SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

2 bank battery charger acting weird

2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  iluvteak 
#1 ·
Hi

I have a typical setup with bank1 as the engine battery and bank2 serving the house. Problem is that when plugged into shore power and using the charger bank1 voltage never drops below 14 volts. Bank2 drops to 13.1 volts as expected after a few hours though.

Could it be how I am hooked up ? I have taken the positive leads for bank1 and bank2 to the 1/2/both switch - assuming the current will flow thru the large red wires connecting the batteries to the 1/2/both switch. However, I do run the negative cables for bank1 and bank2 from the charger directly to the batteries. Does this sound reasonable?

Thanks for any ideas
 
#3 ·
What size are Bank1 and Bank2. If bank 2 is the starting bank, it may very well not need much of a charge, and drop quickly into float mode. If bank 1 is the large house bank and it is heavily used, the charger is far more likely to need to stay in bulk charge mode for a while, until the bank gets to 80-85% SOC and then will slowly drop voltage and amperage as the battery bank's ability to accept current drops.

What make/model is the charger? What size are the battery banks? BTW, as Stu points out, the charger's negative lead doesn't have to go to the batteries, but should be lead to the ground bus bar/post for the boat's 12 VDC system.
 
#4 ·
Bank1 is the engine battery(interstate), bank2 is house (2 - 6 volt trojans). And again bank2 behaves normally when charging but bank1 never drops below 14 volts?? Fyi my 1-2-both switch is on bank2 so theoretically bank1 should not be discharging at all.

Oh, its a 2 bank Guest 2611 10 amp charger.

I guess the charger is fried?
 
#5 ·
Or the battery is. Take the battery out and take it to your local autoparts shop and have them load test it.

BTW, you'd be better off with a good single bank charger and using something like an ACR, echocharger or duocharge unit to charge the first bank. Connect the charger to the house bank, and then use one of the above units to keep the starting bank topped of. The single bank chargers tend to be more robust and reliable compared to the multi-bank units. A good brand of charger to get is the Iota brand--they have a smart charger series that is very reasonably priced.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top