engine not charging?

[Brite Idea]

I launched yesterday and the starboard engine isn't charging but the alternator is putting out 14 volts. Any ideas where to look next?

 

[hughespat57]

14 volts where? At the gauges on the helm? 14 would be normal.
"Not Charging" meaning what the battery is still weak/dead?
Check the voltage with a hand held meter at the batteries themselves, if 14 volt running, stop engine.
Try cranking for a moment and then check the voltage again if below 12 volt battery is likely bad.

Do you have a shore power charger? It can take several hours to bring up a low battery.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I launched yesterday and the starboard engine isn't charging but the alternator is putting out 14 volts. Any ideas where to look next?

Can you explain better? You said the "engine isn't charging". Do you mean the starboard "battery" isn't charging?

Like Patrick said, a little more info/investigative work is needed. Especially checking for V at the battery.

However, since you just launched... were the batteries disconnected over the Winter? Go and check for wires that are not hooked up.

 

[Brite Idea]

I have 14volts at the back of the alternator but less than 12 on the VV and gauge. I've also noticed that only the port side batteries are charging when the boat is plugged in with the battery charger on.
Port engine is charging at 14 volts with the engine running and at rest it's 12.4 volts.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I have 14volts at the back of the alternator but less than 12 on the VV and gauge. I've also noticed that only the port side batteries are charging when the boat is plugged in with the battery charger on.
Port engine is charging at 14 volts with the engine running and at rest it's 12.4 volts.

Still a little confusing. "What's" at 12.4V when resting? It keeps sounding like you're saying the "engine" is at a certain voltage, which is inaccurate.

The more accurate you can be, the better we can help.

Forget about the gauges for a bit - measure directly at the batteries with/without engines running and report back. Do the same with the battery charger.

 

[Espos4]

Sounds like you've got dirty or loose connections somewhere.

Get in there with your volt meter and poke around.

Look for a voltage drop along your cables. For example, put one probe on the rear of the alternator and another on battery positive. If the connections are clean and tight, you should see a reading very near zero volts. If you see a reading around 2 volts, that would point to an issue in that portion of the wiring.

 

[Brite Idea]

So we think we've solved the problem.
It has finally been diagnosed as the stupid little circuit breaker with the yellow flag(apparently it's a known problem). I had to reset it and now it's working but my mechanic ordered two since the ones with the yellow flag(new ones are red flag) are know to cause misfires. Mine was diagnosed easily because it was tripped and I was still able to start the boat and that's not how it's supposed to work. The boat has been giving me trim alarms, engine misfire alarms and low voltage on that engine intermittently since last year. When the new part is installed I'll update if it was successful or not.