SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL: Diagnosing Problems In Circuits Where Relays Control High-Current Flow

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Author Topic:   SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL: Diagnosing Problems In Circuits Where Relays Control High-Current Flow

Ramhouse posted 02-12-2010 04:26 PM ET (US)
Simple as that, don't work. What i have done. Jumped the motor, blue and green wires and tilt motor runs. Power, i have up to the relay, and nothing after that. Is it the relay on the power head? Or is there something else to check?
Thanks loads, in advance.
jimh posted 02-12-2010 05:26 PM ET (US)
To check an electrical circuit, test for the presence of a voltage at a point in the circuit when you expect the voltage to be present. If the voltage is not present, work your way back in the circuit toward the source of the voltage by testing for the presence of voltage at preceding points in the circuit. When you locate the point in the circuit where the voltage appears, you will have found the branch in the circuit where there is a discontinuity.
Ramhouse posted 02-12-2010 05:37 PM ET (US)
jimh, i worked my way up to the relay and that is where it stops! Maybe i should say i have a '92 Yamaha, on my 16SL. Only one relay. Green and blue wires are hot up to the relay (when trim switch is ingaged). But there is no power to the blue or green wires that go to the trim motors. So should i presume it is the relay that is bad?
Thx.
jimh posted 02-12-2010 07:57 PM ET (US)
If the relay coil is energized, and the relay contacts are not closing or are closing but not conducting, then the relay is bad.
jimh posted 02-12-2010 08:05 PM ET (US)
It is fairly common in outboard engines that the relays used are of a plug-in type configuration in the TRIM-TILT circuit. You can often check the operation of a relay by substituting another relay of the same type, and in most TRIM-TILT circuits there will be two similar relays.
To check the operation of a relay, energize the coil and listen carefully for an audible click as the relay contacts are moved by the magnetic force of the coil. You should be able to hear a click. Or, put your finger on the body of the relay housing, energize the coil, and you should be able to feel the movement of the relay plunger responding to the magnetic force in the coil.
If you verify the relay coil is responding to electrical excitation, and the circuit being controlled by the relay does not have power, then verify that there is power provided to the relay contact on the source side. If the relay energizes, the contact moves, there is voltage on the source side, and you cannot measure voltage on the output side of the relay, then the relay has a malfunction.

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Author	Topic: SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL: Diagnosing Problems In Circuits Where Relays Control High-Current Flow
Ramhouse	posted 02-12-2010 04:26 PM ET (US) Simple as that, don't work. What i have done. Jumped the motor, blue and green wires and tilt motor runs. Power, i have up to the relay, and nothing after that. Is it the relay on the power head? Or is there something else to check? Thanks loads, in advance.
jimh	posted 02-12-2010 05:26 PM ET (US) To check an electrical circuit, test for the presence of a voltage at a point in the circuit when you expect the voltage to be present. If the voltage is not present, work your way back in the circuit toward the source of the voltage by testing for the presence of voltage at preceding points in the circuit. When you locate the point in the circuit where the voltage appears, you will have found the branch in the circuit where there is a discontinuity.
Ramhouse	posted 02-12-2010 05:37 PM ET (US) jimh, i worked my way up to the relay and that is where it stops! Maybe i should say i have a '92 Yamaha, on my 16SL. Only one relay. Green and blue wires are hot up to the relay (when trim switch is ingaged). But there is no power to the blue or green wires that go to the trim motors. So should i presume it is the relay that is bad? Thx.
jimh	posted 02-12-2010 07:57 PM ET (US) If the relay coil is energized, and the relay contacts are not closing or are closing but not conducting, then the relay is bad.
jimh	posted 02-12-2010 08:05 PM ET (US) It is fairly common in outboard engines that the relays used are of a plug-in type configuration in the TRIM-TILT circuit. You can often check the operation of a relay by substituting another relay of the same type, and in most TRIM-TILT circuits there will be two similar relays. To check the operation of a relay, energize the coil and listen carefully for an audible click as the relay contacts are moved by the magnetic force of the coil. You should be able to hear a click. Or, put your finger on the body of the relay housing, energize the coil, and you should be able to feel the movement of the relay plunger responding to the magnetic force in the coil. If you verify the relay coil is responding to electrical excitation, and the circuit being controlled by the relay does not have power, then verify that there is power provided to the relay contact on the source side. If the relay energizes, the contact moves, there is voltage on the source side, and you cannot measure voltage on the output side of the relay, then the relay has a malfunction.