TOPIC: Electramatic?

I finally got to take her out and do some fishing. She ran great on the way out, but on the return trip I could not get more than 5- 10 MPH out of her. Granted we had 25 MPH winds with heavy chop, but did 18 MPH outbound. Anyway I found the automatic choke would not open. So, I thought I should look for water circulation problems. I does spit water out of exhaust @ idle, seems to be around 135 - 145 F kind of uncomfortable to the touch but not hot enough to burn. I will check the thermostat to see if it opens fully @ 130-150. When I removed the stat I found a 1/8 X 1/8 inch piece of rubber, so I'm checking/replacing the impeller. Any thing else to check? Also I started to pull the L/U and opened the plate expecting to find a electrical disconnect for the shift like is described in the manual. But I found a mechanical coupler instead. If this is not a electric shift, have I done hurt with the type C lube? This is a RDS 25 D. SN 12338012.

If you have two cables running to the motor it is a manual shift. One for the speed and the other to the shift lever. An electric shift would have just one stiff cable for the speed control and the shift would be in the wiring harness. The electric shift will have two wires running down the lower unit, one green and I believe the other is blue (or black) You have to disconnect the wires in the motor compartment before you lower the lower unit. They have knife splices hidden in a rubber wire boot.

Thanks Cal for your reply. Yes, I have 2 push pull cables, one for throttle, one for shift. I was wondering when I looked at different ads for a '63 Johnson the cowlings allways looked different. I assume the "electramatic cowl" is newer. So, I guess if I look through the plate and see a mechanical coupler 6 inches above the impeller I have a manual shift. I guess we learn new things with every motor we own. THX Cal, So I guess I should start using the regular L/U lube. Wait for my next question.......My motor does not have a alt/gen set up. Does anyone know what the output of the magneto is at idle and WOT? Thinking about the fesibility of taping the magneto running through a Rectifier / Regulator for battery charging, like on a 2 stroke enduro type motorcycle. Thanks again Cal.

Don't know much about the numbers you need but on my Herters project it had a Merc mark 55 with a rectifier. There problems with the units going bad so I replaced the old style rectifier with a small solid state bridge rectifier from radio shack. Bite the bullet and jump on the merc site and you could probably get more info on doing the conversion. I used to have a '68 'rude 40 hp that did not have a alt either but it seemed like the battery would last forever if you didn't do any night running with lights et al.

Yes my battery has lasted for months , do a bit of trolling motor. I guess I'm getting a bit lazy getting older, as not to have to pull the battery and put the charger on it. LOL Thx again for your input

Far easier and cheaper to add a solar trickle charger to keep the battery topped off. The generators for those old 40s don't put out a whole lot of juice, can be troublesome to rig up, and are getting harder to find in good shape... The solar solution won't charge a dead battery but it will keep a good battery charged up...

Didn't see an answer this...
"If this is not a electric shift, have I done hurt with the type C lube?

Nah, just lighter weight oil. If mechanical, now use reg L/U oil.

Thanks all. Yes the solar idea might prove to be more feasible. Yes, I have 2 cables. So, I'm off to buy more lube, I had a feeling I should not have bought extra. This week I will post a picture of my cowl, Maybe could locate a '63 40 horse cowl somewhere.

aznative14,

You didn't ask for my advice onbatteries BUT consider TWO 6V golf cart batteries "cabled together" (if you have the space) and charged with a programmable solar charger, which WILL charge the batteries rather than just "maintain" them.
( www.sportsmansguide.com , for one place, sells them.)

yours, satx

Sorry Satx, I'm allways wlling to hear any advice. Yes, 2 6 VT wired in series would give 12 VT. And cart batteries should be deep cycle. The only problem I might see is the cost. I have worked doing HVAC work in a resort and had a cart to move me. I recall when the time came to replace the batts they were $280 each. It was a motor driven cart and only used the batts for starting and lights. But, thanks for the lead, I'll look into it . Solar Charger sounds good. Thanks all again.

I've never tried it, I don't believe the primary winding in the coils will support a charging circuit. The engine uses 2 coils but just one magnet so each coil will only fire 1X per revolution of the crank. The "hot" end of the coil primary windings must be isolated from the other or they will not fire. If you try hooking them up to a bridge, I be interested to see what you discover.


I As for the battery, I have have had great luck with used mobility chair (electric wheel chair) batteries. They are compact in size, deep cycle, and sealed. I go to a local battery place that sells them used for 15 bucks. The wheelchair companies have to swap them out of customer's chairs every so many charging cycles for "safety" (probably more like bilking insurance companies) Most of them are still in great shape. The guys here always load test them for me before I buy. I have one that's been going for 3 years now, and it's finally starting to fail. In june I used it for 3 days on the lake with no charging circuit. Used for starting and choking a Big Twin 35. I'll never use anything else for a small outboard as long as I can get them. Don't let the small size fool you - They will crank a Big 115hp V4 or even my Dodge pickup without difficulty.

Thanks all, lots of good ideas. As for isolating mags, Yes that is how the stop circuit works. I will draw it out and study on it. I guess my motor was not getting the full output of the impeller. I removed the old one for replacement ( my manual did not say there was a bolt hidden behind the exhaust housing, should have suspected it though due to the bolt pattern of the other 6 bolts) Well some of the impeller blades were bent to the clockwise, some counter clockwise. I'm sure they all need to bend clockwise on reinstall. Hope to go out again Sunday, without the 18 inch chop. Was a bit much for a 13 foot 9 inch boat. Daniel.