Hooked up batteries incorrectly...

[blaze5012]

I have the dual batter setup in my boat and had to replace a battery. I accidentally hooked up the two batteries in series and doubled the voltage to 24. I even started and ran the boat for a couple hours before I caught my mistake. I rewired it and it is correct now, but I am not sure if I messed anything up or not by running at double the voltage. There was a bit of a whine coming from the engine bay and the engine temp ran a bit high but other than that, I did not notice anything when running at 24. Can anyone think of anything that would have been ruined from my mistake?

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Is this a simple carb motor with a distributor? If your alternator is still charging and you didn't toast the ignition control module (Does the motor still run?), then you may have dodged a bullet.

I bet your stereo receiver may have not made it though.

[blaze5012]

This is on my 2006 24ssv. When I used it with the 24 volt setup, I stopped the boat and started it twice without a problem. I havent started it since I changed the batteries to the correct setup. Luckily I did not turn the stereo on for some reason yesterday so I may have gotten lucky with that as well. I am just worried that there may be something that I dont initially notice that was fried.

[DKJBama92Mariah]

This is on my 2006 24ssv. When I used it with the 24 volt setup, I stopped the boat and started it twice without a problem. I havent started it since I changed the batteries to the correct setup. Luckily I did not turn the stereo on for some reason yesterday so I may have gotten lucky with that as well. I am just worried that there may be something that I dont initially notice that was fried.

Oof. I can't really help you with the newer EFI boats; they're beyond my area of expertise. I can't imagine the ECM was too happy with 24v input though. I am blown away that it actually started and ran without toasting something.

If the boat survives this unscathed, I have two thoughts: (a) I have a newfound faith in the toughness of the electronic systems on the new EFI boats and (b) you need to go buy a lottery ticket. :)

[blaze5012]

Well tomorrow I should be able to go run it and see what happens. Im just as blown away looking back that I ran it for 3 hours and started it twice without any problems... Thanks for the response.

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Some things I would check for. This is just a list off the top of my head of things on the boat that wouldn't like 24v.

-First would be the engine computer, but somehow that doesn't seem to be case here, again go buy a lottery ticket
-Any light bulbs would probably go in short order, check your gauge lights. Don't know about your 06, but on my 92, they are on whenever the ignition is on.
-The memory circuit on the stereo could be toast
-If you have a perfect pass, it could be a victim

Amplifiers should be fine if you didn't turn on the stereo, they won't kick on until they receive +12v from the remote turn on lead on the head unit.
Blowers, bilge pump, and starter might be alright if not used extensively.

Whether this would hurt the alternator, I'm just not sure. Check the reading on the voltmeter when you run it tomorrow.

Couple questions:
What was the voltmeter reading while you were out? Didn't the blowers make one heck of a racket? I would think they would at double speed.

Good luck and Merry Christmas,
DKJ

[blaze5012]

Thanks for all the things to check. I actually was thinking the same thing about the blower. It seemed to be just a bit loud but after I switched the setup back to 12v, it really wasnt too much quieter than at 24v. At 24v though, the engine started in a heartbeat. Looking back I should have thought something was up but I just attributed it to a new battery.

Ill be hoping my luck continues tomorrow with everything being OK. Thanks again and Merry Christmas.

[blaze5012]

Well I just finished checking everything, and EVERYTHING works... Somehow I dodged a major bullet on this one. The stereo works fully, perfect pass is fine, and all lights are still working. The older battery was running at about 10v while the newer one was at 12v. Maybe the older battery running at just a bit low helped just a bit?

Thanks for the tips and maybe there is a little faith to be had in these newer systems...

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Well I just finished checking everything, and EVERYTHING works... Somehow I dodged a major bullet on this one. The stereo works fully, perfect pass is fine, and all lights are still working. The older battery was running at about 10v while the newer one was at 12v. Maybe the older battery running at just a bit low helped just a bit?

Thanks for the tips and maybe there is a little faith to be had in these newer systems...

In these situations, I don't question it, I'm just happy things work out. Forget the lotto, head to vegas and hit the craps tables.

The 10v battery may have come into play here. A battery below 10.5v is considered discharged. In this condition, it may have provided enough resistance to drop the voltage to a palatable level.

I'm very happy for you that all worked out for the best.

[suprasam]

Glad it worked out, looks like you got a Christmas present after all. LOL

[wotan2525]

Sounds like the voltage regulator did its job. Keep in mind that the alternator can put out up to 20v if unregulated, so something in your system kept everything from going up in smoke. Glad there wasn't any catastrophic damage!