Melted the jumper cable (!!)

[akintosyali]

Last night, I went to the boat and realized that I had left the P engine key in ignition, in the start position. Push the start button - nothing happened. So decided to do what I have already done a few times -jump the P engine from the SB engine battery.

So I hooked up my jumper cables, and tried to start the port engine, and it cranked once and stopped. I tried it again, and nothing. Went into ER, and saw that the Positive leads of jumper cables were smoking on both sides! Got closer to see if the smoke was coming from battery or not, and saw the plastic cover on the ends melt off, and the black cover around the wires melt off too. The Smoke was not coming from the battery though.. Grabbed a towel, yanked the jumper cables off the batteries.

Ventilated the boat, tried the SB engine - worked fine. Got back in ER, hooked up my battery charger to port side, waited 30 minutes, and it cranked and started.

What could have cause the jumper wires to get smoking hot? (The wires are at least 10 years old - could that be the case?) I will test the P batter with a tester after tonight, after a full day of charge to see where it is. The batteries are 1 year old, and they are the old style (with acid in them). Is there anything else I should check?

 

[Passages]

Could be oxidation or poor contact within the jumper causing very high resistance.

OR

Are you sure you did not connect + to - terminals? That would cause some excitement as well.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Doesnt that boat have a parallel solenoid/switch? Ya gotta be damn careful with jumpers on a gas boat!
The smoking wires sound like a bad connection, since it did crank once then nada. Cheap / old jumpers will do that due to poor clamp connections and grossly undersized wire -- they have fat insulation to make you think its big wire but in reality maybe only a #10 or 12. Get rid of that car charger too !!
ws

 

[Pascal]

jumper cables with clamps dont' have enough surface area and will quickly get hot. do you have diesels ? if so, you need even more battery power. high resistance will result in rapid heating of the terminal.

if you dont' have a remote paralel solenoid, it's easy to instal. or just instal some heavy duty cables between your batt pos. terminals with a battery switch. again if diesel, make sure the switch is big enough.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

Was on a buddy's boat years ago who did not have a parallel switch on on his diesels (NOT a Hatteras, "think" it was a Carver) and he had a dead bank of batteries.

The "old salt" next to us came over with home made jumper cables and we did jump the dead motor.

He had taken 20' of 2 gauge wire (one red and one black) and gotten ends for them that fit directly over the posts and had thumb screws that tightened the fittings onto the lugs. No loose connections and the motor fired right away. He also had a fitting that would screw into this fitting that could be used if he needed to use the screw post fittings.

Have tried a few times to go online and see if I could find the fittings he had but no luck yet....

 

[Pascal]

i wonder if posts are tall enough to have the cable held by the normal hex nut yet have enough left to fit a terminal and a wing nut. if so, it's easy to make up some cables with thick batt or welding cables (more flexible) with crimpled terminals. just put them on with a wing nut.

 

[67hat34c]

Parallel switch must be an option on Carvers, also having the boat look good also and option.

 

[Brian Degulis]

Don't know what engines you have but even on a gas engine if you battery is really depleted the jtypical jumpers are simply to long and to light to carry the current. It's best to hook them up and just leave them on for an hour or so to charge the dead battery a little. Then the jumpers are providing an assist not carrying the whole load.

Brian

 

[Bob Bradley]

Parallel switch must be an option on Carvers, also having the boat look good also and option.

You're half right.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

I was a bit concerned about admitting a friend of mine had a Carver....

But another buddy of mine has a BayLiner and the man who owns the boat boat 2 slips down from me has a MainShip..... And both of them are PROUD of their "holes in the water"....

On the plus side, they always buy the beer.....

 

[dwaynec]

Living in Carver/Bayliner/SeaRay country, I can say that there is no option for a good looking Carver. They just build a great cabin and put something that vaguely resembles a boat around it.

 

[Trojan]

You should never jump a dead battery and try to start it right away. It is the same as a dead short. You should have placed the jumpers on after you started the other engine and waited a while. The load would have been less on the cable. Once there was a small amount of energy put back into the dead battery then you could have tried starting. Jumpers are only used to help a low charged battery. Not as a substitute, contact area of the clamp is too small and won't carry the load causing all the heat.

BILL

 

[akintosyali]

For Sale:
Lightly used jumper cable.
Most of the insulation on handles and wires are taken out- to make it "lighter".
Some burn marks, but still functional.

Free to a good home..

 

[Passages]

For Sale:
Lightly used jumper cable.
Most of the insulation on handles and wires are taken out- to make it "lighter".
Some burn marks, but still functional.

Free to a good home..

Pictures? -))