Chris Miller
Sustaining Member
As is pretty obvious most of the time, I don't have a huge mechacanical base of knowledge--- so excuse if these are dumb questions:
1. My tachometer's range has diminished to the point that it's time to fix the issue. It starts out at about 800rpm and never goes above 1200 rpm- even when I know the motor is running around 2200-2500 given the sound. I've learned to ask before spending money to replace stuff- Is the tach bad? Is the alternator faulty? Any thoughts on things I can be checking? I can replace the tach for about $75, but I want to make sure that's the problem before I change it.
2. I'm changing my battery set-up a little bit by making battery #2 a dual purpose for charging and moving my old #2 to add onto #1 to give me a 2 battery bank (they're identical batteries purchased at the same time and given very similar usage). The dual purpose has been sitting for a while... but was only used for about a month after a "battery emergency" where we got stranded. After topping it up, I put it in the system and turned the charger on- it's not taking a ton of charge and is very warm to the touch while charging. It's also gassing more than makes me comfortable. Again, I'm not a battery genious (obviously, right?:dunce: ), but it didn't seem like a good thing, so I unhooked it and am just using the other two for now. Bad battery?
Any thoughts or educational materials would be appreciated- I've read the 12 volt bible, but it didn't really cover this stuff.
Thanks,
Chris (much better sailor than mechanic!)
1. My tachometer's range has diminished to the point that it's time to fix the issue. It starts out at about 800rpm and never goes above 1200 rpm- even when I know the motor is running around 2200-2500 given the sound. I've learned to ask before spending money to replace stuff- Is the tach bad? Is the alternator faulty? Any thoughts on things I can be checking? I can replace the tach for about $75, but I want to make sure that's the problem before I change it.
2. I'm changing my battery set-up a little bit by making battery #2 a dual purpose for charging and moving my old #2 to add onto #1 to give me a 2 battery bank (they're identical batteries purchased at the same time and given very similar usage). The dual purpose has been sitting for a while... but was only used for about a month after a "battery emergency" where we got stranded. After topping it up, I put it in the system and turned the charger on- it's not taking a ton of charge and is very warm to the touch while charging. It's also gassing more than makes me comfortable. Again, I'm not a battery genious (obviously, right?:dunce: ), but it didn't seem like a good thing, so I unhooked it and am just using the other two for now. Bad battery?
Any thoughts or educational materials would be appreciated- I've read the 12 volt bible, but it didn't really cover this stuff.
Thanks,
Chris (much better sailor than mechanic!)