Reverse polarity...ouch help

[aaron]

Hi guys.Had my batteries recharged but when i was reinstalling the rear one, i accidentally did a reverse polarity...plenty of sparks....

Unfortunately, everything was in "all on" and battery switches were set to Green(ON).

What has happened is that i can't start the engine and the hr meter says 0.0hrs.

Clarion set cannot be swtiched on as well.

I really screwed up. Pls help. Thanks

[jc]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

Check all your fuses/breakers.

[Hollywood]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

You should be ok, that's what the fuses/breakers are for. Might want to charge the batteries again though and leave the switch on OFF next time.

[Andrew]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

or just hook them up right the first time :P

i understand the feelin, i had the misfortune of jumping the boat off in the dark once and got my cables crossed. the green arc was pretty, but scared the piss out of me lol

[aaron]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

Thanks guys.
Put a fresh battery in , got the factory master reset code for the keypad, everything lights up but when i press the start button, the engine wont crank.In fact, even the fuel pump doesnt seem to be priming( ie.. no buzzing sound)
Replaced the 3 relays , pressed the circuit breaker.......still no effect.
Will change the starter motor 2mrw..perhaps something is wrong with the relay that is attached to it.
The funny thing is, the stereo doesnt work.Checked the 1 amp fuse was OK.Will check that larger fuse near the rear battery terminal.

[Laptom]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

I don't think the starter is broken. Check if the relay at the starter is getting it's power when pushing the button. Still sounds like there is 1 fuse blown somewhere....

[M3Fan]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

What year is the boat? Depending on the year there could be an inline fuse on the positive side of the battery on a smaller lead.

[Mikeski]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

Aaron,

I hate to say it but you likely cooked the deck. Radio's are not very forgiving when hooked up reverse polarity. Way back when I worked on an old VW that used a positive chassis ground. He had cooked two decks before I was able to tell him what was going on. I would guess you popped a few diodes and/or transistors on the power stage of the deck. Hopefully I am wrong, if you are lucky there may be an internal fast blow fuse on the circuit board that tripped before any damage occurred. Most amps have reverse polarity protection but the decks usually don't.

[aaron]

RE: Reverse polarity...ouch help

M3fan.you are spot one!
My car mechanic managed to trace an inline 100amp fuse on the small red wire from the starter to the circuit breaker.Had to remove the whole wire and get a workshop to cut the wire and put a new inline fuse box with a replaceable fuse.Yesterday, i saw this black box but didnt think it was a fuse.Instead it looked like on of those FM suppressors.
Head unit still no power but my "mechanic" managed to splice the red wire with a yellow one( i think )and the head unit powered up .Amp has a light but not putting out any sound.

[coloradonautique]

Aaron,
Not sure what radio you have but all the car radios I have ever worked on had two power lines. One "switched" (usually red) wire and one "unswitched" (usually yellow or orange).

The "switched" wire is the high current/power (generally with inline 5A fuse or fuse on the back of the deck) for the normal radio functions and AMP. This is usually only powered when the ignition or ACC is on.

The "unswitched" is a permanent connection to the battery for keeping the internal clock powered and powering any back lighting.

Internal to the radio, there is probably some MOV diodes or similar protection on the circuit board to protect against power spikes. If these get blown, you will need to get a new radio or be handy with a soldering iron. :grin: I have replaced MOVs on my DVD player circuit board and other electronics before.

If you don't have any luck. Pull the radio and power it directly from a 12V battery. If you cannot get it to turn on or move the CD mechanism, the unit has some internal (hopefully minor) damage.

How handy are you with electronics? Got a Voltmeter?

-Lorin

[Mikeski]

Sounds like you may have dodged a bullett, I doubt the amp is cooked. Check the amp fuses too, make sure you are getting power, ground, and turn on signal to the amp.