It sounds like your batteries are either dry or completely pooched. A dry battery will come up to voltage quickly but has no amphour capacity so only lasts a short period of time.

Check your fluid levels first, fill and recharge. If they don't recover you may be stuck with buying new batteries.

They may have gone dry if you charger was overcharging for a period of time. In any event when you leave a charger on at the dock you really need to periodically check the levels - every month or two anyways.

 

Faster,
The batteries are fairly new, and this is the first time they've been run all the way down. They came right back once the engine had had a chance to recharge. Also, wouldn't the depth sounder, cabin lights etc. work once the engine was running?
Thanks

 

Faster,
The batteries are fairly new, and this is the first time they've been run all the way down. They came right back once the engine had had a chance to recharge.

Define "came right back?" Batteries that have been completely or nearly completely discharged take quite some time to be fully recharged.

Also, wouldn't the depth sounder, cabin lights etc. work once the engine was running?

Yes. But I'm a bit curious about this:

but I finally got a battery in there, got the engine started, switched the batteries out, and recharged my dead batteries.

How exactly did you effect the battery switcheroo? I'm hoping you either used the temporary battery with jumper cables to one of your regular batteries. Or, if you temporarily replaced one of yours with the temporary battery, I'm hoping you did something like:

• Install temporary battery in "1"
• Start engine
• Switch to "2" (this should be safe with modern, make-before-break battery switches that are in good working order)
• Put regular battery back in "1"
• Switch to "both"

I'm hoping that at no time was the engine running with anything in the 12V electrical system energized and there being no battery at all connected. Besides the possibility of toasting the alternator, doing that, you can toast anything that was energized at the time. Don't ask me how I know that.

Jim

 

Sailhog-

You still need to check the water level in them if they're wet cells. It does sound like your house bank is blown.

Also, if you have a battery switch* like mine... it doesn't combine the banks, and isolates the house side from the starting side.. so unless you had a battery combiner, the alternator would only charge the starting side, and wouldn't run the house-side electronics unless you have the switch in the "combine" position.

*BTW, the battery switch I have is a BlueSea Dual Circuit Plus...

 

Check each cell individually. Check all your connections and clean them all. How new are the batteries?

 

Sailingdog,
I have a batter switch with settings for: Off, 1, 2, and both. It was in the "both" position last night. The batteries seem to be recharging just fine.
Thanks

 

BF,
The house battery is 6 months old and the starter is about 2.5 years.
Thanks

 

If you had it on both, you drained them both. Next time, put it on whatever one is your house bank only. That way you will still have your starter battery in the AM, can start your engine, and recharge. If you have them on a trickle charger now, let them go overnight and check it again tomorrow. If the problem persists, clean the connections and check the cells with a tester. If it still doesn't work, you may just have a bad battery. Do one thing at a time so that you can isolate the problem for future reference.

2.5 years could be it for your starter battery. Its best to have them both the same age or the old one will hurt the new one.

Off to the boat, best of luck.

 

If the battery banks are both fully charged, hold at least a 12 volt charge, and none of your 12 devices are working while underway, there's obviously a short or poor wire contact somewhere in the electrical system.

You'll need to test the circuits for continuity, starting from the batttery terminal posts to each device to find the fault.

 

If the battery banks are both fully charged, hold at least a 12 volt charge, and none of your 12 devices are working while underway, there's obviously a short or poor wire contact somewhere in the electrical system.

You'll need to test the circuits for continuity, starting from the batttery terminal posts to each device to find the fault.

TB,
Nothing comes on even when the engine is running, which leads me to believe that it isn't necessarily the batteries. I'll need to get the batts tested. I need to do a lot of stuff...

 

BF,
I had them on both last night in order to recharge them. I'm thinking I made a stupid mistake... The only time I plug my boat in is when we're overnighting at a marina. I still don't see why these 12v functions don't work when they've got enough juice to start the engine.

 

BF,
I had them on both last night in order to recharge them.

You mean while you were on shore power? What kind of shore power charger do you have? Mine is a Xantrex TrueCharge 10TB. It has two separate "channels" - one for each battery. Its output connects directly to each battery. The battery switch need not be on for the charger to work.

The only time the battery switch setting should matter for charging the batteries is when you're charging from the engine's alternator.

Jim

 

SH—

Is it time to start running around and panicking yet???

