voltage meter at 12 volts

[johnk]

I was going down the lake today and saw that my voltage meter was reading 12 volts. Once I stopped and it read 8 volts for a couple of minutes. It may be stuck somewhat but shouldn't it read 13.5 volts or something if the alternator is working? Anything I could check before going to a service center. It's a 2005 75hp 2 stroke mercury. Battery is pretty new and charged regularly.

[dannyp]

Start at the simple stuff,,, Charge the Battery and check it after a 24 hr charge,, should read around 13v and be steady. From there on then check your charging system (alt etc)