for to prevent further failure?

 

[j_martin]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

If you look closely at your wiring diagram, you'll see that battey voltage doesn't get anywhere near the switchboxes. They are powered by seperate charge coils.

When a battery if fully charged, any additional current is used to split the water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, called electrolysis. It takes a lot of power, and generally will hold the voltage down to 15 volts or so. If the battery is older, or smaller, the voltage could be forced higher than that. I suspect your meter might be reading a little high, or the connections to that battery are a little iffy. At any rate, it's not good for the battery in the long run, but it makes for nice bright docking lights. Changing both regulators is a good move.

In answer to your last question, any condition that draws a lot of power for a long period of time in hot weather could cause the electronics to overheat. Otherwise, that function is governed by Murphey's law.

hope it helps
John

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Well now I got more troubles. After the test I took it out for a run and it now has a noticeable miss and will not go over 3000 rpm. What has happened. I was careful unplug everthing with power off so I can only guess maybe it is related to the higher out put from the other regulator being hooked up this morning. This is definatley getting anoying.

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Anyone know if regulator allowing to much voltage can burn out the stator. I now have a random miss that is moving around, but #6 is 50 % worse than the others. I switched the stator leads to the switch box and now #5 seems to be the one that is really bad. The miss get much more appearent the higher the RPMs. Any thoughts.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

I don't think the alternator voltage would make a difference. I've run them at over 60 volts experimentally with no problems.

If the insulation on the wires to the stator is deteriorating, moving the wires around for testing could cause trouble.

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

So what is the problem. It does seem like a stator issue doesn't it?

 

[j_martin]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Can't tell, but I would expect the stator to affect 3 cylinders at a time on one bank. The trigger usually affects 2 at a time on both banks. Could just be poor grounds or lead dress, changing when you hassle the wires a bit.

Look up the measurements, either in a manual, or in the FAQ's here, and check the resistance of the various coils.

Clean and tight is the key word for most of this kind of problem.

John

 

[issachar]

Re: Charging voltage for a 92 135?????

Well the problem is that the issue seems to be load related so how you going to measure voltages of stator while running down the lake? It is almost undetectable at idle and is running rich anyways(I was going to rebuild carbs but got to get this fixed first) so I am not sure it will show with engine in driveway. At about 2K all cylinders are missing a bit but the bottom one, depending on which stator wires are on which switchbox, gets so bad it almost never fires an inductive light. It definately has a wall at 3000 Rpm where it just quits trying to go any higher.

Does it hurt to run the engine with stator totally unhooked from both regulators? I ordered them before all this when the boat was running fine just bad regulators. They are on the slow boat to get here, metaphorically speaking. The stator will be here soon. I have reservations out of town with the boat next week. Getting to that desperate point.