What ever it is, it won’t be determined to be Yamaha’s fault. We service literally hundreds of those bigger motors and nothing like that has even come close. Whatever it was, it will probably be deemed to be a product of electrical+gasoline+improper service and/or maintenance. It could also be the result of a low-amperage short. Corrosion, particularly in high salt, hot humid areas like the Bahamas (or Florida) can cause partial shorts to ground. Or just a really high resistance in a circuit that should have very little. This will often cause heat, sometimes lots of it, without ever blowing a breaker. If this happens near a fuel source, it is bad news. Corrosion has nothing but time on its hands, while the tour operators are under pressure to keep the boat in service, no matter what, due to their schedules.
I was just on a couple of boats like that down there, this February. Even if a reputable cruise line like ours contracts locals to provide transportation, that transportation can often be very, very sketchy.
Even though it won’t be Yamaha’s fault, I am still glad that there weren’t Mercs on that boat. It makes the companies look bad, even though they have nothing to do with the problem.
Long live American manufacturing!
.
