will a car starting charger activate the starter without damage to an outboard?

[kjprag01]

I acquired a free, as-is, outboard from a friend of a friend of a distant relative and am learning all sorts of fun things about outboard engines and the black magic voodoo that makes them run. :lol: Now i do not want to run out and buy a cranking battery for an engine that i am exploring and learning how to troubleshoot and I certainly do not want to repeatably try to turn her over off of my deep cycle batteries and risk destroying my batteries while I fiddle around with this engine. So my question is, Can I attach my selectable 50A/10A/2A car starting/battery charger to the starting solenoid via the outboards battery cables and use the charger as a battery substitute? My theory is it will crank my ranger starter why not this outboard? but i am worried about damaging the overly sensitive starter and marine electronics. oh the rope pulling option is out of the question. She has that flywheel spins nicely with the plugs out, but with the plugs in it takes some serious effort by hand and a rope just won't do it(i tried) lower unit is also off. (ive got a wealth of info from this forum on how to deal with that, and am taking it by the numbers). So will a car starting charger spin the starter without damage?

 

[gm280]

Short answer is yes it will. But You have to remember that the OB also has an alternator output that is used to charge the battery. So it will be trying to charge the charger. Not sure they will play good together. I would use a battery for your tinkering as a better option. But that is just my opinion. That way you don't fry any electronics with either charger. JMHO

 

[JoLin]

Agree with gm280. Your plan might not hurt anything, but I'd have the same concern. IMO, use the charger on the battery and use the battery to do your tinkering.

My .02

 

[NYBo]

lower unit is also off.

With no water pump, if you do get it started, it will quickly overheat. You will then have a heavy, strangely-shaped anchor on your hands.

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

Personal input from an auto techs point of view. Never hook a charger up direct to battery cables without a battery good or bad in place. First chargers make what ever voltage is required to hit there regulation point there also powered via AC currrent and often times when they are at there peak output AC voltage is present in the charge cables AC voltage can damage many low voltage DC circuits and this is where the real concern begins. And in the crank position you are exposing everything in your ignition circuit to these currents. Most chargers will not make enough actual amperage to start a car without a battery in place any way and that increases the risk of problems. Boost features on chargers are designed to bring the surface charge up enough to make a dead battery start a car and not without a battery. I see many cars that wont even start with some cheap chargers hooked up because the AC ripple voltage is so bad high it interferes with important signal voltages the computers use to make the engine run. So my vote is no its not worth the risk if you need to pull the battery out of your car or hook jumper cables from your car to the engine your starting.

 

[kjprag01]

Thank you, everyone, so its a no go on that idea. I went and got a crank battery for the engine and a new starter for my lil project. Honestly, I came up with that idea thinking how i can run voltage in a desperate attempt. I figure someone down the road will search for such a thing and there will already be a post with great information. So do not try to use a 50amp starting charger as a power source.

 

[Silvertip]

You could have used your deep cycle battery. For intermittent use as you plan it would not be damaged. Some folks even use big deep cycles for starting purposes.