Sea_Ray_Seattle
New Member
I've been having this issue ever since buying the boat 2 months ago... boat is plugged into shore power when it's not in use, but when I turn on the motor the volt meter reads 11-11.5 volts and stays like that until I get up to full throttle where it then jumps up to 12.5 volts... but nothing in between.
Yesterday, I realized that I forgot to plug in the shore power when I got to the boat, but it had only been two days since last driving it and I forgot that I left the water pressure button on. We spent a good portion of the day with stereo on (which has a small amp too) and fridge running - driving for a bit then floating for 45 minutes at a time. All day long the volt meter (even at full throttle) showed 10-11 volts.
The volt meter on the boat should show the alternator volts, not the aggregate battery power at that time, right?
Anyway, all that seems really concerning, right?? Is there such a thing as the alternator kind-of-working where it only puts out 10v and slowly wears down the battery? (seems like motor wouldn't run long if that were the case... and it was purring just fine).
I plugged in my Garmin 4200 chartplotter and I set a volt alarm to 9.0v and the alarm would flicker on for about 1/2 a second and then immediately turn off. It made me even more confused.
Any thoughts as to what is going on?
(I have a 1996 Sea Ray 270, 2 large dry cell batteries and 1 small car/boat battery. Alternator is after market, installed 5-7 years ago.)
Yesterday, I realized that I forgot to plug in the shore power when I got to the boat, but it had only been two days since last driving it and I forgot that I left the water pressure button on. We spent a good portion of the day with stereo on (which has a small amp too) and fridge running - driving for a bit then floating for 45 minutes at a time. All day long the volt meter (even at full throttle) showed 10-11 volts.
The volt meter on the boat should show the alternator volts, not the aggregate battery power at that time, right?
Anyway, all that seems really concerning, right?? Is there such a thing as the alternator kind-of-working where it only puts out 10v and slowly wears down the battery? (seems like motor wouldn't run long if that were the case... and it was purring just fine).
I plugged in my Garmin 4200 chartplotter and I set a volt alarm to 9.0v and the alarm would flicker on for about 1/2 a second and then immediately turn off. It made me even more confused.
Any thoughts as to what is going on?
(I have a 1996 Sea Ray 270, 2 large dry cell batteries and 1 small car/boat battery. Alternator is after market, installed 5-7 years ago.)