nich Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 G'day Raiders, Long time reader - first time new topic starter : ) I am hoping someone might be able to provide some advice (expert advice would be even better). I have a 90hp 2 stroke Johnson with an old 585CCA SeaMaster. I decided to replace it with a Century MarinePro 720CCA. The Century kicked it over first go but in the following 30-40 attempts it has probably kicked it over 3-4 times. Luckily we still had the old battery out on the water when we ran into trouble first time we took it out after the new battery. When I hook the old SeaMaster up it turns it over much stronger and more often, pretty much no issue, the only issue being when it's cold which is to be expected. The new battery has been tested and is full of charge and for the life of me I can't work out why it's not turning the engine over. I'm no expert which is why i'm hoping someone might have a better idea. Could there be something wrong with the starter which is struggling with the stronger currents of the 720CCA? Could there be a problem with weakened connection somewhere? I really have no idea though. Thanks in advance! Nic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 When you say "it was tested" how was this done , ie, what equipment was used? A battery can be fully charged but when placed under load like starting a motor the charge can drop away. An Auto Elect have the gear to do this test. A multi meter could also be used. Test the voltage with no load , should be between 12.5 - 13.5 Volts. Repeat the test when trying to start the motor. If the battery is faulty or near flat the voltage will drop away considerably , perhaps under 9V. The fact the Seamaster is turning the motor over OK suggests the cabling & starter are also OK. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Thanks Geoff. Sorry i should have included that info - I tested with a multi-meter last week and it rated 12.4 I took it to battery world today and the print out said the battery is in good condition and that the rating was 12.47. The indicator on the battery also says it has charge. Two seperate people have told me those ratings are ok? Do you think under 12.5 means it has too low a charge? I can't help but think it is a charge issue. I think i have no choice but to charge it for the next couple of days and then see what happens. Just surprised a new 720CCA battery is not kicking it over. Haven't tested it while trying to start the engine. Really appreciate your reply. When I can I will test it with the multi-meter while trying to start the engine and see how it goes. Just want to get opinions before I call an auto-electrician. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Nich. 12.5 is OK. Fully charged should take it into the 13's but .5 or so is not going to make any difference. The load test is the important one. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Thanks mate. Will attempt the load test tonight or over the Weekend. Thanks for your help!! Greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookmeup Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Thanks mate. Will attempt the load test tonight or over the Weekend. Thanks for your help!! Greatly appreciated. Hi Nich, a static test on a battery is handy to know if it has any charge in it but as Geoff has said the only way to truly test it is to do a load test, if it has a weak cell it will show up under load & if it does this can then affect what charge is getting through to the other cells, you can do a basic load test with a multimeter,when you say battery world did a test & it came up good was this just putting a multimeter on or was it under load.its not unusual for some batteries to sit on the shelf for a while & not get rotated,cca is the cranking amps & you have certainly upped the ante in this department so something sounds fishy, do the load test as its cranking & check what it drops down to,my bet is a crook cell, check all your connections as well, maybe scuff up the terminals a bit.Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Hi Nich, a static test on a battery is handy to know if it has any charge in it but as Geoff has said the only way to truly test it is to do a load test, if it has a weak cell it will show up under load & if it does this can then affect what charge is getting through to the other cells, you can do a basic load test with a multimeter,when you say battery world did a test & it came up good was this just putting a multimeter on or was it under load.its not unusual for some batteries to sit on the shelf for a while & not get rotated,cca is the cranking amps & you have certainly upped the ante in this department so something sounds fishy, do the load test as its cranking & check what it drops down to,my bet is a crook cell, check all your connections as well, maybe scuff up the terminals a bit.Good luck Thanks mate. Looking forward to seeing what happens now under the load test. Battery World was just a meter reading not under load (he was right next to me with some gizmo) and then he gave me a print out of what the results were. 12.47 V and 769CCA reading or something like that, don't have it on me at the moment. Definitely 12.47 though. The puzzling thing is i scuffed up the terminals and checked the connections and that is why the SeaMaster still works. Old SeaMaster is fine. Only started having an issue with the new battery. Will let you guys know how i go. Thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captainpete Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 hey nich you could try to start your car with the new battery and see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Nice one. Thanks Captain. All I can say is that I'm learning a lot and that is a good thing. 'Smooth seas do not make the best sailors'. