not charging , need help

[patrick4266]

1972-85hp rude will not charge did the test as the manual said but really do not understand it. Can some one help me?

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: not charging , need help

(Small Rectifier Description & Location)
(J. Reeves)

On most 3,4,6 cylinder engines, the small rectifier is located on the starboard (right) side of the engine just in front of the engines electrical wiring strip. There are a few older V4 engines that have the wiring strip on the rear portion of the engine and the rectifier would be located just under that terminal strip. The smaller horsepower engines usually have the rectifier located on the starboard side of the powerhead close to the carburetor area.

The rectifier appears to be a round object approximately one inch (1") in diameter and also about one inch (1") high. The base of it is sort of triangular in appearance and is attached to the engine with two (2) screws/bolts..... usually one screw/bolt is larger than the other. The rectifier, depending on which one your engine uses, will have either:

One Red wire, one Yellow wire, and one Yellow/Gray wire, or One Red wire, and two Yellow wires.

Note that either of the above rectifiers could have a fourth wire which would be Yellow/Blue

********************
(Small Rectifier Test)
(J. Reeves)

Remove the rectifier wires from the terminal block. Using a ohm meter, connect the black lead of the ohm meter to the rectifier base (ground), then one by one, connect the red lead of the ohm meter to the yellow, yellow/gray, then the red wire (some rectifiers may also have a fourth yellow/blue wire. If so connect to that also). Now, reverse the ohm meter leads and check those same wires again. You should get a reading in one direction, and none at all in the other direction.

Now, connect the black lead of the ohm meter to the red wire. One by one, connect the red lead of the ohm meter to the yellow, yellow/gray, and if present, the yellow/blue wire. Then reverse the leads, checking the wires again. Once more, you should get a reading in one direction and none in the other.

Note that the reading obtained from the red rectifier wire will be lower then what is obtained from the other wires.

Any deviation from the "Reading", "No Reading" as above indicates a faulty rectifier. Note that a rectifier will not tolerate reverse polarity. Simply touching the battery with the cables in the reverse order or hooking up a battery charger backwards will blow the diodes in the rectifier assy immediately.

 

[patrick4266]

Re: not charging , need help

changed the rectifier and its still not charging.

 

[wilde1j]

Re: not charging , need help

Check to see if you have AC voltage from stator.

 

[F_R]

Re: not charging , need help

Did the old rectifier pass or flunk the tests? Same thing that destroyed the old one could have destroyed the new one. Either way, you have to check the complete charging circuit, not just one part of it.
This is what a rectifier would look like if you could see inside it. There are 4 diodes, and current should only be able to flow through each one in one direction only. Ignore the 60 amp fuse, I drew this for nother motor.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: not charging , need help

As F_R states...... Did you check the rectifier as per the procedure I listed?

And does the replacement rectifier check out okay as per the same test method?

If they blow as soon as you install them, resulting in a no charging system scenario, it's possible that somehow you've set up a reverse polarity problem, charged the battery backwards, etc (it happens).

 

[cmala]

Re: not charging , need help

This is interesting. I connected my battery backwards on my 1984ish Johnson 50hp and let some of the magic smoke out of the engine. I reconnected the battery the correct way and started the engine. It ran fine. I got to digging on here and inspected my rectifier since I figured I fried it. It has one red wire and three yellow wires. The red wire has the insulation burned off of it in two places about an inch long each. I performed the tests as stated below and they all pass. Is it possible that I didn't blow the rectifier? If so, it must be one tough sucker because the smoke I saw must have been the insulation burning off of the red wire. I wish I would have checked the voltage on the battery before seeing the fried wire.

I'm going to replace it anyway but it just seemed odd that I was getting passing results from this test procedure.

Craig

(Small Rectifier Description & Location)
(J. Reeves)

On most 3,4,6 cylinder engines, the small rectifier is located on the starboard (right) side of the engine just in front of the engines electrical wiring strip. There are a few older V4 engines that have the wiring strip on the rear portion of the engine and the rectifier would be located just under that terminal strip. The smaller horsepower engines usually have the rectifier located on the starboard side of the powerhead close to the carburetor area.

The rectifier appears to be a round object approximately one inch (1") in diameter and also about one inch (1") high. The base of it is sort of triangular in appearance and is attached to the engine with two (2) screws/bolts..... usually one screw/bolt is larger than the other. The rectifier, depending on which one your engine uses, will have either:

One Red wire, one Yellow wire, and one Yellow/Gray wire, or One Red wire, and two Yellow wires.

Note that either of the above rectifiers could have a fourth wire which would be Yellow/Blue

********************
(Small Rectifier Test)
(J. Reeves)

Remove the rectifier wires from the terminal block. Using a ohm meter, connect the black lead of the ohm meter to the rectifier base (ground), then one by one, connect the red lead of the ohm meter to the yellow, yellow/gray, then the red wire (some rectifiers may also have a fourth yellow/blue wire. If so connect to that also). Now, reverse the ohm meter leads and check those same wires again. You should get a reading in one direction, and none at all in the other direction.

Now, connect the black lead of the ohm meter to the red wire. One by one, connect the red lead of the ohm meter to the yellow, yellow/gray, and if present, the yellow/blue wire. Then reverse the leads, checking the wires again. Once more, you should get a reading in one direction and none in the other.

Note that the reading obtained from the red rectifier wire will be lower then what is obtained from the other wires.

Any deviation from the "Reading", "No Reading" as above indicates a faulty rectifier. Note that a rectifier will not tolerate reverse polarity. Simply touching the battery with the cables in the reverse order or hooking up a battery charger backwards will blow the diodes in the rectifier assy immediately.