Help!

[clark9312]

I was unhooking my batteries. It started getting tight when I got to my cranking battery and I guess my wrench hit the metal of the boat while I was un doing my positive and sparks started flying and smoke came from my motor. How much damage do you think I've done

[iabass8]

Could be a lot. Could be nothing. Pop the cowling off (motor cover) and look for any melted wires around the harness. Start there. Might want to check the fuse, too.

[clark9312]

So far I haven't seen anything that looks melted 

 

[iabass8]

Look in the area the smoke came from. Hard to give much more without knowing what type of motor. did you try to start the motor again on muffs?

[WRB]

That is why they make battery switches and circuit breakers, to protect the engine from shorts. 

Tom

[clark9312]

So far I haven't found any blown fuses. The bilge pump is working and so is the livewell. I'm going to start it in just a few 

1 hour ago, iabass8 said:

Look in the area the smoke came from. Hard to give much more without knowing what type of motor. did you try to start the motor again on muffs?

2016 mercury 115 4 stroke. I couldn't really tell where the smoke was coming from my self. Looked to be lower part of the motor 

[clark9312]

So I hooked the muffs to it and it started and seem to run fine. No blown fuses. My only concern now is could I have messed up my alternator. Any chance of this?

[iabass8]

Possible. If you did indeed see smoke coming from the engine after you created the accidental spark, it could be anything (or nothing) if a visual inspection shows. O melting wires/connections/blown fuses at the motor. You've got platinium warranty that includes electrical. Take it in and have them test it. Wont take long.

[slonezp]

2 hours ago, iabass8 said:

Possible. If you did indeed see smoke coming from the engine after you created the accidental spark, it could be anything (or nothing) if a visual inspection shows. O melting wires/connections/blown fuses at the motor. You've got platinium warranty that includes electrical. Take it in and have them test it. Wont take long.

The warranty doesn't cover user error......soooo maybe "I'm not sure what happened. It just stopped working"

[clark9312]

I'm going to hook the muffs back to it and run it before I go to work. If I were to have fried the alternator would It show on the TAC? The voltage on the TAC wouldn't move go up when increasing the RPMS, correct? Sorry for the questions but I don't have the best mechanical skills lol

[iabass8]

5 hours ago, clark9312 said:

I'm going to hook the muffs back to it and run it before I go to work. If I were to have fried the alternator would It show on the TAC? The voltage on the TAC wouldn't move go up when increasing the RPMS, correct? Sorry for the questions but I don't have the best mechanical skills lol

 If it's working correctly, when in neutral, the voltage should read around 14.4. When you put the boat into gear the voltage should drop down to 13.1  give or take, assuming your battery is fully charged, and then the voltage will increase when your rpm's go above I believe the number is 1200 it might be 1500. I could be a little off on the numbers RPM wise  but once you put the boat in the gear and increase the RPMs the voltage should go up and it should not exceed 14.4 to 14.6. If it does the voltage regulator could be fried and that's a bad thing. Revving your engine on muffs is also a bad idea you really shouldn't exceed idle RPMs on muffs. Some say not going over 2000 is fine but I would just rather be safe than sorry I don't have the stones

[clark9312]

I think I'm in the clear.  I took the boat to a small lake by the house. I backed it in and at ran it on the trailer. The TAC showed it right around 14 while idling. It would drop while I was playing with my tilt and trim. When I put it in gear and gave it a little gas (under 2000 rpms it would go up slightly) this is about as high as the voltage got. 

I also want to add the voltage meter would drop just slightly under 14 when I had the livewells running 

[iabass8]

2 hours ago, clark9312 said:

I think I'm in the clear.  I took the boat to a small lake by the house. I backed it in and at ran it on the trailer. The TAC showed it right around 14 while idling. It would drop while I was playing with my tilt and trim. When I put it in gear and gave it a little gas (under 2000 rpms it would go up slightly) this is about as high as the voltage got. 

I also want to add the voltage meter would drop just slightly under 14 when I had the livewells running 

Everything seems to be working as it should. The tilt trim, when in neutral, will drop the voltage, but it will go right back up to 14 when you stop using it. Run it WOT a bit just to make sure the regulator is working.