Rectifier caught fire…now what?

[Gurkenrat]

Ok so I had another thread going with some smoke and blown fuses. Figured I’d start a fresh one now that one part has identified itself as broken. Had a dead battery on thurs after boat sat for a week. Replaced it with new battery and hooked it up. Used trim to raise, then lower motor and then started it. Ran for 30-45 seconds then died. 30 amp fuse was blown, all electrics dead and could smell burnt wire. Looked everything over and couldn’t find any damage. Replaced fuse, and the second the negative wire was connected to batter to complete the circuit, rectifier caught fire. Wires were connected properly to the battery and the fuse blew again. My questions are: should the rectifier even had power to it without the key being on (key was in my pocket). Could shorted rectifier have drained my battery last week? Is the rectifier the actual problem or was it a victim of another relay?

[boscoe99]

The R/R has power from the battery. Not from the key switch.

A defective R/R can drain a battery.

A defective R/R can smoke and initiate a thermal event.

[Gurkenrat]

Oddly enough, that’s good news. It explains a lot and means it was likely the problem.

[boscoe99]

If and when a fuse blows there is usually a reason. Some investigation may prove useful before doing so. Otherwise, things can get a whole lot worse.

Panasonic will be along shortly to confirm that if and when a fuse or a circuit breaker blows a pilot is given one chance to replace or reset it.

[boscoe99]

The R/R is below the CDI assembly. At times the CDI assembly can be damaged by flames or excessive temperature from the failed R/R. An inspection may be needed.

[boscoe99]

[Gurkenrat]

I’m more concerned with the cdi having been damaged by the water. We gave the rectifier a quick spray. And as a professional pilot, I’m very aware of resetting circuit breakers. In the air, I wouldn’t do it for the very reason that it popped for a reason. There was an Air Canada dc-9 years ago that had a fatal fire. I believe the flight attendant kept resetting the current limiter that popped for the aft lavatory. But in this case, I couldn’t find any damage or bad wires. The plan was to slowly introduce loads with trim etc…We never got that far. Lol

[Gurkenrat]

And I was surprised to see that the fuse did pop but the fire was almost instant. And how does one go about inspecting the CDI? There was no obvious damage to the exterior from the flame as we got to it immediately. It was the first item I dried off. But if there was internal heat due to the r/r failure, how would I know?

[99yam40]

pull the CDI off and inspect the back along with all wires and connectors

You seem to call this F80 a 2000 on some threads and a TLRX 1999 on others.
and you leave some without saying if and what fixed or at least what you found wrong
It would help others looking for similar problems if you closed the threads out stating what was found or fixed your problem.
Did you find the reason for the loose steering?

I was not aware that that f80 had a generating system and R&R that put out less than 30 amps

[Gurkenrat]

I haven’t figured out the steering issue yet. And if that model is 99, so be it. Maybe the. Boat is a 2000 and motor is a 99. I don’t think there is any difference in that motor for those years. When I find out about the steering, I will update it. Same with this and my other thread. Right now I know I need a new R/R. Will go order it tomorrow. That’s all I know at this point. I did a visual inspection of the CDI and that’s it. What else can I tell ya?

[panasonic]

I’m more concerned with the cdi having been damaged by the water. We gave the rectifier a quick spray. And as a professional pilot, I’m very aware of resetting circuit breakers. In the air, I wouldn’t do it for the very reason that it popped for a reason. There was an Air Canada dc-9 years ago that had a fatal fire. I believe the flight attendant kept resetting the current limiter that popped for the aft lavatory. But in this case, I couldn’t find any damage or bad wires. The plan was to slowly introduce loads with trim etc…We never got that far. Lol

Small world...my friends mom died on that Air Canada DC-9 coming back to Canada from Florida. Yes the circuit breaker was reset multiple times during the flight for the aft lavatory toilet pump..and it caught fire.
Pilots are only supposed to reset a breaker once at there discretion.Most will leave them alone unless it's a critical system they need. We will look after it on the ground. Generally we will slave in a breaker of a lower amperage to trouble shoot the circuit if the fault is not obvious...so not to melt wires and catch things on fire!

[Gurkenrat]

Omg! What are the odds of being on that flight? Yeah and as a rule, I won’t push a breaker back in unless it is critical to the safety of the flight. Even then, it had better be something that not pushing it means we are in trouble before I’ll take that chance

[boscoe99]

pull the CDI off and inspect the back along with all wires and connectors

You seem to call this F80 a 2000 on some threads and a TLRX 1999 on others.
and you leave some without saying if and what fixed or at least what you found wrong
It would help others looking for similar problems if you closed the threads out stating what was found or fixed your problem.
Did you find the reason for the loose steering?

I was not aware that that f80 had a generating system and R&R that put out less than 30 amps

[99yam40]

when did the F motor go up in amperage, maybe I was thinking of larger F motors?

I also thought it strange that the 30 amp fuse did not blow when the RR went up in smoke and fire

[Gurkenrat]

It did blow. I can’t say exactly when but as my buddy was connecting the negative terminal he noticed the fire right away and pulled it off. Don’t know if it took a fraction of a second, a second…whatever. when all the commotion was over I checked the fuse and it was blown.