Now electrical issues....taking on water

[Steven B Dannemiller]

Beyond my "taking on water" dilema, things got worse Sunday. Had the boat in for about a 1 hour run, ran the bilge 3-4x (with nobody getting in the water.)... then threw anchor for about an hour to float and have an adult beverage. Went to fire it up and...... all systems dead. During float time- no radio, key in the off position.
After 30 minutes of cussing, I called sea tow. They said 1.5 hours till on scene. I started looking in battery box. I found what appeared to be a breaker with a red button on one side and an arm that was dropped to the 6 oclock position. I pushed it back into its spot, and threw on my jumper box. It started at 99% right after I connected red/black to battery and somewhat quickly started counting down on %. but it was enough t0 fire up the motor all is well or so I thought. CX the sea tow, I'm heading to the ramp! Motor ran fine for about 5 minutes then I thought I was bumping the bottom. Motor started to shake, chug, as if I were. However, I was in 9 ft of water. It ran another minute and died right in the busy channel. Wind blew me out and I set anchor and awaited sea tow. Battery completely dead on re-start attempts. I used the jumper box to get the trim up for the sea tow/trailer home. Now I have an appointment with Marine Max a month out. Anyone want to by a boat? Any idea how/IF the warranty will cover this? Is sea ray good on their product? Background: 2020 spx 190. I purchased it 3 weeks ago. I also transferred the 5 year Mercury warranty.

 

[jmcdboater]

Welcome to the club, and sorry your Sea Ray experience is beginning so poorly….

If you purchased through a dealer, you shouldn’t have any issues they aren’t responsible for. If it was a private purchase, did you have a Survey done? If so, I'd start with the surveyor.

Also, will the Seller help?

 

[Golfman25]

Have your battery load tested. Start there and work forward.

 

[Scott215]

Sounds like bad battery/ batteries

 

[JHornsby3]

I agree, it sounds like a bad battery. Dead cells. If you bought the thing from the dealer, as it sounds like you did. And you had the 5 year transferred to you. I'd be calling the dealer right away and getting that started. A 2020 boat is not something most would be getting rid of so soon. Might have a issue that the dealer knew about.

But a dead battery and a resulting failing alternator, can make an engine do some very hinky things.

 

[Pirate Lady]

Its ALWAYS the battery. There is not enough bandwidth on the internet for me to explain how I know.
And they want me to buy an electric car.

 

[GypsmJim]

Beyond my "taking on water" dilema, things got worse Sunday. Had the boat in for about a 1 hour run, ran the bilge 3-4x (with nobody getting in the water.)... then threw anchor for about an hour to float and have an adult beverage. Went to fire it up and...... all systems dead. During float time- no radio, key in the off position.
After 30 minutes of cussing, I called sea tow. They said 1.5 hours till on scene. I started looking in battery box. I found what appeared to be a breaker with a red button on one side and an arm that was dropped to the 6 oclock position. I pushed it back into its spot, and threw on my jumper box. It started at 99% right after I connected red/black to battery and somewhat quickly started counting down on %. but it was enough t0 fire up the motor all is well or so I thought. CX the sea tow, I'm heading to the ramp! Motor ran fine for about 5 minutes then I thought I was bumping the bottom. Motor started to shake, chug, as if I were. However, I was in 9 ft of water. It ran another minute and died right in the busy channel. Wind blew me out and I set anchor and awaited sea tow. Battery completely dead on re-start attempts. I used the jumper box to get the trim up for the sea tow/trailer home. Now I have an appointment with Marine Max a month out. Anyone want to by a boat? Any idea how/IF the warranty will cover this? Is sea ray good on their product? Background: 2020 spx 190. I purchased it 3 weeks ago. I also transferred the 5 year Mercury warranty.

I replied to your past post. As a follow up to that, no question now you got a leak. You have a hole or a non-sealed transducer.

You got a 3 year old battery. If your dealer put in a cheap crap battery it's now time.

Turn off the battery switch when not is use. Check the voltage before you ever go out. Charge monthly in the off season. If the PO didn't do any of that then even a good battery will fail.

Sorry for your dilemma. My past experiences wit Marine Max would cause me to go elsewhere.

 

[BillK2632]

Like others said, battery or alternator or maybe both. The leak should be easy to find, it's an ouboard, there can't be more than two or three places it could leak - drain plug or transducer. Given you have had this 3 weeks, waiting a month for service is no good - I would call the salesman or dealership manager - they should be getting this fixed sooner. If you have a warranty on the Mercury motor, you don't have to take to MarinMax for service, but being you bought from them I would try.
Don't get too down on the boat, being that new and a Mercury outboard, there really can't be anything seriously wrong, plus you have a warranty.

 

[Arminius]

Wiring an outboard can be different. An additional circuit might bypass the battery switch to energize the tilt motor even when the switch is off. That circuit could be protected by a circuit breaker like you described. Too bad you can't read a schematic or the fine print in the downloadable operator's manual. Bad battery is my guess too.

Speedo could be another source of water. Does it work?

 

[Steven B Dannemiller]

The battery is less than 2 months old/new. I'll call MMax and plead my case to get her in sooner, but I doubt it will help. Nobody to work....

 

[Golfman25]

The battery is less than 2 months old/new. I'll call MMax and plead my case to get her in sooner, but I doubt it will help. Nobody to work....

If you’re waiting anyway, it’s pretty simple to pull the battery and take it in to be tested. It will save MM from doing it.

 

[Arminius]

Your manual will tell you what voltage should be shown on dash with ign on, 12 volts, and with engine running for a while, 12.6. These are guesses but should make your engine turn over, if fail to have starting capacity. Boaters are self reliant. Maybe you should sell what should be a pretty reliable boat. Or, you could write up your observations of the instruments, the conditions before and at the time of the incident, concentrating on what had changed. You'd probably work it out yourself in the process of writing it down. It would help amuse us if your incidents were more severe like a sinking or a collision, not that I'm recommending such. Candidly, my boat failed to start in the Spring so I went home and called a friend who reminded me to put the shifter stalk in the upright position.

 

[GypsmJim]

With engine off but ignition on, the voltage meter should read 12.7 for a fully charged battery. With engine running, it should read about 13.5.

If the battery is in sad condition, but the alternator / regulator are OK, it might read as high as 14.+.

If the engine is running and you only get 12.+, your charging system is bad.