Power issue …help?

[pdxsearay]

Took some family out for a cruise yesterday and after about two hours of constant cruising we pulled into the area near the dock. Boat was idling for a couple minutes while we waited for our turn, then it died. When I say that, I mean everything was totally gone. Zero power whatsoever. Fan, horn, nothing.

Fortunately I have a couple of paddles on board so we were able to paddle toward the dock and tie up.

while I was up getting the truck in the trailer, my family told me that they heard the fan kick back on and so they tried to start it and it fired right up again. This was maybe 3 to 5 minutes after it died.

battery is slightly more than one year old. But it doesn’t seem like it’s the battery given that it came back.

Any ideas? is it just a flaky connection somewhere? This has never happened before.

One potentially mitigating factor is that I live in Portland Oregon and we have had bat shit crazy heat (115 degrees) recently. The boat had all of its covers on but it was outside for a couple of days during that.

No idea whether that would play any kind of a role.

Thank you for the help!

 

[Espos4]

Check your battery connections to make sure they are clean and tight. also clean the ground connection at the rear of the engine block.
Can’t say for sure if that the issue, but it’s a good first step in the diagnosis.

 

[Thornton69]

Have seen connections on the main breaker (top of motor) interrupt ignition and all accessories in the same fashion you are describing. Also check main harness connection at back of engine.

 

[pdxsearay]

Thanks. Thornton, when you say connections on the main breaker, which connections are you referring to?

 

[Korkie]

+1 om Espos4. Something is either dirty, loose or both. Follow the wires - starting at the batteries, do both the hot (Red) side and the Ground (Black) side. Remove the connections one at a time, clean it and securely re connect. Do all of them, even if they look good. You need to have a clean and tight system in order to properly trouble shoot. The main breaker is worth a look at as well. Although not first place I would look.

 

[Arminius]

Check battery switch as connections may not be visible. Usually flat sided terminals are stacked inside recesses in housing preventing a movement of cable from loosening nut.
Stacking of extra cables by conscientious owner may allow for loosening. Yes, it sounds like a loose connection. Check ignition switch too. Stress relieve the wires/cables with wire ties after you find the problem so it doesn't happen again.

 

[pdxsearay]

@Arminius @Korkie @Espos4 - how do I get access to main ground bus & engine connection?

And is there a way to remove these panels on either side of engine ?

this is an 05 sea Ray 185 sport FYI

 

[ttmott]

@Arminius @Korkie @Espos4 - how do I get access to main ground bus & engine connection?

And is there a way to remove these panels on either side of engine ?

this is an 05 sea Ray 185 sport FYI

View attachment 108124

Boy that is pretty darn clean. It almost sounds like the connection to the battery is loose. These failures are the worst to track and isolate/fix. If you couldn't even crank the motor or the bilge pump didn't operate (the bilge pump is a key indicator BTW) then I would start at the battery and first focus on the ground wire; grounds are the root of all evil when it comes to electrons. Regardless, trace the large cables to each termination and take the termination apart, inspect the crimp, clean, put some dielectric grease on it and tighten it back up. Repeat all the way to the starter / engine block.
Bilge Pump - If it didn't operate either then probably not the battery switch as the bilge pump bypass the battery switch.

 

[WinkBuilt]

We had an old Galaxy drop dead near the Lake Erie islands.
While running everything just shut down. Went from plan to dead stop in 30 seconds. Ended up being a toasted impeller. The engine overheated and threw a safety fuse to keep from blowing itself up.

 

[pdxsearay]

Boy that is pretty darn clean. It almost sounds like the connection to the battery is loose. These failures are the worst to track and isolate/fix. If you couldn't even crank the motor or the bilge pump didn't operate (the bilge pump is a key indicator BTW) then I would start at the battery and first focus on the ground wire; grounds are the root of all evil when it comes to electrons. Regardless, trace the large cables to each termination and take the termination apart, inspect the crimp, clean, put some dielectric grease on it and tighten it back up. Repeat all the way to the starter / engine block.
Bilge Pump - If it didn't operate either then probably not the battery switch as the bilge pump bypass the battery switch.

