Question to the ones of you with some electrical knowledge/experience. What Voltage does a kicker motor alternator spit out normally? Shouldn't it generate min. 12 V at all RPMs in order to charge a 12 V battery? When I test my kicker charger cables DC Volt between neutral and positive (disconnected from the battery - wires straight from the motor) it reads say 5 V at idling speed and up to 14 V at the high rpms. Is that normal? Say I troll all day at low rpms and the alternator delivers only 8 V at that speed - how is that supposed to charge my 12 V battery? Am I missing something or not testing right?
Alternator Functioning
- Thread starter chris73
- Start date
wolf
Well-Known Member
???? disconnnected?? keep every thing connected if your mains are disconnected and not completing a circuit you will burn out a part in the charging system I cant think of what its called but thats not good(I think its called a rectifier)dont quote me though.. mine normaly idles mines is at about 13 volts up to 14 depending on usage of batteries if it gets down the charging system kicks in more and juices it up
Good luck Wolf
Good luck Wolf
So you're saying I shouldn't be testing with the wires off of the battery but only when the wires are connected to the battery? Technically nothing should happen to the electrical components when there is no load or the circuit not closed as this is normally the case with every household receptacle that is not used - it's just under Voltage but no current flows as the poles are not connected. Shouldn't harm anything. Still a bit confused...
gungadin
Well-Known Member
Depending on what you have for a kicker, most put out about 6amps (80watts). Some have rectifier/regulator combined, and some only have a rectifier with no voltage regulation, other then the battery. And of course some have no charging circuit, except for a disconected lighting coil. What is the year, make and model of your kicker. A direct current system for a 12 volt battery is not the same as a household alternating current circuit. Do not disconnect the battery to check voltage. There is no neutral wire in a 12volt system.
Hoochiebob
Well-Known Member
Your motor generates an alternating current (AC). the rectifier is a series of diodes that convert AC into Direct current(DC). In an open circuit condition, the current across the diodes can reach as high as ten times that of it's rating. This can fuse the diode shut or open it up completely. Bad news either way.
The regulator's job is to keep the voltage consistent at 12volts approximately. This number will fluctuate some with the amount of current drawn. Sounds like your system is unregulated.
Voltage in a DC system fluctuates based on the current drawn. Current (amps) however is unaffected by changes in voltage. A charging system will supply 3 amps at twelve volts or at five volts.
What you need to test, along with voltage, is the amperage output of the charging circuit. By adjusting the load on the circuit ie: turning on running lights, you should notice an increase in amps drawn as well
Hope this helps, as I could run a day seminar to fully understand how the system works.
The regulator's job is to keep the voltage consistent at 12volts approximately. This number will fluctuate some with the amount of current drawn. Sounds like your system is unregulated.
Voltage in a DC system fluctuates based on the current drawn. Current (amps) however is unaffected by changes in voltage. A charging system will supply 3 amps at twelve volts or at five volts.
What you need to test, along with voltage, is the amperage output of the charging circuit. By adjusting the load on the circuit ie: turning on running lights, you should notice an increase in amps drawn as well
Hope this helps, as I could run a day seminar to fully understand how the system works.
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Ok, what should I be testing where exactly? With the kicker running and the cables connected to the battery testing the Voltage across the pos and neg terminals of the battery? What should it read if the system works? (I did test this today and it read 12.65 V. When I turned the kicker off it still ready 12.65 V across the terminals!??? Then, I gather I should measure the Amps across the battery terminals again with the kicker running and it should read 3 A and then with load on the circuits (lights etc.) the Amp reading should go up, right? It that correct?
BTW, the motor is a brand new 9.9 Yammi (F9.9 not T9.9) which did not come with an alternator but the shop did add the charger as an after-options because I wanted it.
BTW, the motor is a brand new 9.9 Yammi (F9.9 not T9.9) which did not come with an alternator but the shop did add the charger as an after-options because I wanted it.
