mmillward26

I don't mean to Hi-Jack this thread but I have a battery/alternator question. The last time I went out, I noticed an aweful smell coming from the engine compartment. Turned out the battery was smoking. I am pretty sure it is toast now, won't crank over the engine but will run everything else on the boat (blowers, hatch lift, lights - all verified from testing) I tried putting it on a trickle charger for a few hours but made no difference. The question I have is that during my boating day yesturday and past days, I noticed the battery guage reading up to 16V for long periods of time. Is it possible for an alternator to overcharge a battery and cause it to burn up? What I am wondering is if I have a bad alternator or just a dud battery. The battery is brand new (Feb. 08) and I will get it replaced. So for now, I can't take any meter reading's at the battery or alt. Has anyone experienced issues such as this?

I should also mention that I tried to boost the boat with my truck sitting beside it, and it was only enough to roll the engine over very slowly. Is that the difference between deep cycle's and cranking batties?

bwiencek

The regulator fried and is overcharging the battery - if it ran it until it smoked then you've fried it and the battery AND alternator needs to be replaced - if you want to TEST you can pull the boat battery out, pull the truck battery out and install it in the boat - it will work just fine - it just can't take the deep cycling that some marine applications need (i.e. long hours with the stereo on and engine not running, running trolling motors off the thing, sitting for long times between charges with a draw on it and then charging before going out for the weekend, etc.). That said I know several people that have run good "car" batteries in their boats for years (and I have too) - as long as you're not trying to deep cycle it then they've lasted for years - the best part is the warranty is WAY better than any marine battery I've ever had... Just tell the parts jockey it's for an old ford pickup or something of the sort (top post, group 24, etc) or just go pick up one of the group 24 batteries.

Now the alternator - needs to be CG approved with the spark arrestors and such to prevent a fire...