96' GSX charging problem

[GGuillot]

This problem has occurred the last couple times out. Recently I went out for over 2 1/2 hours without stopping, returning to the marina, docked and came back out it was dead and all I got was a 'click'. Loaded it up and when I got it home the battery was below 12.4 v and dropped to 9 V when trying to start. Charged it up and it fired right up, getting 13.5 v or so at idle and stays about the same when revving up.

I fired it up again this weekend to take it out, popped the c clip out and ran it for about 15 min on the hose before leaving the house, no change the entire time, 13.5 V or so on the meter. Went out for a little over an hour, it performed great, never missed a beat, get back to the marina to get ready to load up, when I went to fire up to get it on the trailer, click, click, not enough battery power to start it.

Get home, and this time it barely started without having to charge it, low voltage warning came on for a few seconds then it charged up and held about 13.5 V again.
I'm losing charging power after long times on the water, I'm leaning more to this being a stator problem than a rectifier problem.

Any insights?

 

[mikidymac]

If your battery is at 9V it’s junk and has a bad cell.

At 13.5V your stator and rectifier are working correctly.

 

[POPPS]

If it's charging, then, my first move would be to do a load test on the battery. It wouldn't hurt to go thru your electrical connections as well,

 

[GGuillot]

If your battery is at 9V it’s junk and has a bad cell.

At 13.5V your stator and rectifier are working correctly.

Apparently you didn't read my post, it's dying the longer I ride it. The battery is new, and holds a charge.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Hold the phone...you specifically stated the battery dropped to 9V when you tried to start the ski...it shouldn't do that.

A NEW battery can fail.....have it load tested at any auto parts store or friendly marina shop.

ASSUMING the battery comes back OK, then it's time to check all your wiring and connections through the ski to rule out any connectivity/continuity issues.

IT IS weird that your rectifier and wiring (judging by your battery voltage at idle is 13.5V) appears to be functioning as it should, so that SHOULD rule out the fuse and wiring from the rectifier back to the solenoid post.....and the wiring from the solenoid post to the battery......hmmmmmm, electric gremlins are a real PITA.

Lastly...running the ski for 15min on the hose is not a good thing....the carbon seal has no cooling while running on the hose, so caution with that.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Just another thought.....from your description...it sounds like the ski behaves as expected while in a static state....the voltages are all there and measurable....BUT is it possible that while running on the water (in a dynamic state) that you could possibly be losing connectivity (voltage) back to the battery through the ski????? Could you rig up a meter and watch what's happening to the battery while on the water (duct tape and a meter with long leads come to mind).....something to consider

 

[GGuillot]

Hold the phone...you specifically stated the battery dropped to 9V when you tried to start the ski...it shouldn't do that.

A NEW battery can fail.....have it load tested at any auto parts store or friendly marina shop.

ASSUMING the battery comes back OK, then it's time to check all your wiring and connections through the ski to rule out any connectivity/continuity issues.

IT IS weird that your rectifier and wiring (judging by your battery voltage at idle is 13.5V) appears to be functioning as it should, so that SHOULD rule out the fuse and wiring from the rectifier back to the solenoid post.....and the wiring from the solenoid post to the battery......hmmmmmm, electric gremlins are a real PITA.

Lastly...running the ski for 15min on the hose is not a good thing....the carbon seal has no cooling while running on the hose, so caution with that.

Thanks, if you read in my post I popped the c clip out when running on the hose for 15 min.

The problem seems to be the charging system is failing the longer I ride. The battery is strong, after that 2 1/2 hr ride, I charged it for 10 min at 2A and it was back up to capacity.

 

[GGuillot]

Just another thought.....from your description...it sounds like the ski behaves as expected while in a static state....the voltages are all there and measurable....BUT is it possible that while running on the water (in a dynamic state) that you could possibly be losing connectivity (voltage) back to the battery through the ski????? Could you rig up a meter and watch what's happening to the battery while on the water (duct tape and a meter with long leads come to mind).....something to consider

Yes, the meter to watch while riding was my next step. Trying to figure the best way to do this. There's some cheap little volt meters on ebay.

 

[Ckrawiec]

Thanks, if you read in my post I popped the c clip out when running on the hose for 15 min.

The problem seems to be the charging system is failing the longer I ride. The battery is strong, after that 2 1/2 hr ride, I charged it for 10 min at 2A and it was back up to capacity.

Ah...I wasn't comprehending what that meant (popped the C clip out)....now I get it.....carry on.

Nothing fancy needed...a free meter from Harbor Freight will suffice and I'd rig up some long leads with ring terminals that I could firmly attach to the battery posts so they don't fall off....I'd be curious to know what the ski is doing on the water myself (as I too am chasing a 12V low issue - intermittantly).

 

[JeremyD615]

I think the meter will help diagnose things for sure, but that 9V is really odd... I would swap that battery out with one out of another ski before I spent any other money on it. It’s not common to see an intermittent internal short in a battery, but it can happen... I had an Everstart battery that dropped a cell when it was under load, but would test fine in a static state. It only had a few hours on the battery when it happened too...