Burned regulator!

[garbubba]

Thank you guys,

Ferm, they (it's a 40 amp dual regulator system) mount to the back of the water jacket with heat sink grease, like you said, that all looked fine, even after it burned.

Loss of ground is likely though, I spent some time working on wiring last summer, it was a mess.

I looked at the stator & nothing looks damaged there.

Shouldn't be the batteries, I use two & don't run much stuff, fish finder, radio, GPS & I put them on a charger at home. That was why I didn't even notice for a few (maybe more) trips out. My voltmeter gave out a while ago. Reality hit last trip out when I flooded it out offshore & heard the batteries start to weaken as I was cranking it.

So that should mean if I troubleshoot my wiring (some was burned) & make sure I have good ground, then a pair of regulators & I should be good (theoretically) right?

[garbubba]

One more question, anybody have a source for a merc regulator? I saw some on Ebay - about $125.

I believe the part # is 815279T

Thanks again!

[tsubaki]

Also cross reference a CDI part.
http://www.marinepartssource.com/new...ge%20Regulator
FERM helped me out on a Mariner and did stress the mounting/grounding on one that looked like it.

[tsubaki]

My problem was the electronics were cutting out about the time we got on plane. The voltage climbed to over 18v and everything not related to the engine was shutting down.

[phatdaddy]

bigshrimpin used to be a good source for older merc/mariner parts, might pm him and see if he has any left.

kinda strange having 2 bad grounds at once. one might have been out for a while

[garbubba]

I found a used regulator on ebay that had the wiring harness included, that's a big plus for me , because I'd have had to replace most of the lugs anyway. The guy said it tested good, so for $40 including shipping, I did it.

The other regulator tests OK, but is a bit scorched, I may try reusing it.

Once I get this worked out, I may change my harness to isolate the charging circuits & my two battery system. I like that it's redundant, in a way. How many of y'all are set up like that?

[garbubba]

Had an emergency trip to Alaska. Now I'm back & ready to get the boat fixed.

I have all the parts & it looks like the rain stopped so I have a question or two.

I'd like to make sure I don't have the same issue & burn up these regulators.

I thought through the possibility that the regulator had a bad ground. It gets the ground from the case to the water jacket on the block, right?

That was all clean & tight & had electrical grease on it, so that seems unlikely.

The wiring was all burned so it's hard to tell what went first, a short?

The stator LOOKS ok, I did not test it, should I?

I have a new (used) harness so the install should be easyier than repairing all that wiring.

Any suggestions?

Doug