Electrical converter or stater bad on my 2011 Sea Doo Challenger 180

[Fergusj60]

Bought this boat in july...only 19 hours on it! Battery was brand new, seller gave me receipt. Problem all summer has been that the battery doesn't charge. Went through and checked a bunch of fuses (found a couple unrelated that were blown and replaced).

This past week with my son he pulled apart a modular plug between the electric converter and the stater...the connection was black like it had burned...so i'm guess therein lies my problem. I have read plenty on here that this an unfortunate common problem. Thing is i don't know whether this means the electrical converter is bad, whether i can just replace that wire/modular plug between the converter and stater or if the stater itself is bad.

I'll be putting it in the shop soon for winterization so would like to have an idea in advance how best to determine the fault...appreciate any suggestions yo!
ThanQ
jefff

 

[Ckrawiec]

I have no direct experience with the Challenger line, but basic electric knowledge about Seadoo in general and your descriptions are telling me: black burnt plug = high voltage / over voltage potentially.

The stator produces AC voltage, the rectifier converts that voltage to DC for the boat and the ignition coil. If your boat battery is not staying charged, the fault could be either a bad stator or a bad rectifier or the plug is shot between the two.....start with the low cost items first...repair/replace the plug/wires and see what happens, then the rectifier/regulator (but test the voltage at the battery after the plug/wires are addressed)...you should see a good steady voltage of 13.5 VDC+ at the battery with a running boat. IF it's bouncing around everywhere...the rectifier is probably bad.....but before I replaced that, I'd check all the wiring /harnesses/ plugs and connections for continuity and corrosion......you can also measure the output voltage directly out of the rectifier with boat running (should be 13.5 vdc +).

 

[Premix]

he pulled apart a modular plug between the electric converter and the stater...the connection was black like it had burned

This seems to be a design flaw and I find it disturbing. Apparently a deeply discharged Group 24 will draw enough charging current to cook that Deutsch connector on any of the boats. A few people recommended replacing that connector with bullet connectors that handle more current.

 

[JPass]

Or you can splice in a new connector for about $15 if you include new heat shrink connectors.

Deutsch Connector