Capt. Thunder

My number 1 battery would not hold a charge. So I picked up a new battery and had my mechanic put it in for me as I had a couple charters coming up and had other errands to do. He called me Wednesday and said he replaced the battery, but when he went to rehook up my onboard battery charger, he had an issue with one of the leads. I had bought a 3 battery charger from bass pro last year, but only have 2 batteries. Instructions showed hooking the extra pair of leads to one of the batteries, if you didn't have 3. Well one of the leads developed a short, and that was what killed my battery. My mechanic hooked it up without the pair that was shorting out. That being said, I obviously had something going on with that charger that might have been responsible for my stray current. Since the seastar was grounded with their strap, I don't have pitting, but possibly created my on problem with the defective charger, before I put the ground strap on. In other words, I developed pitting around December and maybe the charger was already defective, but not to the point of killing my battery.

Osprey, You are most likely correct, as they stated that we could be getting the current from other boats in the marina, or something else on mine is not grounded. Anyway here is a picture of the grounding strap on my engine. Not a great picture as I have water storage and just got in from a 4 hr trip.

I will try to take a picture of my setup tomorrow and post. That is the straps they sent me to stop the electrolosis, but since that wasn't going to fix the helm and cylinder that was leaking, I put them aside. Continue to work with seastar and they decided to replace the helm and cylinder. Along with that they sent 2 bottles of fluid and 1 grounding strap. I have a 150 yamaha 4stroke and we attached it to the port side of the motor. 2 of the wires go on the differnt nuts on the cylinder. The other we pushed thru the boot with the other cables going into the motor and my mechanic found a good spot to connect it. Yeah I will be glad to hear what BOB finds out. Apparently everyone else including KERN thinks I am fabricating this. I only posted what happened to my boat in hopes it helps someone else. However this will be the last time I comment on anything here. Teleflex was gracious enough to send me a whole setup, but I worked with them over this stray voltage issue. They also pointed out that stray voltage could come from other vessels at the marina I keep my boat at. I do have water storage, so I am in the water most of the year. If anyone has any doubts about the grounding strap, why don't you email seastar and ask about the kit?

Below is my original request for information at sea star and Marcs answer. > To whom it concerns. > I have a 2004 Edgewater 205cc with the following Hydralic Cylinder: HC5345. > We have replaced this part once under warrenty, but this bar is becoming > pitted. My boat has tilt steering as well. I bought the boat new in 2005. > > Whenever the outside air temperature gets in the 30's and below, the > steering wheel, makes a Thunking sound when the engine is first started. > In this cold weather I have to turn the wheel rapidly to get it to > respond, until it warms up. > > My yamaha mechanic indicates that a bearing is "sticking" in the helm and > I probably need to replace it. I cannot find where the fluid is leaking, > but we have added a 1/2 pint 3 mos ago. > > Since the steering is "out of warrenty" my mechanic recommends replacing > the helm and rear cylinder both at the same time. > > These units are not lasting as expected and are expensive. Could you > provide me with the correct kit that has the tilt helm and the HC5345 > cylinder. I know HK6400A Seastar kit does not have the tilt helm. But I > cannot find the correct kits number. > > Thanks > Rick Marcs reply: We do not offer a kit with a tilt helm. You will need to purchase the parts individually. The problem is not with the SeaStar units, they are the victims of the root problem You have stray current, this is attacking the cylinder shaft, which in turn is allowing fluid to leak out and water to get into the system. When the water/moisture enters the system it begins to attack the metal parts that are at the helm pump. Before you purchase a new helm pump, or cylinder. Suggest that you contact Fluid Tech @ 904-384-9659 and have them take a look at both of the units, depending on the damage, they may be able to repair them. BEFORE you install the repaired, or the new parts you will have to blow out the hoses with air pressure to ensure that no more of the water/fluid mixture is in there, then. You will need to ground the cylinder to the motor to prevent this in the future. We have ground straps for these cylinders and if you let me know your address I can send you one over there to use on the new parts thanks Marc I called fluid tech and the lady there called seastar and she called me back. I work at Gulfstream Aerospace and was on the phone with a customer and she left me the message that they told her the 4strokes put out more voltage and needs to be grounded. They now have a grounding strap, of which I have one on my new cylinder. Glad you guys know it all!

FYI, my seastar went out at 1 year on my 205 edgwater. They replaced it under warrenty. Then it went out again this nov. I always rinse the cylinder, but it started to pit. I called seastar and was told the pitting was due to stray voltage and water can get into the system and make its way to the helm and cause that to malfunction. I was also told they would send me a grounding strap. I contacted the dealer and he had not heard of grounding the 4 strokes, so they weren't willing to pay for a new unit. I contacted an outfit in fla about rebuilt units and asked about the stray voltage. The lady was very knowlegable, but hadn't heard about the grounding strap or voltage. She said she would research and call me back. She left me a voice mail and said seastar told her that the 4 strokes put out extra voltage and the engine needs to be grounded to keep the cylinder from pitting. I called back to sea star and told them the mfg didn't know about the stray voltage and they didn't send a strap when it was replaced under warranty. We haggled back and forth and they sent me a knew helm, cylinder, groundingstrap and fluid. They also said this was all they were going to ever do, unless it was bad out of the box. It has worked as advertised now for 4 months and no pitting. This is just an fyi, so if your running a 4 stroke, get the grounding strap.

I actually looked at trading her for a 23 foot 2005 seapro with a 225 verado, that has sat at the searay dealership until the cooler and seats have split. Anything exposed has either weathered beyond repair, which means replacement. They said they could get it together. I am concerned they might have ran it once, and let it sit with the engine unpickled. I offered 20,000. - have to see what they comeback with and what kind of shape they can get it. Mine has some time on it but it is in excellent running condition. I seldom get in less than 2 feet of water.

I have a 2004 edgewater 205 that I have been using for charters the last 3 years. Good solid boat. I have pictures on my website of the cockpit. The newer models have the seating you want I think. Good luck on your pick!

I heard this today. From what I understand, when Brunswick bought out seapro, they had 1 year to go on a commitment to use Yamahas. After the year was up, Brunswick offered Yamaha, Mercury Optimax, and Verados. The next year, just Optimax and Verados. Finally they were rigging them with only Verados. So in essence they were forcing you to buy a Verado. Everyone doesn't like the same thing, so they went from selling a lot of seapros rigged with differnt configurations to just 1 configuration, and the market shrunk. Like I say, I was talking to a Mercury Mechanic today and that was what he told me. He felt like Brunswick restricted them right out of production.

Very Nicely Done! Wish you much success.