Sweet! Got the wiring upgraded today |
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diggit
Senior Member Joined: August-12-2012 Location: Minneapolis MN Status: Offline Points: 135 |
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Posted: May-10-2014 at 8:52pm |
When I bought my '77 Ski Nautique two summers ago it came with a mid-80's motor, alternator with internal regulator, original wiring harness, and an ammeter. Needless to say, there was no charge going to the battery.
Today, after living it with for almost two years and just trickle charging the battery in between sessions, I upgraded the wiring harness with the upgrade kit from skidim: http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RK173070 And found a vintage voltmeter that ~almost~ matches perfectly: http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/m2GiZ5cylIKRvNcZQMdb-Tw.jpg And lo and behold, everything worked! Now that's a good Saturday. |
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'93 Ski Nautique Black/Teal
'77 Ski Nautique. Loved it. Let it Go. |
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Orlando76
Grand Poobah Joined: May-21-2013 Location: Mount Dora, FL Status: Offline Points: 3108 |
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Ahh, the age old Voltmeter vs ammeter debate. I think a voltmeter is a better route but stuck with my ammeter because it's original.
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Bri892001
Grand Poobah Joined: September-27-2008 Location: Boston MA Status: Offline Points: 4945 |
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Pete, I remember the old thread on this and I couldn't find it. Oh wait, here it is, I found it:
http://correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=31051 The big questions that brought the thread to a stop, is how do you make the ammeter work without the external voltage regulator? It seemed to me that the Ammeter-External-Voltage-Regular deal was one setup, and that the New-Style-Alt-Internal-Reg-Voltameter was another setup. And you had to pick one or the other. I'm sure there's a workaround out there, but no one had one at the time. I say, congratulations on getting it figured it out and charging. I'm glad there was a solution that allows you to use the boat |
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TRBenj
Grand Poobah Joined: June-29-2005 Location: NWCT Status: Offline Points: 21113 |
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Those 2 things should have nothing to do with one another. Using an ammeter simply requires you to run the output of the alternator to the ammeter first, then to all of your loads after that- otherwise it won't read what is actually being drawn. It requires a dedicated set of wires in the harness, and you can't tie the orange (alt) to the red (batt) on the engine side (this is how boats with voltmeters are commonly wired).
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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What is actually being drawn or discharged is the key. A volt meter will not tell you that, The drawback to the amp meter is the heavy gauge wire needed to and from the meter. That's why the OEM's went to the volt meter!! They went CHEAP!!! |
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diggit
Senior Member Joined: August-12-2012 Location: Minneapolis MN Status: Offline Points: 135 |
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I'm just stoked that I was able to take off my old wiring harness, effectively neutering the boat, and then put a new one on and have it not only start up again, but actually charge a battery now! :)
I do have one question though... Under the dash there's both an orange and a red wire coming up from the harness and were both on the same pole on the ammeter. The orange then feeds to all the fuses/switches. Seeing this, I taped up the red wire under the dash. Everything seems to be working correctly. Is this the right thing to do? All the references I've seen talk about taping up the orange wire... |
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'93 Ski Nautique Black/Teal
'77 Ski Nautique. Loved it. Let it Go. |
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MustangMadness
Senior Member Joined: April-15-2014 Location: Seacoast NH Status: Offline Points: 114 |
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Bri892001
Grand Poobah Joined: September-27-2008 Location: Boston MA Status: Offline Points: 4945 |
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Thanks for the harness images Terry.
Between that and the explanations from Tim and Pete, it makes more sense now. |
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diggit
Senior Member Joined: August-12-2012 Location: Minneapolis MN Status: Offline Points: 135 |
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Ditto on thumbs up for the harness images. Totally makes sense now!
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'93 Ski Nautique Black/Teal
'77 Ski Nautique. Loved it. Let it Go. |
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MustangMadness
Senior Member Joined: April-15-2014 Location: Seacoast NH Status: Offline Points: 114 |
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You're most welcome; we aim to please.. |
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