No Charge?

[dihrdskir]

Hello all,
I'm a first time poster and pretty much a newbie when it comes to outboards after having owned inboards for the last 20+ years. Last year I stumbled across a '88 220 Laser 2.4 fitted to a flightcraft. The thing had done <100 hrs after a bachelor farmer took it from the showroom, did a couple of laps of the lake then left it in the shed for 20 years. She became my Sunday driver, but lately I have been using her more. It almost seems criminal to put hrs on her. To get to the point this site had been a wealth of information helping me diagnose little problems like stator, plugs and yesterday adjusted the TPS with help from here. Then last night after returning from 20 mins of skiing. Flat Battery. Dead, nothing, nada. Well not really, just enough to spin the starter drive gear. Pulls like a train so no reason to suspect stator, but I am stuck as to why the battery would lose charge so quickly. It does have a stereo system that can draw up to 60 Amps which was running during the trip. I have used the search engine here to try to check the rectifier but could not find what I was looking for. Just hoping someone here with the appropriate skills could lay it out for me. I have a multimeter and a manual and a bit of hope. Thanks in advance. Mark

[phil blomquist]

Welcome to Scream and fly ! Go to cdi.com you will find a great trouble shooting guide

[dihrdskir]

Welcome to Scream and fly ! Go to cdi.com you will find a great trouble shooting guide

Thanks Phil, I'll check it out.

[Dave Strong]

Not 100% sure but I think those only had a 16amp charging system. So may be the problem, can't keep up with the demand.

Dave

[dihrdskir]

Not 100% sure but I think those only had a 16amp charging system. So may be the problem, can't keep up with the demand.

Dave
Thanks Dave,
I'll have a look and see what is happening, but if it's only 16 A, that will certainly do it. ANyone know if this is right?

[wired247]

Whats the serial number?

[dihrdskir]

08266215. Hope that is the right one..

[wired247]

Close. That should be OB266215. It is a 16 amp system 1988 220 HP motor. Model No: 1220412BD

[dihrdskir]

Thanks Wired. Over 45 and look like a trip to spec savers is in order. With a 16 A feed and 60 A draw I'm in a spot of bother. Anyone have any ideas of how to solve this one?

[wired247]

Sure. Stop bothering people on the lake with your music. Drives me nuts.

Or install a 40 amp charging system.

One of those two things :).

[CharlieB53]

iPod and ear buds?

[dihrdskir]

C'mon wired you're jumping to conclusions. The system I have is not that loud and in any event it is not about the volume, it's about the quality. But I understand what you mean.

Thank you for identifying the system I have. Is there a compatible OEM 40 amp system available?

[wired247]

C'mon wired you're jumping to conclusions. The system I have is not that loud and in any event it is not about the volume, it's about the quality. But I understand what you mean.

Thank you for identifying the system I have. Is there a compatible OEM 40 amp system available?

You'll get a pass. Your in Australia so I wont have to listen to your music out on the river. My wife had to restrain me from getting my shotgun last time we were out camping and some douche in a wakeboat ( they go together ) pulled up and blasted his Miley Cyrus CD for half an hour at full volume. The campground we were staying at had a sign at the entrance saying " No one else likes your music. You will be asked once to turn it down. The second time you will be told to leave. " .

In any case just after your motor was built Mercury went to a 40 amp system pretty much standard on their V6's. Everything bolts right up. You need a stator , a flywheel , and cover and two 20 amp regulators. The regulators are somewhat expensive but can be had used cheaper.

[dihrdskir]

Awesome wired. That is what I need. As for douchebags and wakeboats, the equator makes no difference. They're the same here too.

[HStream1]

CDI makes a complete 40 amp kit. Stator, block off plate and dual regulators. All you'll need is a 40 amp flywheel and the know how to remove it all and hook it back up.

[Go Time]

Bud, I think thats for the water cooled rect. isn't it?...he has the 16 amp with the little 3 post rectifier.

You can easily convert to a 40 AMP system, but you will need to change the exhaust divider plate cover and a coil monting plate (with coil covers) in addition to the 40 Amp stator and regulators. I had a 220 and it was hard to keep a charge with the EFI system and using the trim motor all deleting the battery....not to metion the tunes.

[HStream1]

You are right Mark. My Bust. Had my head in the clouds this morning.

[pointer]

Why not install a second battery to run the stereo etc and an isolation switch? Deep cycle so if ya drain it no biggie.
Save the cranking battery using the switch so when the deep cycle won't crank, you still have the cranking to get you home.
I did it for years on 80s vintage Merc V6's, and 250+ watt class A pioneer gear.
The river here is long and wide, the big blocks with thru hulls got more anger than I did... :)

pointer

[dihrdskir]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess the 16 amp charging is the price you pay for an older motor and the installation of contemporary gadgets is just the beginning of the project. Learnt this one the hard way. But thanks for all the advice. A second battery seems the most likely fix.

[Wayne Cammidge]

Second battery and a dual battery charger that can be plugged into shore power when ever possible.
Not worth putting the big heavy flywheel on that is needed to get the 40 amp charge.
Almost no room to fit anything extra under those cowls.
Take them off and see how many places they have rubbed against the internals.
Those 220 cowls will fit on the old split cowl 3 cyl engines 75, 90's, so super tight

[Go Time]

Waynes right...you would have to charge your cowls to a one piece hood to fit the larger flywheel et al

[j_martin]

Did a home brew 16 - 40 on my XR4. I mesican hand milled out the stator mount for the 40 amp stator. You could change it out also with little trouble. Flywheel cover won't go under the clam shell cover. It works fine.

Change the stator to dual reg 40 amp, flywheel to 40 amp, and mount 2 20 amp regulators wherever you can find room.

[Smoking Joe]

Second battery and a dual battery charger that can be plugged into shore power when ever possible.
Not worth putting the big heavy flywheel on that is needed to get the 40 amp charge.

Agree with above. Also suggest you change to all LED lighting.