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Charging Voltage Level
Thanks Harvey - I will check again for loose belt but I don't think this is it. I just had the belt off to replace the water pump and put it back on pretty tight. Oneace - I broke my digital multimeter but maybe its time to get another. I am also wondering if the gauge in the dash is working correctly. I hear these gauges in boats go bad quite often.
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Charging Voltage Level
Much earlier in my working life, in my late teens and then while in college after serving from being drafted, I was a marine mechanic. I was certified on MerCruiser (Mercury Stern Drives) while my brother was certified on the outboards. My father was a Zone Sales Manager for Mercury.
The first thing that went through my mind on this was the volt gauge having been wired wrong from the start; it sounds as if the gauge is wired in at the dash and not being wired to read the voltage at or near the battery. It seems to be sensing the voltage drop when things are being used (e.g.: the high current stereo). It also points to there not being a heavy enough gauge of wire going from the battery up to the console area -- it is doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing by sensing the voltage, and in this case the voltage dropping. If the supply wire was a sufficient enough gauge wire from the battery up to the console, there should not be any appreciable voltage drop -- maybe a few tenths of a volt, but not much more. But, if there is 18 gauge wire going up there for such a long run, that could be a problem with a sizable current draw such as the stereo. That's my read on the situation at least.
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Charging Voltage Level
Wr5evk, thanks for your input. Obviously you have good experience in this area. This and oneace makes me think that I should double check my reading at the alternator, see if the in-dash gauge is working or wired correctly, and run a direct power line from the battery to the stereo. The stereo is 200 watts (50x4) and drives 2 - 6 inch speakers and 2 - 6x9 inch speakers. Thanks to all who have posted!
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Charging Voltage Level
It sounds like Wr5evk might be on the right track. Since your entire instrument cluster is dancing to the beat the voltage supply to the panel/stereo (wiring to the cluster/stereo, battery, alternator, belt) could well be inadequate, but the ground could be inadequate as well. Make sure the grounding is of a heavy enough gauge wire and connections are tight and clean.
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Charging Voltage Level
Wr5evk could be right if the wire if the connections are corroded and the wire is small. I guess with the sterio disconnected it still leaves a question mark why the gauge would read low. I am assuming that this is a new condition and read properly before.
Is the battery a rolled cell or plate gel battery?
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Charging Voltage Level
Peters, it is not a gell cell battery. Then is it a rolled cell battery? As I have been talking about this with my wife we are wondering if the voltmeter has always read like this. The stereo issue just caused me to focus on what was going on with the voltmeter for the first time. Sorry for confusing these issues - one problem is what causes me to find 10 others  The boat seems to be running fine - I will just pick away at this voltmeter curiosity for a while and hopefully solve it.
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Charging Voltage Level
Rolled cell is batteries like Optimas. The cases look like six cans of beans in a plastic case. You can tell by the case design. If the battery is a normal flooded lead acid you can check the for a short by checking the acid in the cells. One cell should be low after sitting a while.
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Charging Voltage Level
I ran a separate line from the battery to the stereo. It fixed the "dancing gauge" problem on the instrument panel when I crank the stereo up. I still need to spend some time with the voltmeter wiring as the voltmeter still reads 13V when the engine is idling and gradually drops towards 12V as the rpms are increased. This will take some time because I only get in the boat every couple of weeks and usually just want to get right to the water. Thanks to all who have posted here.
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Charging Voltage Level
Normal charging should be around 14 volts at the higher speed. To have grounding problems on a boat is not unusual!
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Charging Voltage Level
Just an update. I finally got to checking my voltage at the battery while engine is running and charging - 14.5 volts. And the voltage is stable as engine is revved. Perfect. So I can only conclude that curent wiring to the dash/voltmeter is insufficient as wr5evk8jj suggests.
I might add that the battery seems to be getting weak too quickly. If my boat sits for 3 weeks the battery is too weak to start the boat and I have to pull out my portable "mighty might" battery at the marina. Something seems to be drawing power off the battery at a very slow rate. I wonder if all these problems are related. I wonder if some component like the depth finder is drawing excessive power from the dash area and/or not completely shutting down. How can I detect a small draw on the battery?
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Gas Generator Weather Protecti
07-09-2006, 07:25 
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