bigfatmatt
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Posts posted by bigfatmatt
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I ran carb cleaner (the stuff that comes in an aerosol can) through the jet, it was spraying properly out of all of the holes.
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Update:
- Replaced spark plugs
- Replaced fuel filter
- Replaced the fuel and added some Redex, emptied all the sediment out of the fuel can
- Cleaned the carb & jets with carb cleaner
- Cleaned the fuel line out thoroughly
Engine will now start and run in neutral or in low revs, if I try to push her to higher revs even warm she cuts out. Thinking I need to find a Yamaha outboard specialist at this point. Thanks for suggestions.
Also trying to start with the vent closed she chokes out instantly, there is safe ventilation out of the compartment the tank sits in so fume buildup isn’t a major concern.
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17 hours ago, Dockeroo said:
- Are you making sure the cap of the fuel tank has its air vent open? Its like the lid on top of the lid that you open to let air get in the tank as the fuel drains, if you dont then the engine will cut out as the fuel can't leave the tank as the lid is sealed shut completely.
- Other thing is the fuel line and or filter from the tank to the motor can get clogged and need to replace.
It really sound like one of those if you haven't yet checked.
Cap of the fuel tank has the air vent open, confirming.
I’m going to take another look tomorrow with a mate who knows what he’s doing. Seems like the most likely culprits are fuel line/primer bulb, spark plugs, and jets.
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38 minutes ago, jonathanA said:
I think the kill switch would let the engine turnover on the starter but not fire. As the OB fires and runs seems unlikely its anything to do with the kill switch or dodgy electrics.
on the one i'm familiar with (looks very similar) the wiring at the O/B end had a dodgy fuse holder and that caused some intermittent engine stopping/not starting problems until we replaced the knackered fuse holder and silver papered fuse.... the pics in this thread seem to show pretty tidy electrics at the engine end. We also had a problem with the 'neutral' switch on the OB - it needed a slight adjustment as it wasn't operating properly. in the first video it looks as though the engine might be in gear ? - hard to tell but that could be a problem ?
The engine wont start in gear, I did put it in gear in one of the videos to show that it’s happy to fire on gear while fuel is being pushed into it.
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16 hours ago, Bod said:
Does this outboard have a Kill Switch?
If so is it set to Run?
Bod.
The kill switch is a clip below the ignition, if the clip comes off it will kill the engine. There’s not one on the outboard itself.
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I’m using Super Unleaded which I believe is E5.
I don’t know if the previous owners used E10.
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1 hour ago, Bacchus said:
Does seem to be starting then failing which could well be the slow-running jet as @Mad Harold says
@bigfatmatt can you try starting it with a little bit of throttle? There should be a button on the throttle controller that allows you to move the throttle forward without clunking it into gear; I would try giving it a little bit of juice which would sidestep the jet or help clear a dirty plug
I can get it running with or without throttle but only if we keep manually priming the fuel (10-15s after we stop priming it cuts out), so seems to be an issue with drawing fuel in manually.
Video: https://www.veed.io/view/38958e59-7796-4245-8112-ea9283a63dfb?panel=share
1 hour ago, BWM said:What looks like the air filter is very dusty and if so, could be plugged. Another thought is , has the fuel tank got an air vent that can be closed off - is this shut?
Fuel tank has an air vent but it was open.
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I can’t see a manual choke anywhere on it, the only dial/knob I can see is the dipstick.
Anyone know how I could have a hope of identifying it and finding the right manual? Lol
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Thanks for all the responses, I did know about the tell tail and that’s working fine, good jet of water streaming out of the back.
Fuel is definitely on. There is definitely fuel in the tank which is max 2-3 weeks old. The squishy primer thing goes hard after a few compressions.
I’ve let it sit for a bit (assumed I might have flooded it by overpriming last time) and it’s started running (with some weird sounds) for a few minutes before cutting out. Video/audio: https://www.veed.io/view/fbc205a9-c507-4e9d-ac94-2cc81402d2e9?panel=share
I’ll try to find a manual and work out where the spark is but posting in case anyone has ideas from the sounds (I know engines talk, I just don’t speak their language yet).
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2 minutes ago, john.k said:
You must understand your boat............ before you cast off.
Agree with this 100%. I haven’t cast off yet, I ran the engine last time on the mooring for about 30 minutes a couple of times just to make sure it ran (which, perplexingly, it did) and put some juice back into the starter battery.
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I’ve primed it with the squishy primer thing (not sure about terminology).
I’ve attached another video with the engine cover removed, I can’t see a spark but I’m not sure where I’d be looking for it (I got this boat 4 weeks ago and I’m completely unfamiliar with internal combustion engines — trying to learn).
I don’t think there’s any way water would get into the fuel, the fuel tank has been properly closed and inside the rear under-seating storage which is dry.
https://www.veed.io/view/b7fdb2c5-fee0-4d8a-b694-941b4205a87a?panel=share
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I’ll preface this post by saying I’m useless with engines.
Last came to the boat 2 weeks ago (last week of June), engine ran fine. Most of the petrol was new that week.
