boat not wanting to start: low voltage...

[Mamigacz]

Wonderful!

[bhectus]

You need to put some new ground cables in if they were corroded. Corroded cables will have a ton of voltage drop. That is your problem.

[gride]

I'll do that. Should I use some nice stinger 2ga or just normal battery cable? I'll go ahead and replace the power & ground. I know the grounds have been in since at least 08 if not factory equipped. I replaced the power this year, but I might re do it anyway bc I like soldering battery terminals. Merry Christmas nautiquers.

[bhectus]

I'll do that. Should I use some nice stinger 2ga or just normal battery cable? I'll go ahead and replace the power & ground. I know the grounds have been in since at least 08 if not factory equipped. I replaced the power this year, but I might re do it anyway bc I like soldering battery terminals. Merry Christmas nautiquers.

You need to get marine rated power and ground cables. Tinned copper with crimp-on style connectors. DO NOT go to the auto parts store and get anything there. You'll only be dealing with the same issue in the near future.
Check this link out, these are what you need. They have 8 foot pre-made cables for pretty cheap. Just click on the drop-down box for different lengths.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...Battery+Cables

[gride]

there's nothing different about that cable. soldered terminals and some heat shrink. i'm going to use whatever they sell at the deka store.

[bhectus]

Here it is again since you seemed to miss it the first time. "You need to get marine rated power and ground cables. Tinned copper " It is most certainly not the same as automotive cables.

[gride]

Thanks. I didn't see any mention of marine anything when I clicked the link. Given need for that, shouldn't my stereo stuff be that also rather than stinger ofc?

[TX-Foilhead]

A lot of the stereo wire is tinned, if yours isn't look at New Konceptz just don't get the cheap CCA wire. Genuine Dealz also has alot of the standard tinned wire at reasonable prices if there is such a thing, and they put it together for you if you know exactly what you need. Normally I would say if you solder and shrink wrap everything it should be OK, but if your in brackish water then the tinned wire will last longer.

[Mamigacz]

Sorry, I'm curious. Did the new starter fix your issue? With all the talk about ground cables, I was starting to think your starting issue still exists. Or was the suggestion to go with new ground cables a preventative measure for the future?

[gride]

Well the parts are not here yet. I'd imagine tomorrow or Thursday(should have paid the $1.00 extra for ups ground) my shop is closed all friggin week. I'll let y'all know what happens with the new starter jan. 2. The old one is already out so...if for some reason it was just bad grounds ill save the old one for a quck fix if needed. After we do that I'm going to replace the ground cables anyways with tinned copper as suggested.

[bhectus]

gride, I would hate to see you spend all that money on a new starter if it isn't needed. Your symptoms of low voltage and you saying the ground cable's corroded is telling me that the problem is in the cable. That is a tell-tale sign. I would replace the cable first and see if that remedies your issue, then you could probably return that starter and get your money back to buy some tequila for the ladies. It does great things on boats out in the toasty sunshine.

[gride]

i got the parts in today. i'll be going in on jan. 2. i'll have them put in some new TINNED copper cables with solder/heat shrink and see if that works, but i think they tested the starter and it wasn't working. i'll definitely let ya'll know what the REAL cause of the problem turns out to be. and since i got the parts myself i know my shop(who i trust anyway) isn't trying to just make money on parts and extra labor. Patron for sure. cuervo gold if youre feeling cheap.

[gride]

She's real perrty though ain't she.

[xrichard]

FWIW, the ABYC specifies that solder is not to be the sole form of mechanical connection in a circuit. The reason is that the vibration/flexing in a boat can cause the solder to fail, allowing (a potentially hot) wire to come loose from the connector. You should really crimp. Genuinedealz will make up custom-length crimped cables to your specs--reasonable prices and (from what I can tell) good quality. I've also been to West Marine stores where they have crimpers available for customer use...so, if you buy your connector there you can probably use their crimper.

[gride]

i've got a hammer crimper(which i hate). my soldered and heat shrunk terminals i have right now are crazy strong.