Home › Forum › Ask A Member › 1969 Johnson 40ESL69R Charging/Shifting question
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July 16, 2019 at 1:59 pm #178982
I have a good running 40ESL69R Evinrude Electric shift with a complete charging system that works fine. As I understand these systems, if your battery ran low enough, you would be unable to engage the drive . So it could happen that you could pull start the motor , but still be left stranded . My question is IF that were to happen, and your motor had the charging system would it be enough to run the gearcase?
July 16, 2019 at 2:35 pm #178989If I understand your question, the generators on those motors are only rated at about ten amps, but that is more than the gearbox solenoids need–maybe 1-2 amps. So yes, if the generator is working you should be able to engage forward or reverse gear.
But if the generator is working and the motor is running the battery should not go dead. Is the scenario you are considering a run-down battery due to use of lights and electronics?
July 16, 2019 at 5:16 pm #17899510 Amps is not the issue. The issue is it doesn’t put out ANY amps until it is running at somewhere around 2000 RPM. So, I suppose it might be possible to rev it up and slam it into gear. On the other hand, if the battery isn’t completely dead, it should put out enough to shift, even if not enough to run the starter. In any case, time to head for home.
July 16, 2019 at 7:20 pm #179002I am think worst case here.. I would be very frustrated to have a running motor but still be left stranded in one of the finger lakes because the battery had lost enough charge[ whatever the cause] and the thought crossed my mine that perhaps this was a safe-guard against such a thing . It not that I would want to keep using the boat that way, just get back to the docking/entry point without having to rely on a tow. Looks like, if I am understanding this right , it would work out in a emergency.
July 16, 2019 at 9:17 pm #179013It’s my understanding that all the big twins with electric shift came with generators, which were optional on the manual shift models.
One thought would be to bring along a garden tractor battery and some short, light, jumper cables.
July 17, 2019 at 5:53 am #179018The scenario is this ;
1-my battery is stone dead ,
2-I can pull start the outboard to get it running
3-the charging system is not faulty
now with the motor turning at the higher RPMS , will the generator charge? or does there need to be some residual charge left in the battery to excite and or operate the generator/ regulator system?July 17, 2019 at 8:18 am #179020You show some knowledge there. The generator retains some magnetism in the fields (polarization) to begin producing electricity as soon as it is spinning fast enough. No additional polarization is needed unless it has been sitting forever or has been messed with. DO NOT attempt to polarize the regulator on this system.
July 17, 2019 at 8:29 am #179021If the battery is stone cold dead, it would take the generator running all day long to charge it up again. But it can do it if you have the time and gas.
July 17, 2019 at 1:33 pm #179037The problem here is that you have to rev up the engine before the generator kicks in, but you should only shift the engine at idle…And, if it did go into gear, you would not want to rev it up much because it might jump out of gear due to higher load on the system and extremely weak battery….Jumping out of gear at a higher RPM usually will cause internal damage to the electric shift gearcase….
So, I am thinking that a small spare battery would be the best solution to this scenario…But, you wouldn’t want to use regular jumper cables between the batteries, I would probably just connect the smaller battery to the engine and rope start it….Charge the normal battery properly when you get back home.
These engines usually have an ammeter, but that is not a great indicator of battery condition, just says the generator is putting out….You might consider adding a voltmeter in the dash (or perhaps underneath if you don’t want to mess up the boat’s dash board}.July 17, 2019 at 2:43 pm #179043Just wondering, is this a hypothetical question? How come the battery is stone cold dead anyway/ Something left turned on overnight or what? If that is the case, you should have never left the dock anyway.
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