Marine Grade Battery Cables?

[Pwnage1337]

I have recently encountered an issue with my '96 XP cranking over slowly. Had it out on the water and it was having a hard time cranking, to the point it didn't want to start. It seems like the more I tried to crank it the slower it got, which seems to be the same type of issue I've seen with starters when they go bad in cars. I would get one good crank like every 5 mins. Each rapid succession crank was slower than the previous crank if I tried one after the other within a few seconds. Again, if I waited 5 mins I would get one 'good' crank and the ski would pop off.

I have a new battery (this year) and checked all my connections. Ground and positive, everything is clean.

Right now I have an SBT starter because the starter that was in it when I bought it was an aftermarket one and I didn't know better at the time. I pulled that out today and ordered an OEM one from Nick at Westside.

The question I have is:
Since I am in there should I just replace the battery cables? I want to but I cannot find marine grade battery cables locally without having to buy 25 ft of it for 50 bucks, ordering them online will have a few day lead time. Do you guys think my problem is just the starter? I am kind of leaning that way that the starter is just a piece of shit and the cables are probably fine. When I had the ski all torn apart this winter I cleaned all the connections with the wire brush and they cleaned up nice.

Thanks

Jeremy

 

[AKnarrowback]

Get an oem starter into it, unless the cables have damage they should be just fine, make sure ypur battery is fully charged and in good condition.

Waiting five minutes between good cranks tells me the battery is not charged.

 

[Pwnage1337]

When I checked the batteries resting voltage it was 13.0 volts. I did not check it under load (cranking)

I did replace the rectifier with a unit from OSD because mine was toast. What kind of voltage should I see at the battery with the ski running to verify its charging?

 

[AKnarrowback]

Not sure what voltage while running. I'm not home or I would check on my 787. You can have good voltage on a battery but have it tank as soon as a load is on it. I have seen one read 12.5 at rest and barely read 1 under load.

Just to be sure. You do know to NEVER jump start or boost the battery when it's hooked up in the machine? It can damage the mpem which just adds to the problem. Just thought I'd throw that out there since we're on the issue of batteries.

 

[Pwnage1337]

Yeah I saw the stickers all over saying not to jump in. Thanks for the reminder again tho!