Technical Question

[jackeen's Missus]

Because the nutter we were out with today was electrocuting himself with his throttle & steering wheel, he has asked me to ask you lot what would cause it. I talked him out of taking the whole wiring system apart on a completely drying pontoon....but by then he had isolated the trim electrics and rev counter & it wasn't them...
(Not little shocks, big belts...I kept my distance on the pontoon as he dissected things )
Not much hope on this one but you'd never know...
Home safe so he can play with it at home in the safety of his own front garden

Missus

[Ice Kiddie]

Originally posted by jackeen's Missus
Not little shocks, big belts...

In that case it's got to be the HT side of things, not the 12v circuit.

Start at the plugs, clean the external ceramic and then work backwards to the HT output. Could be an arcing lead or anything. I don't know anything about the HT on that motor so that's as much as I can say!

[Ice Kiddie]

Originally posted by jackeen's Missus
no misfires even while getting zapped!!!!

This just means it's not a direct short.

The diagnosis of this must be pretty painful... try a fix, fire up the engine, tentatively touch something... and... Ouch!!

[Ice Kiddie]

I'd run it in the dark with the engine cover off in case there's a blue haze around the part that's arcing.

Bet it's OK when he gets it home though.

[Tosspot2]

Might seem a bl**dy stupid question but what was he wearing at the time? Could be static discharge from the woolley undergarments

I would not have thought that HT would have travelled from the engine to the consul and still had enough ooomph left to deliver a belt.

[Jon Fuller]

12v is more than enough to give a tingle when combined with salt water. (Try touching it on ya wet tongue)
A dodgy conection making and breaking at high frequency will give quite a 'sensation'.

Although I think a few BM members could do with a bit of the old "Electric shock treatment" cos it's done wonders for me...

[jw.]

I doubt if it's ignition HT. You're talking 15,000 to 30,000 volts, I can't imagine it travelling to and through the control cables without jumping to ground.

Static is not as unlikely as it might sound but it wouldn't repeat at will.

Anything with a motor which stops and starts, solenoids, a diaphragm fuel pump all will produce a back emf as they stop. It could easily reach a few hundred volts.

Did it happen when releasing the trim button, for instance.

I'd bet you fix this but you won't know how you did it.