Thanks. How do I get these panels off to see the ground connection?

 

[pdxsearay]

Also I’m not sure if the bilge pump was working or not . It’s the blower fan kicking back on that told us the power was back.

 

[pdxsearay]

Also does anyone know what this loose wire might be from?

 

[pdxsearay]

Also does anyone know what this loose wire might be from?

View attachment 108130

 

[Bt Doctur]

most likely the wires for an electric choke, not used with TKS

 

[Lazy Daze]

As others have mentioned, since you lost ALL power, start at the battery and it's connections. Who installed it? Are ALL connections clean and tight? Don't just give it a cursory look.

Panels are easily removable - look for the L-brackets on the back side.

 

[Arminius]

If my boat had a main circuit breaker and no power, the very first thing I would do is short out the breaker by placing a tool across the terminals being careful not to ground any portion of it. If that worked, I would "jump" the breaker. My 2003 doesn't have one and cars don't have them-get rid of it.

 

[Korkie]

That unfortunately is poor and dangerous advice and could cause an electrical fire. That breaker is there to prevent a larger problem and save other components. DO NOT GET RID OF IT.

 

[pdxsearay]

I removed, cleaned and reinstalled the battery connections. Next is to check the ground but I couldn’t get to it due to those panels. Will try again to take them off. I found the L brackets, just wasn’t sure if that would do the trick.

And: The reply from @WinkBuilt describes a safety switch due to over-heating.
Could it be that given the boat sat out in 115 degree heat for a few days and then went out and ran prettt hard, The engine overheated and threw a safety fuse once we were idling and there was no air flow to cool whatever sensor triggers that ? Where is that switch?

Is it the red button above the engine ?

@Thornton69 you mention:
Have seen connections on the main breaker (top of motor) interrupt ignition and all accessories in the same fashion you are describing.

…is that related to this safety switch?

 

[Arminius]

That unfortunately is poor and dangerous advice and could cause an electrical fire. That breaker is there to prevent a larger problem and save other components. DO NOT GET RID OF IT.

The KISS rule seems of special application to boats: Keep It Simple Stupid. Why the hell would a small boat need a main breaker to further confuse the new owners when it goes dead in the middle of the big ocean?
I replaced the electrical service panel in my home recently and found the electrical code had changed requiring a main breaker which seemed OK till I realized this extra bump in the box would limit the physical size of the new panel and reduce the number of breakers. While I found a work around, there are always unintended circumstances with safety mandates. A main breaker on a small boat seems more problematical than useful.

 

[Korkie]

Unfortunately the KISS, Keep it Simple IS STUPID when it comes to cutting corners on electrical systems in our boats. Fuses are there to serve 2 primary functions. Protect the components downstream from the fuse and prevent an electrical fire from an overloaded or short circuit. If a fuse is blowing or breaker is tripping, then it is telling you there is a problem. Very rarely is it with the fuse or breaker itself. I can certainly understand testing the fuse or breaker by inserting another of same rating or even maybe lower to test it. Jumping a fuse or breaker with a non protected method is poor practice and could certainly burn up whatever components that fuse was protecting. Example: The very expensive computer.
Bypassing a non fused circuit such as a starter solenoid is acceptable as it is a switch, not a fused circuit.
You may elect to cut corners on your boats, cars, house or whatever other projects you are involved with. To suggest, especially to a relatively new boat owner asking for our experienced and professional advice, to remove any fuse from any system is irresponsible and reckless. Let alone that fuse is REQUIRED according to ABYC Standards.
And I certainly do not think this member is going to out in the middle of the big ocean in his 18.5 Sport. Now being on fire in the middle of the lake or river because he elected to unprotected a circuit on your advice, now that is certainly a possibility.