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Run Time?

Started by Markshoreline, July 18, 2017, 07:05:35 PM

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Markshoreline

Normally, I turn off the 150 and troll with the kicker when fishing with downriggers.  However, I've had issues with the house battery getting drawn down when crabbing all day but especially when shrimping using an electric pot puller so I have begun leaving the big motor running all day when doing those power sucking activities.  It helps the house battery keep up, though it still needs recharging when I get home.

I've heard that some folks never turn off their main motor when out for the day so to avoid the risk of it not starting up.

My question is what are your thoughts about the balance of running the big motor continuously vs. adding lots of hours on it (my 2014 already has 450) vs. managing battery charging during high drain activities?
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

Hydroman

Mark,

Just a couple of questions,
                                                                                                                        1.  Do you have an ACR that parallels your batteries?
2.  Does you kicker have a charging circuit?

My last two boats both had Suzuki DF 140 Blue Sea ACR's and I never had any problems keeping either batteries, the Suzuki charging circuits seem to run at a high voltage than my previous boat with a Honda 90 HP,  it not uncommon to see my voltage as high as 14.5 volts.  I rarely ever see the ACR not combined.

Jim
17 Sea Chaser (sold)
21 Skip Tower (sold)
27 Thunder Jet OS (sold)
22 Thunder Jet OS

Dbobby23

Hookup the kicker to charge problem solved. In my case I have 2 batteries not connected in anyway. 1 battery is solely for the big motor, second is for everything else, pot puller, downriggers, lights, fishfinder, etc, which is charged by the Yamaha f8. I just got back from a 4 day trip crabbing and shrimping, pulling up countless pots, I got back home and was  curious how dead my battery was going to be. I only ran my f8 a couple times in 4 days. Multi meter sais 12.3 v the Yamaha f8 must throw out a huge charge.
1983 seahunter
2004 yamaha f8
2007 yamaha f60 efi

Diablo

Trolling with downriggers, main off trolling motor running.
Pulling shrimp pots with power puller, main on. I'm going from pot to pot.
Crab pots, I have been pulling them by hand but I bought a couple of heavy pots at Costco so I imagine I'll be using the power puller for that, main on, again going from por to pot.
That's main motor just to be clear Mark.  :biggrin:
'98 19SR  '15 E Tec 115, '10 Honda 8
'67. 23 Tollycraft, 283 Chevy
'04  14' Western, '15 Tohatsu 10
'87  37 Roughwater two 8.2 Detroit diesels SOLD
'88 17SR  '90 Johnson 90, Honda 8, SOLD

ATGEP

Now that my kicker is purring, I use it a lot more. I high idle the kicker where it puts out 10 amps or so when shrimping and it has worked fine this year. Most of my shrimping this year was completed in 8-12 pulls.

Threeweight

Bear in mind that in cold water, idling all day, you main may "make oil" due to not getting hot enough to deal with condensation in the crankcase.  Similarly, carbon build up can be a problem.

If you do it, mix in some periods of wide open, run it like you stole it, RPM's.

Personally, I think this is an artifact of ancient 2 stroke days and shoddy wiring.
Former Sea Chaser 17 owner
Defiance 250 Admiral, twin Yamaha 150's and T9.9

"Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed."
       --- Hunter S. Thompson

Markshoreline

Yes, the Yamaha 9.9 has a charging circuit and there is a Blue Sea ACR in the system. The real issue is shrimping with the 400 foot pulls, twice each 30 minutes that seems to pull down the deep cycle house battery.  Plus, the boat usually lives on the hook so there is no shore power to bring the batteries up to full charge.  I may just need to pull the boat after each big pull session for a land based charge.
Neither motor has ever made water, though I had that issue with a really old T8 that came with my 19SR.
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

Diablo

" twice each 30 minutes" you might want to let them soak a litter longer. Like an hour or two.
'98 19SR  '15 E Tec 115, '10 Honda 8
'67. 23 Tollycraft, 283 Chevy
'04  14' Western, '15 Tohatsu 10
'87  37 Roughwater two 8.2 Detroit diesels SOLD
'88 17SR  '90 Johnson 90, Honda 8, SOLD

croaker stroker


Mark, how about a third deep cycle that you carry home to charge?
1987 - 17' Sea Pacer - 2004 Evinrude 90 E-tec
1985 - 15' Sea Sprinter - **SOLD**

