Fuse for Tilt / Trim

[imported_airxsteel]

I got ready on the night before the tournament for this weekend. I was up all night checking my equipment so that I wouldn't have problems the next morning. I get at the ramp, about to put the boat in the water, when the power tilt/trim will not work.
I checked this the night before and everything was working. I get to the lake and BAM, nothing. I checked the batteries and connections and they were all good.

I had to sit there and watch all the boats take off and mine sitting there. I was a little steamed to say the least.

I checked all the cables to make sure none were pinched or cut. I finally drove back home. After I got home, I realized that there was a selonoid box on the inside of my boat. I pulled it off and sure enough, there it was. An in-line fuse had blown. It was a small short 30 amp fuse.

I was rather mad at this point. And just was disgusted. I wanted to cuss and set the boat on fire at that point.

All that to ask this question:

Where in the hades, can I get these little bitty fuses?

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

An AGA fuse should work fine. Auto parts store should have them...1/4 X 5/8" is the physical size..

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Any farm store that sells auto parts, Radio Shack, the dealer and most hardware stores have them. Please don't get mad at me but yours is a classic example of why one needs to get familiar with the electrical and mechanical systems on the boat. What screwed up a perfectly good day could have been prevented by carrying extra fuses, knowing what each is for and what system each fuse controls. That said -- fuses don't blow for now reason. Something causes it to blow. Either the trim motor is drawing too much current or there is another electrical problem somewhere in that system. I would investigate this further and until you find the cause, carry extra fuses.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

No offense taken at all Silvertip. Your exactly right! Could have been totally avoided if I would have been more up to speed on everything about my boat. I even had the fuses in my boat. I was totally prepared, just didn't know that the tilt/trim had a in-line fuse on it. Makes sense though.

The problem was a faulty switch on the back of the boat. It was sticking and wouldn't stay in the off position. May have done it on the way to the lake and it burned out the fuse then.

I am a new boat owner, so knowing everything about the boat I don't think is fessiable at this point. I have a good general knowledge of it all. That one just threw me.

I have bought a manual and have actually read some of it. I am learning as I go. Hard lessons to take though.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Tilt / Trim - NEED MORE HELP

Tilt / Trim - NEED MORE HELP

That said -- fuses don't blow for now reason. Something causes it to blow. Either the trim motor is drawing too much current or there is another electrical problem somewhere in that system. I would investigate this further and until you find the cause, carry extra fuses.

Ok, I took off the switch in the back of the boat. I am still having an issue. I thought it was that switch, but I am still having an issue with it.

After I completely unhooked the switch, I tried putting the terminals back on the battery. When I do this, the motor starts to run and the motor tries to go down. So it is still on , after unhooking what I thought was a bad switch.

So, I unhook all the switches ( 1 at the front of the boat, and the other at the control box). The one at the contol is soldered on , at least to the up and down button areas. I just cut the red power cable, so it isn't getting power to the switch.

So all switches are unhooked and I try it again. The motor again is on and starts trying to go down.

Am I missing something ?? Why would it try and go down? I would think it would not move it all since none of the switches are sending power to the motor to go down.

I don't see any relay's in my manual, just the solenoid. I would think that is telling me the solenoid is working ok if the motor is getting fire.

Any ideas as to where to check?

Eric

 

[mikesea]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Hey Bud,sorry for your heartache.First,tell us what year and horsepower.I'm assuming it's old because you must have an auxillary fuse -solonoid box for your trim and tilt system. The trim motor must have 3 wires,(that is what the older ones have)with a blue,green and black wire,from the tilt motor to that box,correct?.Next,what kind if switches are you talking about?are they plain ole toggles ?do you have dual switches ?front and back?it seems like someone made up a trim and tilt wiring system and its not OMC designed.Lets us know what you got.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

You assumed right Mike. Everything I own is old, including me.