Came back today and it absolutely doesn’t want to run — siezing up almost immediately.
I’ve attached a video, sorry about the shite quality. https://www.veed.io/view/f8649539-96f6-4f41-b5a0-46b4e2e76a9f?panel=share
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40 minutes ago, nicknorman said:
An outboard starter battery will barely become discharged at all, unless there is a problem starting it. I suggest an ordinary flooded lead acid battery (either open or sealed) is the best thing to use for a starter battery. No point in buying an expensive AGM or gel battery if you aren’t going to use the advantages of them.
We are all-lithium for the domestic batteries but still have a sealed wet lead acid battery for starting the Beta 43.
Thanks, how should I size the starter for a 9.9kW 4 stroke petrol outboard? I assume it doesn’t need a 110Ah battery?
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3 hours ago, magnetman said:
Victron Smartsolar MPPT controllers allow you to set the voltage. Once the batteries are charged nothing else will come from the solar panels.
I've got 1kw of solar on one boat and 1.3kw on the other one. Both of these arrays go via Victron MPPT Smartsolar (bluetooth app) and the batteries are almost always full. Doesn't matter if they are full it just effectively switches the solar panels off.
Not an issue. Odd having loads of surplus but some people direct this to hot water. I don't wash so not needed.
Basically a LiFePO4 battery with a BMS and a Victron MPPT plus solar panels is the way to go.
Any recommendation on which LiFePO4 batteries and BMS to look at?
Should I also have an AGM to start the outboard and just keep that completely separate?
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14 minutes ago, magnetman said:
I think he might be able to consider a smaller bank and use a lithium battery.
3 x 110 AGM is not all that different from 1 x 100Ah LFP battery in price terms.
It all comes down to daily usage.
Whatever you do if you are not on mains power you have to charge the batteries. It seeems interesting to use a type of battery which can take a faster charge rate.
I could buy LiFePo4, I’m honestly just terrified of wrecking them whereas if I wreck £500-600 worth of batteries it’s a write-off I can deal with as a cost of the learning process.
I have about £3k to buy new solar panels, batteries, an MPPT controller and any accessories to help me not to destroy the whole bank.
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5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:
Agreed, as long as you can reliably terminate charging before damage is done AND control the charge to protect the charging device from overheating because of sustained high outputs. Both add complications not needed on LA batteries.
Thanks, I understand how you’d stop charging from a generator (turn it off) but how would you terminate charging from solar? Do you physically disconnect the charger or can you buy chargers that will stop the charging if the batteries are full?
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32 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
The difference being that running an inboard engine with a 100 amp alternator to replace your (say) 100Ah daily discharge, is going to take many hours less than running your outboard engine with a 7 or 9 amp alternator. Work it out.
I’m talking about running my petrol generator (Honda 22i 2kW portable generator), not my outboard, for top-up charging when solar wont give me enough. Sorry for the confusion, lots of power sources.
My understanding could be wrong but 100Ah daily discharge = 1200Wh so it shouldn’t take long to top that up off a 2000W generator on an October afternoon outside the marina. Obviously there will be some inefficiency because there’ll be voltage step down from 240V generator to 12V battery, and some more because the batteries just wont draw that much current off the generator.
I’m aware that the 9A alternator on the outboard isn’t going to make any meaningful contribution to the battery charge and isn’t going to be in any way fuel efficient, though I’d rather still take advantage of it when I’m running the engine for propulsion because ‘free’ power is always good. If I’m cruising for 4 hours, that’s 18-36Ah give or take that otherwise would be going nowhere.
32 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:Just a question - do you know that it is the Lead Acid batteries that dictate how much charge they take from the alternator (up to its maximum output) rather than the alternator dictating to the batteries how much they can take ?
A 400Ah battery bank will still be drawing around 6 amps at 14.6 volts when it is considered to be fully charged. (1.5% of capacity)
I didn’t know that, I’d have assumed a full bank would draw nothing.
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7 minutes ago, magnetman said:
As Alan said earlier you need to do a power audit. Daily use estimates.
200Wh for the ipad
100Wh for the phone?
360Wh for the fridge
Telly lights and pumps 200Wh?
Add together
860Wh. Divide by 12 to get Amp hours.
So it is around 75Ah per day.
Quite a lot of power use there.
I think there is an interesting argument for putting a small inverter on the engine battery and running the outboard at tickover. Interesting to see what it generates. If it was 5 amps of charge this could contribute to charging the laptop. Outboards don't make much power but they are very quiet and use very little fuel at tickover.
Never tried it and maybe it is inefficient but it does seem potentially interesting.
You will want mains electric in winter.
Cheers, I will have mains from probably October to March (marina).
I’ll do a proper power audit next time I’m on the boat (it’s moored about 4hrs from my current location). I’m definitely not against running the generator in the darker months if it’s needed to keep the batteries topped up, much like how someone with an onboard and a proper alternator would run that for power.
I also have 4x 50,000mAh power banks that I can charge at pubs and coffee shops (I use those for camping at the moment).
