Help Diagnosing Broken Down Boat

[TheGreatestGoat]

So the boat is hauled up in the garage gathering dust which is killing me. I thought I'd do my best to fix it before booking it in and shelling out.

I'll try and give as much info as possible and if anyones got any ideas that'd be great.

Basically nothing was working, engine not kicking over or making a sound of any description. No power to electricals. So i'm thinking has to be battery. So i check the battery with the multi-meter and it has full charge, though the terminals were calcified and in a state of disarray. So I cleaned them up nice and shiny. Tried everything again. We'd made some progress. Engine was now making what I would describe as a clicking/crackling sound but not close to kicking over. Smaller GPS unit, bilge, lights and other low voltage electrics were all working. Larger Furuno unit was still not powering up.

So I borrowed a brand spanking new battery off a mate thinking perhaps there was enough juice to get the smaller stuff going but not the engine or furuno. But got the same results with the new battery.

The engine and furuno run on two separate fuses, both of which look to the naked eye in good condition. There's no visible breakages or disconnections of any wiring.

What do you think would be my next port of call to test? I'm thinking the battery isolator as that would have a universal effect?

Remove the battery isolator and connect motor straight to battery?

Any tips would be mighty helpful

[TheGreatestGoat]

Well solved my own problem (partly) turns out it was the battery isolator. Engine kicks over fine when connected straight to battery.

Furuno still doesn't power up, so must be a separate issue there. Will replace the fuse and see how it goes

[Delirium]

Sounds like you're nearly on top of it.

Interesting how things like battery isolators, that we use to make our toys more reliably, can actually become the cause of single-point failures. No big deal to sort out in your shed, but more than slightly frustrating in 2m chop. I have a pretty badly manufactured 4way switch that makes me nervous at times....the indents at the four positions aren't very distinct and I have found myself standing on both batteries all night when supposed to be on one. Must throw it in the bin!! If you end up replacing yours, pay for a good one......the cheaper ones aren't worth the risk.

Good luck with the Furuno....hopefully it's only a fuse or bad connection.

Edit: it just occurred to me that the problem could be that the unit that isn't powering up is wired directly back to the output of the isolator switch because it was installed later? The other instruments might be taking power from a bus in at the helm which is getting power, but the Furuno has been left behind when you bypassed the switch. Worth a look. Good luck

[purple5ive]

i was going to say try a new isolator as a start, but seems like you fixed that issue.

for the sounder connect it directly to the battery with a fuse and see if it works. maybe terminals are corroded as well. fuse also could be blown and you just can visually see it.

[mr plow]

check your fuses with a multimeter put it on ohms scale. if you put both leads together multimeter should read 0 or a low number. than put 1 lead on each end of fuse should read close to the same as when you had leads together.

[Nude up]

When I bought my boat a few years ago after 12 months I started having a few elec issues I found the battery isolates screwed to the floor in the transom area behind a door. I removed the isolater and as I Did one of the earth leads and one of the positive leads broke at the terminal. I removed the isolater pulled it apart cleaned it all up new leads has been good ever since.
I also relocated the isolater so water did not get in it the people who fit boats out sometimes leave a bit to be desired. Sounds to me like you have an earth problem somewhere high resistance use the multi meter as stated previous and you should find it or just look for a connection that is bright green powdery and swollen