"Ex Tridente Pax". 🇺🇸

ATGEP

The blue sea relay draws a tiny bit unless it is disconnected.  You may want to consider a solar charger. I had a 5 watt charger on my sailboat that was on a mooring ball.  I only had 1 battery and it kept it up. A 15 watt would work great for you and the acr would link both batteries keeping them topped up.

wedocq

How old are your batteries Mark? I would be a little concerned that even when leaving the boat running all day, the batteries aren't fully charged when you're finished.  :shrug9:
-Shawn

PS To you're original question. I never turn the motor off all day when I am tuna fishing.   
2002 21' Arima Sea Ranger HT  Suzuki [glow=red,2,300]DF175 [/glow] 4-stroke.
WEDOCQ= WE DO SEKIU! It pays homage to my Uncle Jay who died of cancer.

StreamFixer

Caveat:  I am very hearing impaired...

I sometimes run my main all day long, even when trolling.  Has nothing to do with charging the system.  This is usually the result of someone not telling me the main is running while we are trolling and me not noticing the Tach is showing rpm's   :doh:

StreamFixer
'01 Hewes Sportsman 18
'14 Yamaha 90
'01 T8 w/ solas 4 blade
'19 Minn Kota 80# (Alterra)
'97 19SC w/ Salt Boss Top


"By the grace of God we travel upon the rivers and sea..
They, like He, are mightier than me."  Mike Jesperson aka 'Nalu

Salmon King

I do everything off of my main because my kicker has no charging circuit (boy do I wish!).

Having just installed an EZ-steer system and Pro-Troll II I think the only way I'll ever get a kicker that does is if I swap out the motor with the one on the Hi-Laker (10 hp Oil injected Suzi).
But then I couldn't use the Pro-Troll.

Decisions, decisions....
PLEASE...Fly your flag Proudly, and remember to thank a Vet!
2011 14' Sterling
9' Pontoon (Bismarck)
8' Pontoon (Hood)

blue heron

I use only my main motor when shrimping or crabbing.  I'll drive up to a pot while a crew member grabs the buoy-pole and I then shift the main into neutral.  The main idles while we use the electric pot puller.  My battery is fully charged at the end of the day.

I don't worry about or track engine hours - I just change the oil twice a year in the main and once a year in the kicker.
SR-19
115 Yamaha
8 Yamaha

Yachter Yat

   Pay careful attention to what Threeweight said with regard to 4 strokes making oil as a result of long periods of slow speed running in cold water.  Keep an eye on the oil level.  If you do notice a steady increase in volume, then it's usually a simple matter of just changing the thermostat.  Just has to run a little hotter is all. 

Yat
History is not the past; it's the present, as we all carry it with us......James Baldwin    
16 SC/Honda 60  (sold)

Markshoreline

#15
I replaced the house battery a couple of months ago and the starter battery tested fine and it is 4 years old.
We pulled the pots twice an hour- every 30 mins.  Yep, longer soaks would reduce the drain by half.  We were in a new area and wanted to make sure we were in good spots.
VT gas suggested the solar charger too.  After serious crabbing/shrimping the battery doesn't get a full recharge until I pull the boat onto land...
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

Hydroman

Have you checked your alternator/regulator to see if they your charging circuit is up to par?

How long dos it take to travel to and from your shrimping grounds?

Jim



17 Sea Chaser (sold)
21 Skip Tower (sold)
27 Thunder Jet OS (sold)
22 Thunder Jet OS

Markshoreline

Good idea, i know the big motor produces 14+ volts but don't know how to measure amps.
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

Hydroman

Mark,

Maybe someone on the form has a DC clamp-on AMP meter,  you could check the alternator output and also check to see if you have a parasite load on your system that you are not aware of.  I will check my inventory of clamp on amp meters to see if any will measure DC current.

Jim
17 Sea Chaser (sold)
21 Skip Tower (sold)
27 Thunder Jet OS (sold)
22 Thunder Jet OS

Markshoreline

This morning I went fishing for a change.  When running the big motor there was no change in the voltage.  However, when I was running the kicker the voltage would go up from 12.5v to 13.5 within 15 minutes. 
Something is wrong with the large motor's charging circuit...
Any troubleshooting tips?
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

Hydroman

The charging circuit has three major components:

1.  Stator (under the flywheel) leads should be accessible check any plug in connections and check resistance of stator windings with ohm meter

2. Rectifier.   most outboards have rectifier fastened to engine block.

3. Voltage regulator,  also fastened to engine block.

The rectifier and voltage regulators may show signs of physical damage such as signs of overheating.

