Starting a sterndrive with dead battery

[smiles16]

Okay, this question is purely out of curiosity.

I cannot think of any way to start a merc with a dead battery WHILE OFFSHORE other than assistance from another power source.

BUT, did you ever start an old manual transmission car by popping the clutch?

I?m trying to think of a backup method. Something along the line of disconnecting the shift saftey and spinning the crank with a wrench while someone holds the ignition (sketchy I know).

Other than that, the only thing I can think of would be to loosen the belt and sit there like a dunce for hours spinning the alternator pulley

So, has anyone ever done something like this? FYI I generally carry a cheap harbor freight jump pack and a VHF on board (I boat the Ohio River mostly)

 

[Bt Doctur]

WHILE OFFSHORE (10- 100 miles)other than assistance from another power source.

Thats atleast a 24 foot boat or longer with twins preferred If a single you should have 3 batteries, 2 engine ,1 house .If twins one for each engine and 2 house in parallel

 

[achris]

If you're running a stern drive or inboard engine (or an outboard without a pull start capability), you should be running 2 batteries. One of the things that never fails to amaze me is the number of morons who don't even bother to have a single battery in their boat. They launch, park the car and remove it's battery and walk back to the boat and hook that up and go. Just incredibly stupid.

To answer your questions. Trying to turn the engine on the crank bolt will likely end with a broken bolt or crank. Bad idea. Dropping the belt and spinning the alternator. .. :rofl: not going to happen! You'd need some charge in the battery to excite the rotor, and you'd need to spin it at least 1500rpm, for about 4 hours! If you did manage to get it charging, the physical load would be more than you could spin. 60A at 12v, that's 720w, about 1hp (the average person on a bicycle can exert about 300w)... good luck with that. ..

Chris. ...

 

[Scott Danforth]

unless you connect a fan blade to the alternator and turn it into a wind generator, you will never charge a battery by turning it

buy a second battery and switch
buy towing insurance
go boating

 

[biggjimm]

A second battery is cheap insurance in my opinion.

I thought I was the only one who witnessed the knucklehead pulling the battery out of his tow rig to use in his boat. He then trolled the harbor for a couple hours rendering that battery useless & required a tow to the dock & a jump start for his truck.

I couldn't even imagine trying to start a modern engine by manually turning the crankshaft. I could see a potential trip to the emergency room if by some miracle it worked.

I still think a $100 for a second battery is the best route to go.

Good luck & safe boating.
Jim

 

[smiles16]

You guys are cracking me up. I?ll admit I was sort of serious about spining the crank, but the alternator was just a joke. I was just curious if there was some redneck idea somebody may have had that actually worked (sketchyness aside). This was just meant to be a fun discussion

I don?t run a second battery at the moment, I?ve just kept a jump box on board. My only accessory is a radio.

 

[aspeck]

A 22V cordless drill might put a little charge in the battery by spinning the alternator ... :facepalm: But I guess that would take the fun out of it and if you were going to carry a 22V cordless you might as well carry a second battery or a jump box. ... Where is Red Green when you need him?

 

[Scott Danforth]

I watched an amish family loose fingers trying to start a cummins 4BT diesel used to power a portable saw mill. by using a briggs 8hp on a swing plate by dropping a belt onto a running engine because of their beliefs of non electric.. I seriously do not suggest anything except good batteries and a good starter.

 

[H20Rat]

I watched an amish family loose fingers trying to start a cummins 4BT diesel used to power a portable saw mill. by using a briggs 8hp on a swing plate by dropping a belt onto a running engine because of their beliefs of non electric.. I seriously do not suggest anything except good batteries and a good starter.

Seems a little strange, if you are using an engine that is essentially powered by DC current to generate an electrical spark, that you can't use a battery... anyway, not my place to question...

Anyway, seriously, you aren't going to start a 4 stroke I/O by hand no matter what you do. Not gonna happen. Even some of the larger 4 stroke snowmobile engines have gone away with hand starters. Dual battery system, period. I don't even trust jump starters, I have seen many that are long on promises and short on delivery, which the time comes to actually start a dead vehicle.

 

[Chigwalla]

Sounds like you need to rig a Coffman starter...:lol:

 

[Bondo]

. I was just curious if there was some redneck idea somebody may have had that actually worked (sketchyness aside).

Ayuh,..... When that happens, I suggest ya grab the paddle, 'n paddle down-wind, to shore,....

2 batteries, 'n a battery switch will keep such things from happenin' in the 1st place,...

 

[Maclin]

Problem with most of that is the energy to create the spark (unless you have a magneto based system) would not be there even if you could get the engine turning fast enough. Fun to think about it though, there have been stupider ideas that "worked" in movie plots :lol:

 

[GA_Boater]

Macgyver could make work. Or blow it up trying.

 

[smiles16]

Yeah, if we could get Macgyver and Red Green to join forces on this we may get an answer.

Anyone have a link for their choice in battery swicth setup? I really like that idea.

 

[achris]

Just need 2 decent batteries. A 2 way battery switch (like this one -> http://www.iboats.com/Compact-Battery-Switch-Perko/dm/view_id.1182831). Run a black cable from each battery negative to the engine block. Run a red cable from each battery to the '1' and '2' posts on the back of the switch. Run a red cable from the 'Common' on the switch to the main terminal on the starter motor (where the current red cable goes on). Also, run a 6mm sheathed red/black pair from the the starter motor and engine block to the dash panel and terminate them in a red and a black terminal block. Run everything that is NOT engine from those (nav lights, radios, stereo, echo sounder, GPS, bilge pumps, cabin lighting, power sockets, etc)..... Keeps your engine electrics and your vessel electrics seperate, so one can't kill the other.

 

[smiles16]

Thanks achris!

Who?d know this would turn out to be a productive topic

Definitely implementing this on ?ole Mer-Sea

 

[poconojoe]

Red green! That guy is the best! I think HE could do it with a kitchen mixer hooked up to a solar panel!

 

[poconojoe]

Or maybe catch a big fish and put a harness on him so he can pull you! Hang a worm in front of him to guide him in the right direction.