Voltage Regulator

[seansbaja1982]

Is a voltage regulator needed on a 16 amp stator on a 225 EFI?

[luv2gofast]

Is a voltage regulator needed on a 16 amp stator on a 225 EFI?

I would say yes since it's EFI. Even the old 2.4's had regulators on the EFI's. I don't know if the ECU has a regulator or protection for over voltage but it would be an expensive experiment if not.

[seansbaja1982]

Thanks, I wonder if 16 amp is enough to power EFI, radio-amp, trim and gages?

[KIRCHNER]

I Would say yes, lots of efi motors came with 16a systems, for years.

[luv2gofast]

I had a 2.4 220 EFI with a 14 amp. It did work but I would not recommend a big sound system or a bunch of extra electronics. I think I had a 100w amp and was careful of how many hours I ran it vs how long I ran the boat. There isn't much left to charge the battery after running the trim, jack, ECU and fuel pump. If you can charge the battery at night or spend a lot of time running around you will be fine. It really doesn't charge until you get the RPMs up so keep that in mind. I bought a 40 amp setup but never got around to installing it so it must have not been too bad...

[tunnelmike]

I ran a 16 amp 260 with a 50w per channel radio ,trimming while running, and plenty of starts because I don't shift while running and never had a problem. I did try to charge it between trips.

And no 16 amp usually uses a rectifier not a regulator

[bullet123]

but some people run a single regulator on their 16amp system

[chokingthemerc]

I have a 2.5 260 EFI. It has both rectifier and regulator in it. I just run the basics (ecu, trim, gauges, fuel pump, no sound system) and find i barely have enough amps to maintain a slow drain on the battery. I need to run about 5k RPM to get any charge and if i am choking the hell out of it the added draw of the fuel pump bests the charging system. Some company makes an after market 40 or 60amp alternator kit that bolts on to the 260 that i was thinking about getting. That said, for short days when i can charge battery at the end of the day i am usually ok.

[TEXAS20225]

16 amp systems have a regulator and rectifier from the factory on all early motors i know plenty of times i lost track of time lifting them 12 oz weights and jamming to the tunes come to only to find they waited to long and need a jump start me i ran off trolling motor battery's not starting battery because after fishing all day running live well and radio i found myself having to jump it off to get going. no live well problem not as bad

[tunnelmike]

Choking ' you have a charging problem or a bad battery. I could stay out all day with lots of starts and radio playing with an automotive battery running under 3500 r's and never had a problem. No regulator. Just standard 16amp set up.

[chokingthemerc]

Tunnel - New battery, rectifier and regulator this season. I also had the stator tested and it was ok. I was told that the fuel pump i am running has a larger draw than most. Dont get me wrong, if I can avoid 10km (in Canada) zones and keep moving at a good clip i can get a days use out of it. Throw in some speed restricted zones or excessive trimming and it gets problematic.

[bullet123]

I run rectifier only and never had a problem fishing all day. Mine is a carb motor though

[tunnelmike]

I have no experience with 16amp with regulators. Just putting out my experiences

[tnelsmn]

Any of you running AGM (Optima) batteries with stator charging? Reaching the point of needing to glass in a battery mount in my build and trying to figure out what battery to go with.

[seansbaja1982]

Thanks for the input everyone...