C
ctydulich
Guest
thankssssssssssss
wolf
Well-Known Member
If its brand new best advice is to take it back to where you got it and get them to check it out for you and ask them to explain it all to you as they are/were the ones who did the install and know the engine and how it works . A bit of money spent now may help you in the long run.
sucks I know but lesson learned.
Wolf
sucks I know but lesson learned.
Wolf
gungadin
Well-Known Member
Adding a charging circuit to your engine, consists of adding a rectifier/regulator and the wiring to your battery. You would of already had the lighting coil on your engine. By attempting to check the output of the alternator with the battery disconnected you have undoubtedly fried the rectifier diode(s). You can test the assembly with your multi-meter. Set the meter to test diodes,(if your meter does not have this function you can use the continuity setting) disconnect all the wires at the rectifier/regulator. test one way between each yellow and red wire, then reverse the leads and test again. You should get a reading in one direction only, if you get reading in both directions or no readings at all then the rectifier is fried. You need to have the rectifier/regulator replaced, it is not repairable. This part alone will cost about 120$, plus installation. There will be two wires that run to your battery, from the rectifier/regulator assembly, some shops will run the ground wire directly to the battery, however I run the ground wire first to a good ground on the engine, and then to the battery. Also if you have wing nut type connectors on your battery to hold the wiring terminals on, replace them with stainless lock nuts and flat washers.
TenMile
Well-Known Member
Hi Chris,
You measure the voltage as you outlined. Connect the +'ve and -'ve cables to your battery (I'd disconnect all other electronics when doing this test -- just kicker and battery connected together). Start the kicker and attach your multi-meter letting the kicker run a few minutes. The battery voltage should climb above 13V as the kicker starts to apply charge to your battery and that voltage will eventually climb as high as 14.4-14.8V -- that's normal and what you want. At rest, a healthy battery will measure between 12.6-12.7V.
If you want to measure Amps -- it's done a different way -- take a read of this document -- it explains how to measure Amps using a Digital Multimeter (you can get the cheap ones from Cdn Tire for about $10 and they work fine for general testing -- and you don't feel too bad if you hook it up wrong and fry it). http://www.ehow.com/how_5073254_measure-amps-digital-multimeter.html -- your MM should also have instructions detailing how Amps are measured. Basically, the MM sits in the middle of the charging circuit. At full throttle the Yamaha's put out approximately 7-8Amps I believe -- lower Amps at lower throttle settings.
To follow up on this; how do you charge your batteries at home with a charger? Do you disconnect all your motor charger cables before you would hook up to a plug-in battery charger? If externally charging a battery that way with leaving the motor charger cables connected, could that harm the rectifier/regulator?
Could you run the kicker and the main motor parallel and have both charging the same battery without impacting each others charging system negatively?
Could you run the kicker and the main motor parallel and have both charging the same battery without impacting each others charging system negatively?
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
Yes you can run both at the same time without any ill effect. To charge your batts at home, Place your batt. switch in the "all" position and connect charger to one battery. It will also have no ill effect on the engines charging system.
Id be careful connecting a digital ammeter as most of them are only rated for 10 amps. I bought an analog ammeter capable of reading 30 amps, however some charging systems put out way more than that. Also, if your battery is fully charged, the alternator will put out hardly anything so you will need to put a load on it, such as activating your trim/ tilt etc.. Ammeters can be tricky to read unless have a good understanding of DC electrical. If I was you, I would just use a voltmeter.
Id be careful connecting a digital ammeter as most of them are only rated for 10 amps. I bought an analog ammeter capable of reading 30 amps, however some charging systems put out way more than that. Also, if your battery is fully charged, the alternator will put out hardly anything so you will need to put a load on it, such as activating your trim/ tilt etc.. Ammeters can be tricky to read unless have a good understanding of DC electrical. If I was you, I would just use a voltmeter.
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