Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

[elr]

I hooked up my battery backwards and now the rectifier doesn't work but the motor runs. Does it harm anything to run it other then it not charging the battery?

 

[elr]

Re: Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

I forgot to say it's a '79 90hp inline six Mercury.

 

[jimg984]

Re: Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

no, it won't hurt anything just keep battery charged

 

[j_martin]

Re: Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

Would be good to disconnect and tape off the stator wires. If the rectifier is shorted, it could cause the stator to overheat enough to deteriorate in time.

Also, running a battery partially discharged, especially with mechanical shock involved, will shorten it's service life. In other words, short term there's no problem. Long term, it's worth fixing.

a good commodity 35 amp 400V bridge rectifier part number is:

GBPC3504
Made by lots of companies
cost about 3 bucks at digikey, mouser, etc.
Solder it in, it'll never go bad, unless you do the battery thing again, only next time it'll stand up long enough to burn your fingers pretty good.

 

[elr]

Re: Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

Thanks for your help. I bought a $3 rectifier from Radio Shack and installed it on a heat sink that I made. See photo...

I took the boat out this morning and ran it. It didn't even get very warm at all. The positive wire on the rectifier was showing around 13.5 volts, I think. Is that a normal reading?

 

[j_martin]

Re: Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

Good job!! Yep, yer good to go. The reading will vary from about 12.5 V into a pretty dead battery, to about 90V at wot with a bad battery connection. Anything from 13.5 - 15.5 Volts would be considered normal.

The battery will consume a little water. Keep up on the maintenance and it'll be fine.

 

[elr]

Re: Will running a motor with a non-functioning rectifier mess anything up?

Thanks, guys for your help on the rectifier. Now I'm wondering about the stator. A couple years ago, I had some spark issues. Someone told me to check the stator. The wires coming from it were all corroded. I took the stator off and replaced as much of the wires as I could. It's hard-wired right into the stator, so you can't replace everything. What are the symptoms of a bad stator? No spark or no charge or what?