Battery light is illuminated

[TravisC]

Hello, I am new to this group and my nam is Travis.

I have a 2005 Sea Doo Sportster with tower ROTAX 155HP that I bought new from the dealer in '05.

I took it out first time (6/19/2010) this year over the fathers day weekend and noticed the DUMMY LIGHT - BATTERY was illuminated.

I am not sure if it is the battery or the alternator?

I am using an OPTIMA blue top battery and purchased it new with the boat in 2005.


Someone told me that to check to see if the battery was being charged that I could remove the RED (+) cable from the battery... if it dies, then the battery is not being charged.


KNOWNS:

Well, I started it. Pulled the RED(+) . The engine quickly stalled and stopped. Does the electronics kill the engine if it "SENSES" the battery is disconnected? So is this test an effective manner in which to test the charging of the battery?


I have not tested the battery but will this week at Advance Auto as they offer to do that without fee.

I am handy with wiring, wrenches, spark plug/oil changes, etc etc... and think that I can fix this myself if I know where to look. I am on a tight budget and hope to identify the problem first try to save my money for gas

I checked all of the fuses i could find (even the ones on the wiring in the engine compartment) and they all look fine.


UNKNOWNS:

Does the boat have an alternator? Or it is a Generator? Or something else?

I though I found the alternator but looked it up online and saw that it was actually the starter so now I am confused? (I have changed alternators in cars before)

I read online that there is a rectifier.
Is there a RECTIFIER? on this boat that handles the charging of the battery? Do you think that this part may be the bad part?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated in advance.

Thank You for your time,

Travis

 

[Dr Honda]

Your alternator is part of your mag assembly. It's not an external part.

If your boat will start with the battery, and doesn't need to be jump started... I would say the regulator/rectifier unit has gone bad.

To check things out... you will want to use a simple volt meter. Hook it to your battery terminals, and start the engine. Bring it up to 5000 rpm's, and you should be seeing between 13.5 and 14.5 volts.

Last thing... Some where in your boat... you will have some fuses. One of those fuses is for charging. Just check all of them to see if anything is popped. If they are all good, you will need to order a regulator.

 

[TravisC]

Battery light is out now!!??

Ok,

I finally got a chance to pull out the boat and test it.

It has been in the garage for 3 days and when I started it the Battery light is now out.!

Well, it goes off immediately after starting... it is on for less than 1/2 a second.

Do you think it it was a fluke? maybe there is no problem.

Or, Do you think that it still may be the regulator and that it is intermittent?


Is there a way to test it?



I have an OPTIMA BLUE TOP battery. I bought it because I never wanted to be stranded because of a cheap battery. it was $200. and i've heard of them going 10 years without replacement. I've had mine for 6 years. FYI.

The Voltmeter reads 12.02Volts running and at 5000RPM it reads 12.6Volts

So there is a jump in volts of 0.6V during rev,


Any thoughts.

I'm going to get the battery tested tomorrow.


Thank you again for your time in advance.

respectfully

travis

 

[Dr Honda]

if you didn't charge your battery, and it will start the enging... the battery is fine.


Since the light is now off... pesonally... I would just change the regulator. They are known to go bad, and since you are the kind of guy who spends the $200 on a good battery for saftey... there is no reason to mess with a regulator that may be going bad.

The only other thing to do is clean every electrical connection between the Mag coils, the regulator, and the battery.

 

[TravisC]

change the regulator

Yes thank you,

I am going to order one today.

I really appreciate your help.





Thank You,

Respectfully,

TravisC

 

[TravisC]

2005 Sportster Regulator Batt Voltage 13.6 now

2005 Sportster Regulator Batt Voltage 13.6 now

Hello Tony,

I just got the regulator in the boat this past weekend.

It was exactly as per your advise/instruction.

I changed the part out and it took less than 2 minutes, all I needed was a + screwdriver.

I also changed the plugs NGK4339 (the ones with the loose tops that can be unscrewed!) I learned that the hard way!!

The boat ran perfect and just like new. The voltage on the multimeter hit 13.6V.

Thank you Tony for your time and expertise.

Respectfully Travis

 

[RFoster130]

Good deal. I see you are in Lexington. Where all do you go boating? I am just over an hour north of ya.

 

[Dr Honda]

Glad I could help. :cheers:


I'm not always right... but I try.