New Maxum Owner

[blakels]

Hello, my name is Scott. I am taking possession of a 1998 3000 SCR tomorrow. I am in Harrison Township, MI and will keep the boat on Lake St. Clair.

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard

Congrats and post some picture when you get her.

[shrew]

Welcome aboard "blakels"!!!!!

[biggerseagar]

As a 01 3000 owner you will be very proud of your purchase! Congrats and any 3000 questions.....let them rip!


Roger

[blakels]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. I just brought her home last night. Currently having some beautiful weather here in SE Michigan so we'll get to take her out a few times before hauling out for the winter. Seemed to run good and plane quickly but noticed a couple issues that I didn't see on the sea trial. The port drive trim indicator gauge is not working so I put them all the way down and raised them together using the starboard gauge. Also. it doesn't appear to be charging properly, one gauge is reading 11 volts and the other 12. Shouldn't they be 13-14?

Thanks again

[biggerseagar]

Most problems with the trim gauges are caused by the round sensor on the outdrive itself. If that is the original charger you might look into a new replacement. Volt meters should be reading over 12. Do a test at the battery post and see what you have got. When were the bellows changed lasted? Good luck and enjoy!

Roger

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by biggerseagar

Most problems with the trim gauges are caused by the round sensor on the outdrive itself. If that is the original charger you might look into a new replacement. Volt meters should be reading over 12. Do a test at the battery post and see what you have got. When were the bellows changed lasted? Good luck and enjoy!

Roger

I agree that the timer gauge is most likely a bad trim sender.

Regarding the difference in volt reading first clean and tighten all (positive and negative) battery connections.

[blakels]

Thanks for the replies. The first thing I checked was the battery connections which were good, then the alternator connections. Both alternator output wires are burnt off at the eyelet. When I picked the boat up the previous owner had the boat running with the battery switch on both. If this was his standard practice, that could be the cause. It seems like it's kind of light gauge wire for the application to me, only about 10 gauge. I will replace the eyelets tonight and hopefully the alternators are OK.

[blakels]

Well I replaced both alternator connectors and they appear to be working now. I have a little over 13V on #1 and just under 14V on number #2 while underway on Battery 1 only. It was down to 10 volts so I had to start them on Both then switch to Number 1 to charge it. I put about 3 hours on it over the weekend and it seems OK.

Oh and the bellows were rplaced about 5 years ago but only about 70 hours since then

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by blakels

Well I replaced both alternator connectors and they appear to be working now. I have a little over 13V on #1 and just under 14V on number #2 while underway on Battery 1 only. It was down to 10 volts so I had to start them on Both then switch to Number 1 to charge it. I put about 3 hours on it over the weekend and it seems OK.

Oh and the bellows were rplaced about 5 years ago but only about 70 hours since then

Hours don't really mean much on bellows their rubber and subject to water. Inspect between the folds to looks for signs of cracks.

[dave4boats]

It's not a good idea to change battery switch while engines are running. You could damage alternator. Unless you have a battery switch that is designed for switching will engines are running.

[blakels]

I have discovered that the switches are wired much different than I expected. I have 3 batteries and I thought the 2 engine batteries were connected to the switch labeled Engine and the large battery was connected to the switch labeled House. What I discovered was that the large battery wasn't connected to either switch, it is connected to the inverter only which has it's own charger.

Difficult to see but I looked up at the back side of the switches from the engine room and I can see that the port engine battery is connected to the Engine switch and the starboard engine battery is connected to the House switch with a jumper in between. When I turn the Engine switch (port) to the 1 position I can only start the starboard engine, no other positions (both, 2 , off) do anything. And when I turn the House switch (starboard) I can only start the port engine. However, if I switch the House switch to Both, I can start both engines likely due to the jumper between the switches. The harnesses all appear to be factory installed and they can't be switched without cutting a bunch of ties and removing p-clips. Sorry this is so drawn out but I'm trying to make it clear. Thanks, Scott

[jparsons121]

Nothing really 'wrong' with the way Maxum did it from the factory, but it was not what I expected either.. I fully expected each of the switches (Off-1-2-Both) to be 'battery selectors. ie: Engine switch would point the load to 1-2- or Both. Not the case as you found..

General consensus at the time was that it was a cost savings decision, as to truly isolate the 'starting' and house circuits while maintaining a parallel option would require another switch (more cost)

It's on my project list to adjust the wiring to a more "normal" setup where the switches actually control battery selection for the load. I'm adding a dedicated house bank, so thats a good time for me to tackle it.

[blakels]

I would like to say good bye to all of you. I have sold my boat after 2 years due to lack of time to use it and the substantial cost of storage, winterization, etc. I appreciate the help and advice that I have been given here and hope that I was also able to make some contributions of my experiences, one I'm not too proud of.

Good luck to you all and happy motoring,
Scott