It is a Johnson 140 HP 1978 V4. The switches are basic toggle switches, on-off-on. I have one in the back near the motor, (which is new), one near the trolling motor at the front, and one at the control box.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Just thinking here, but could you bypass the solenoid all together and hook it up to one switch to see if it is the wiring?

Still stumped on this one.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Here are some pics of the switches, solenoid, and tilt / trim.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Bruce San]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

I see a lot of dirty connections. Those all need to be disassembled and cleaned prior to any trouble shooting.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Cleaned with some contact cleaner?

 

[ezeke]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Disconnect the green wire from the tilt motor at the third screw from the left on the terminal block in your PT&T wiring box.
If the motor still tries to go down, you have a short in the tilt motor.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Ok, thanks ezeke. I did that, unhooked the third terminal wire, and hooked the battery up. The motor did not do anything. Hooked it back up and the motor tried to go down. So does that mean now that I have an issue with the solenoid or something else?

Thanks,
Eric

 

[ezeke]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Could be a bad solenoid, but the green wire, the green and white wire from the control switch and the third screw are not supposed to be connected directly to the solenoid.

What Bruce San said is important, Get a small, soft wire brush fron your hardware store and clean up the terminal box and all of the connections. Remove each wire, clean the connections and put them back. When all of this is working again, get some liquid electric tape from your auto store and cover all of the connections so that they don't corrode easily.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Well it is definately NOT the solenoid. I just replaced it with a new one. Motor still tries to go down when I hook up the power.

Guess I will break out the Marine Corps toothbrush on it and put some elbow grease to it. Clean all the posts and see what happens.

Boy, I learn so much stuff by having problems.

I do have a manual and a diagram is in there, but I will take a look at what you got as mine is old.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

I think that I have memorized the wiring diagram.

Anyway, you are somehow getting positive current to the green wire at the third screw. The only correct way for that to happen is when you hit the down switch.

The green wire is not supposed to be connected to the solenoid or its operation,

The solenoid in your setup is only there to provide the extra power for lifting the engine. The blue and white wire at the switch triggers the solenoid, which in turn feeds the positve current to the blue wire for lifting.

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

So then, what would happen if I took the #3 green wire and switched it with the #6 wire (blue)?

Would the motor go up?

It wouldn't hurt the motor if I did this would it, since all this is doing is sending the signal from the switch as to which way to move the motor , correct?

I think that may tell me if it is the motor or a short.

Granted I will clean the terminals and check all the wires.

Also, I guess I could run some temporary wire and see if it is a wire issue just by doing this. That way if I got a faulty wire someplace. I can easily just rerun the wire. (I say easily in jest).

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Ok, so I took all the terminals off and cleaned all those up real good. There was some rusting of some washers on there. I removed those and made sure all the terminals and posts were clean. I thought this would be something I could do easily. Wow was I wrong. What a mess.

Anyway. I hooked it all back up and the motor would not go down. So I thought I fixed it. I then put the switch in the down position and the motor would go down. It would not however go up. All three of my switches worked on the down , but not the up. Then something happened and it started going down on its on again, like it was doing before.

I got to looking at some of the "rats nest" near the control box, and noticed alot of electrical tape on the wires there. I moved these around thinking maybe it was a short. I then hooked the terminal back to the battery to see what it would do. It stopped going down on its on. When I pressed the down on the switch it would go down. So I thought it was fixed and this may be where the problem is.

So to recap:
1. Cleaned the all the terminals
2. Hooked it all back up to the battery
3. It worked for a while (still no up) then started on its on again.
4. Messed around with the rats nest, and it started working again (still no up)

That is where I am now.

 

[ezeke]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

Why not disconnect the solid blue wire from the tilt motor at the 2nd screw post [E6] and then cross it to the Top large post on the solenoid to see if the motor is working in the lifting direction?

 

[imported_airxsteel]

Re: Fuse for Tilt / Trim

I see what your saying, so just bypass the switches all together? I thought the motor needed the solenoid to lift ?

I guess I can try it tonight. Won't hurt, and that will tell me if it is wiring or the motor right?

Thanks,
Eric