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18 minutes ago, magnetman said:
It does of course depend on daily power usage but if the usage is low then I'd be buying one 100Ah LiFePO4 battery for the solar and a separate small lead acid to deal with the outboard. A basic car starter battery say 35ah will be more than enough for an outboard.
Keep the charging systems separate.
Buy a second lithium battery later.
I’m not sure what’s considered low.
My daily driver for work is an iPad which pulls 8W if it’s charged and 21W while charging. That needs to run at least 8-9 hrs a day. I’ve been using my phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot (boat is GRP so signal is OK inside) but I’ll probably swap that out for a dedicated 5G router.
I do have a more powerful laptop (can draw up to 110W when charging) that I use for a couple of hours here and there but I have a Honda generator so if batteries & solar alone can’t manage that I can use it off the generator.
Beyond that there’s a small 12V fridge, 12V TV which I’ll probably have on for a couple of hours in the evening, all the lights are LED, and there’s a water pump.
I would love to go with lithium if that’s a good option.
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13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Sounds like by the time you move aboard you'll be sorted.
I would however still suggest that for your 1st purchase you get FLA batteries as you may still kill them until you learn how to manage your electicity.
Far better to waste £300 than (say) 3 or 4 times that with 'high spec' 'deep cycle' gel batteries.
You can find a stadard FLA for around £100, but decent quality Deep Discharge Gels could be £300
Yes you can find 100Ah gels for £150 but what are you getting ?
A quality 97Ah Gel (500x deep cycle) battery as used in a mobility scooter ...........................
My main concern with FLAs is my batteries are in an awkward spot for topping up. The only place they really fit is under the stairs, and there’s nowhere to get above them so it’d be a case of disconnecting everything monthly to add distilled water.
Are sealed lead acids or AGMs (also a lot cheaper than gels) worth a look?
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Right now there’s a 200W solar panel on there but I’m planning to put 3x 330W solar panels on there before moving aboard. I do have a generator as well. Definitely not planning to use the alternator as a main source of charging.
Will be cruising in the good months with a marina mooring for winter (I need a residential address because I’m a company director so have to keep marina mooring all year round but wont be using it much in the good months). I don’t expect to do ‘deep discharges’ (if you mean beyond 50% DOD) very often — my electricity usage is quite light (iPad, phone charger, 12V fridge, couple hours of 12V TV, lights and water pump) — I was more looking at the 1500 cycles rating for gel vs 300 cycles for open lead acid.
I think what’s happened with the old batteries is the previous owners drained them, moored the boat in a shady spot and barely checked on it for a couple of years. They’re completely dead, wont hold a charge. I got about 5 mins of lights after giving them a full charge off mains.
13 minutes ago, PCSB said:In addition to Alan's observations and to try and answer part of the question, gel batteries generally have a much lower cold crank ability which makes them largely unsuitable for starters. AGM are better in that respect, but a standard LA battery would also serve well and be cheaper.
Cheers, how would it be best to manage having an AGM + 3 gel batteries? I’m looking specifically at how to make sure leisure stuff can’t draw from the starter but making sure the solar or generator will still charge all 4.
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I’ve bought a boat, batteries are rubber ducked so I’m looking to replace them.
After doing some research it sounds like gel batteries last the longest and can handle deep discharge best (excluding lithium which is out of my price range right now). I understand I’ll need to replace the charger/regulator that’s on the current (open lead acid) batteries to prevent overcharging.
I’m currently looking at getting four of these Ritar lead-carbon gel batteries, along with this Victron charger/monitor. This would give me 330AH of leisure capacity and a starter.
However I’m getting conflicting information online about whether or not these are suitable as starter batteries. I’m running a Yamaha 9.9hp 4 stroke petrol outboard with electric start.
Would I be better off buying an AGM or sealed lead acid battery to use as a starter? How would I keep that isolated from the gel batteries since they have different needs for charging, whilst still allowing the alternator to charge the leisure batteries and the solar to charge the starter?
I’m quite new to boat electronics so any advice is welcome.
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41 minutes ago, sueb said:
I'm really surprised at the length of boat people are considering to live on. When we boated 58' was the aspiration, then it became 70'long and 14' wide, now 30' seams to be wanted.
I think my ideal is 57-58’ but that’s out of my budget, living on a 30-40 for a few years will give me the opportunity to learn what I like, what I don’t like and save up for the forever boat I want to spend the rest of my healthy life on.
I’ve lived in cars, tents and grew up month-long tripping on a 32’ Dawncraft. I don’t spend a huge amount of my time ‘at home’ except to work.
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3 hours ago, harrybsmith said:
Hang on, I've got a 32ft boat I'm about to sell, with a shower (and many other things) that's had all work there possibly is to do to it done for under £20k. Has been a comfortable liveaboard for 6 years
Definitely interested, whereabouts is she and can I get some pics?
Outboard Blues
in Boat Building & Maintenance
Posted · Edited by bigfatmatt
Yeah this is my thinking, I stripped the part with the jets in and cleaned that out, took the jets out and cleaned them separately, but might need to strip it down entirely and get it in an ultrasonic cleaner.
Prop turns freely yeah.