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evets Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Ummm 12.47v means that the battery is not fully charged. At that voltage it is somewhere between 80-90% charged. A fully charged battery will be over 12.6 volts. But to properly determine the state of the battery you need to fully charge it (what type of charger do you have?) so that it has 12.6 or more volts and then load test it. To do that you would attach the battery to the motor and measure the voltage drop as you crank it over. On the very first time - only crank the motor over for a second. This will remove any "surface" charge the battery has. Re measure the battery voltage. It still should be 12.6v - if it is less than 12.6v pop the battery back onto the charger. Once you are satisfied the battery is fully charged crank the motor over long enough to get a reading on the multimeter. Do this a couple of times. Post up the resulting multimeter readings. We can then tell you if the battery is OK or not. Evets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Incredible Hull Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) When you say "it was tested" how was this done , ie, what equipment was used? A battery can be fully charged but when placed under load like starting a motor the charge can drop away. An Auto Elect have the gear to do this test. A multi meter could also be used. Test the voltage with no load , should be between 12.5 - 13.5 Volts. Repeat the test when trying to start the motor. If the battery is faulty or near flat the voltage will drop away considerably , perhaps under 9V. The fact the Seamaster is turning the motor over OK suggests the cabling & starter are also OK. Geoff Hey Nic, In addition to what Geoff mention, perhaps test the "current" (AMPS). Try and get your hands on am ammeter and measure the current. I don't think measuring the volts will help you here... also try more batteries to narrow down the problem. Cheers and gl Edited September 20, 2012 by The Incredible Hull Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted September 20, 2012 Author Share Posted September 20, 2012 Thanks guys. I need to buy a charger and will do that tomorrow. Any help with that is appreciated as well. Planning to load test it tomorrow and then charge it and load test again on Sunday/Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 (edited) Nich. 12.5 is OK. Fully charged should take it into the 13's but .5 or so is not going to make any difference. Geoff Nich A slight correction to my previous post , (13 / 13.5V). Your post prompted me to charge up my battery. Tested it this morning , fully charge , the multi meter is reading 14.64 Geoff Edited September 20, 2012 by Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaners Posted September 21, 2012 Share Posted September 21, 2012 (edited) Get a set of jump leads,connect to the battery,place the other neg lead on the block and the pos straight on to the s/motor[thats the big terminal from the loom].Now take a jump wire from that pos input to the start solenoid and the motor will turn over.If it turns over its a loom fault{you know that as you have just bypassed it}and your battery is ok.If it still does not turn over either its a battery or s/motor fault.Either way though you will know if its a loom fault or not.Hope this helps a little. Edited September 21, 2012 by wher'd all the fish go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 use your multi meter place it onto the battery post and crank over the engine if the volts drop to low thats your problem if all ok place the multimeter onto the battery terminals and crank the engine over if thats the problem the voltage will be low if all ok follow your battery wires into the engine and remove the rubber cap place the multi meter onto the terminals and crank the engine over again watching for voltage drop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 use your multi meter place it onto the battery post and crank over the engine if the volts drop to low thats your problem if all ok place the multimeter onto the battery terminals and crank the engine over if thats the problem the voltage will be low if all ok follow your battery wires into the engine and remove the rubber cap place the multi meter onto the terminals and crank the engine over again watching for voltage drop Apologies for the lack of update. Changed jobs end of September and had to hand back the laptop and iphone! It has been resolved and i think it was a combo of things. Did the load test and all was good with the new battery. Rookie error on my part i believe. My old SeaMaster has the post terminal with the thread on top. The new battery has dual terminals - post and thread/stud. I was connecting to the thread on the new one and i don't think it was allowing it to draw enough power. I bought some brass terminals, charged the battery and connected it to the post and now all is good on the battery front. However I have a problem with the engine where after running for 30-40 mins fine - it starts to stall at idle and on starting - which led me to believe that all my problems were from the battery but i now know that isn't the case since i have sorted out the battery issue. Fun and games - thanks for all your replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aussie007 Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 (edited) nich the main terminals are for cranking power to start your engine the little butterfly terminals are for accessories glad u got it sorted mate as for your engine service your carby and check your spark plugs could be a spark issue once the engine heats up u want the spark plugs looking a nice tan colour if there black or white your running rick or lean Edited November 16, 2012 by gazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheap charlie Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Nich A slight correction to my previous post , (13 / 13.5V). Your post prompted me to charge up my battery. Tested it this morning , fully charge , the multi meter is reading 14.64 Geoff 14.64v? Did you measure the voltage right after you removed the charger? A 12v battery will not hold that level of charge. 14.6v is a bulk absorption charge level. Are you running a multi stage charger with a 12.7v ish float charge or just a run of the mill unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nich Posted November 17, 2012 Author Share Posted November 17, 2012 as for your engine service your carby and check your spark plugs could be a spark issue once the engine heats up u want the spark plugs looking a nice tan colour if there black or white your running rick or lean Will do - thanks Gazza. Looking forward to getting it sorted - want to start enjoying summer without concerns for a stalling engine. Paddling can be relaxing - just not out in open waters with the Sun going down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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