I'm not familiar with Yamaha's,  there have been previous post that have discussed this condition with Yamahas.

Jim

17 Sea Chaser (sold)
21 Skip Tower (sold)
27 Thunder Jet OS (sold)
22 Thunder Jet OS

ATGEP

What was the voltage with the main running? Is this checked using a multimeter or a dash gage? I am guesing it should be close to 14v and the batteries should link via ACR. Since your main starts and the charge circuit uses the same wire, safe to say that is not your problem. Look at everything under the cover for corrosion loose wires, etc. Next I would reference the factory shop manual for troubleshooting. If you dont have one ,you will have to decide if it is worth it to get one (ability and willingness to work on your own motor). Last resort is take it to a shop and break out a boat buck.

Good luck and keep us posted. 

Markshoreline

I'll fool around with it some, looking for corrosion, fuses, etc.  However, when it came time to understanding electricity and they said it was like water through a hose, well I never got further than that.   :jester:
2002 Sea Ranger HT 21, Yamaha 150, Yamaha 9.9

GregE

Except current runs on the surface of the hose........ :wink:
Greg
2005 SL 22 Honda 225 Kodak II
http://www.sagecreekforums.com/phpforum/index.php
Sold:Osprey 26 LC Kodak;  Arima SR 19 HT, Arima SE 16 WeeBait; SH 15 WeeBoat; SR 21 NoBait;  SL 22 ReBait

Threeweight

#24
Mark, is the kicker wired off the House battery?  I am assuming your electronics are rigged off the House battery?  Were you observing voltage on your electronics?

If so, you probably saw your House performance only, via the kicker.  If so, that sounds normal... using voltage as a metric, 12.7 volts is ideal for a new battery in good shape that is fully charged, with no load, measured while "resting". 

Slightly less is ok for an older battery (ie, 12.4, which equates to about a 75% charge in a 12 volt battery).  Less than that in a fully charged battery that has been sitting overnight with no load on it means the battery is weak and should be replaced, or "restored" with a smart charger (may or may not work).  When charging a depleted battery via a charger or your engine's alternator, it can go up to 14.4 volts.  Once a battery is "fully" charged, it should drop to around 13.4 when the charger/alternator switches over to a maintain or float mode (if it keeps charging at 14.4 it will cook the battery). 

If you saw it go to 13.5v with the kicker, that likely means the kicker charging circuit was working fine and the battery was at 100%, with the kicker putting out a little extra charge to offset the load from the electronics.

You wouldn't see anything about the main engines charging in this scenario unless you ran the main and observed the ACR kick in and start sending some charge to the house battery, or you could switch your electronics over to the Start battery and observe it.  Another option would be a cheap little voltage meter on the Start circuit, or a clamp on meter like suggested above.  If your Yamaha has digital gauges, depending on how the dealer wired them it may also be possible to pull up Start circuit voltage, or even observe alternator output on your engine (my Honda gauges do this).

In any event, it sounds like your kicker is charging just fine, but may not put out enough charge on it's own to offset the draw of your pot puller.  Remember the kicker's rated alternator output is typically at WOT.... at idle it puts out a fraction of that.  I believe the Yami 9.9's put out 6 amps at WOT, probably 1.5 at idle... that basically equates to a trickle charger at idle, and a basic home charger at 6 amps.  If you fully depleted a deep cycle battery, @6 amps you'd be looking at 5+ hours to fully recharge it.  Basically, your kicker has no hope of keeping up with the drain of your electric pot puller.

I generally think the T9.9 are the cat's meow on kickers, but one area the Honda 9.9 high thrust shines is the alternator... 12 amp output vs. 6.

So yeah, I think using the main is your best option.  Just mix up some extended periods of hard running with the long periods of idling.
Former Sea Chaser 17 owner
Defiance 250 Admiral, twin Yamaha 150's and T9.9

"Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed."
       --- Hunter S. Thompson