Another battery question with diagram

[TrentePieds]

Crawdaddy:

We can help you better if you use more specific terminology :-)

"Engine won't start" is much to vague. "Starter will not turn over the engine" is much more to the point, if that indeed is the problem. Likewise "Starter turns over the engine, but the engine won't fire". if that is the problem.

The 6V53 could be had, I'm fairly sure, with EITHER a 12V starter OR or a 24V starter. Quick way to know, it you cant see the plate on the starter, is to trace the heavy cabling back from the starter to the battery(s) used for, or even dedicated to, starting.

The batteries you say you have are 12V batteries. So if only one battery has the starter cables leading to it, the starter is 12V for sure. If TWO batteries are in the circuit the starter could be either 12V OR 24V. The way you know is by whether the batteries are connected with a short cable (a "jumper") between the positive terminal on one battery and the negative terminal on the other battery with the starter cabling then coming off the positive terminal on one battery and the negative terminal on the other. If there is such a jumper between two batteries they are said to be connected "in series", and the voltage you'll get from them is 24V despite each battery being nominally 12V.

If two batteries have jumpers between the positive terminal on each battery AND the negative terminal on each battery, they are said to be connected "in parallel", and the output voltage from such a "bank" of batteries is 12V. But speaking of banks, if two batteries are connected in parallel you have "twice as much money (quantity of electrical energy) in the bank" as you would have if you had only one battery in that bank.

Don't go changing voltages just because you feel like it :-) More is NOT better when you are talking voltage! Each "consumer", such as a bilge pump, or a table lamp, or a chart plotter or a radio will be made to accept a certain voltage. If you throw more voltage at it than it is designed for, it will fry! Go buy a thirty-buck "universal meter" and just follow the instructions that come with it. You can then determine what the voltage is at any point in your circuits. All your "consumers" will have a plate on them stating what voltage they require or you can just disconnect the wires from the consumer and use you fancy new universal meter to measure the voltage between the ends of the now loose wires.

As you work through the boat, you'd do yourself a favour by drawing a careful "schematic" (wiring diagram) and annotating it with the 'lectrial specs of each consumer, the batteries, and the sources of "juice" such as the shore connection and the solar panels, if any.

Sort out your starter circuit first of all, and let us know if your starter(s) are 12V or 24V. Then we can press on after that and consider your other circuits.

All the best.

TrentePieds.

[thomm225]

That's always the problem with these troubleshooting type threads.

The OP leaves out important details and folks are throwing out all sorts of repair ideas that have nothing to do with the actual problem because details were lacking in the problem description.

Here folks are concentrating on the battery when it may have nothing to do with the battery (ies) because the OP hasn't given full detail.

You'd think if it were the batteries the engine wouldn't start later like he said because the batteries would be less charged than the first time he started it.

Details!

[TrentePieds]

Well, yes, thomm, I agree, but if CF has any raison d'être at all it must be helping the noobs, not only with the problem at hand but also to learn the lingo :-).

So we take it one step at a time. Once Crawdaddy has learned "our" words, and expresses his problem in "our" words, so we don't misunderstand each other, we can step up the pace of learning/teaching, because, then, for him, as for you and me, some things will seem self-evident :-)!

When he gets to the point where he can be assured that his battery/batteries have enuff oomph to crank the machine at firing RPM every time, we can begin to look for engine problems if he still has any.

Cheers

TP

[crawdaddy282]

I appreciate everyone’s input.
I understand I didn’t give enough details, and I certainly am not going to do anything to jeopardize electronics and most importantly safety.
I will continue to research and learn, and will probably end up hiring a certified electrician/mechanic who can walk me through this on site.
Thanks again for your time in responding. Clearly it’s not a simple as I’d hoped…

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Well, yes, thomm, I agree, but if CF has any raison d'être at all it must be helping the noobs, not only with the problem at hand but also to learn the lingo :-).

So we take it one step at a time. Once Crawdaddy has learned "our" words, and expresses his problem in "our" words, so we don't misunderstand each other, we can step up the pace of learning/teaching, because, then, for him, as for you and me, some things will seem self-evident :-)!

When he gets to the point where he can be assured that his battery/batteries have enuff oomph to crank the machine at firing RPM every time, we can begin to look for engine problems if he still has any.

Cheers

TP

Really?

Looks like he's headed in a different direction than trying to decipher multiple posts on how to fix his problem.

Many of those posts being quite outlandish from folks knowing enough to be dangerous.

Some folks want their problems fixed now and are not interested in becoming some sort of electrical expert.

The cruisers forum though is full of those that would rather work on their boat than sail it, and that is fine but remember everyone isn't into sailing to waste all their time fixing/repairing their boat

[cofc]

Too much detail in that picture to answer your question. Maybe include something drawn on a shoe with a blunt crayon.