When you were futzing with the batteries, any chance you might have blown a fuse, tripped a breaker or knocked a fuse loose??? If you have a volt-ohmmeter, you probably should check continuity on all the circuits, and also see what kind of voltages you're getting off of each battery as well as off the alternator.

 

I'm guessing a bad ground connection somewhere is why the 12v system is down. The engine is running power to the batteries, so even if it's running and you aren't completing the circuit the electronics will still be down. Could also be a bad combiner switch. Did you try it on 1 or 2, or just on both?

 

Batteries don't just go like that; blind lead there I'm afraid. You have an open in the circuit somewhere, either via fuse or open connection (very common). You have starter voltage because the battery is a direct simple unfused connection to the starter, while the house circuit is more complicated. You will need a voltmeter or testing light and starting with the 1/2/off switch start following voltages till you come up empty.
I'm assuming at this point that there is no power at all to your fuse panel if nothing is working, so the problem lies between batteries, switch and fuse panel. And since you claim that input power to the batteries from the alternator is working, so it seems like there is an open between the switch and the fuse panel.

All this also assumes you don't have a weird wiring arrangement.

 

Hoffa has it I think. There's a main cable issue somewhere. I'm betting it is the positive to your battery switch from the battery. With both house and starter batts fully charged...do you get any 12V operation from either of them? If not...it is probably the cable from the Perko switch to your fuse panel or the switch itself.

 

Also, no one has mentioned to you that you should not charge both batteries at the same time since one is so much older than the other. One will over charge and the other will undercharge.

 

Assuming the prior posts have not solved your problem, it sounds like an easily overlooked issue - that being the batteries were never recharged fully as you presume. You didn't say how long you ran with the emgine alternator recharging the batteries but if it was only a short time, the bank wasn't recharges sufficiently to maintain the draw being applied.

 

Buy a wee multimeter... they are like £20... and check the battery voltage at the batteries both with engine stopped, and with engine running. Running it shout be about 14.2V, and with engine off it will drop to probably 13 V.

Absolutely dead ancilliaries with decent charging is a supply problem to them. Something has blown or tripped.

Does the motor still start from your batteries? If so, it is definitely a supply problem.

Multimeter out. It is not difficult to fix.

 

A very possible place for a problem could be the negative connection if nothing is working. Check and clean at the engine and the neg bus if both batteries are connected to one. Or if you have a monitor shunt, look there too for a common ground issue.

 

12V Troubleshooting

Hello,

As previously mentioned, you need to get a multimeter and start troubleshooting. If you don't know how to use a meter, either get a friend to show you how, or read a book about it. It is not very difficult.

If I had your problems, I would first measure the voltage at the batteries. Then I would open the fuse panel and measure the voltage where is comes into the panel. Then I would measure the voltage at each location you need. If your accessories (GPS, etc.) are all on the same fuse, you may just have a blown fuse. More than likely you have a bad alternator, ground, or broken main lead.

Good luck.
Barry

 

If I understand correctly and your instruments are not working even while the engine is working, and the alternator has the proper output, then the problem is not with your batteries.

This would tell me to start checking for a bad connection somewhere. Without knowing how your boat is wired it's hard to point to a specific connection. I would start with: Alternator to point of charging? Battery switch to pannel?

It could also be your battery switch itself... we really need to know how your boat is wired before we can give more specific trouble shooting advice.

Manny

 

Are 12v fuse systems like Christmas tree lights in that if one is out none will work?

No. Not unless you have a master fuse or breaker, like your home breaker panel will have.

Jim

 

This sounds too much like I found on the first night of a North Channel trip last year. I was plugged into shore power with no appliances or lights on except the standby mode of the FM cassette deck. Around 2AM I awoke to the tell tale tones the radio outputs when the batteries go dead, yes I did this before but with previous batteries and other circumstances.

After checking the obvious circuits and narrowing it down to the cabin circuit I traced the wired down and found a very hot auto quality butt splice in the head. A fire would have been next as the fuse was not blowing and the resistance was huge. Before I found the cause I was watching the volt meter drop visibly whenever I turned the Cabin switch on, dropping one half volt in a couple of seconds. Needless to say, I pulled the butt splice off the wire and respliced it properly the next day.

So that's my tale and hopefully your solution might in the end be as simple.

Dietrich

Calliope Catalina 30

 

This sounds too much like I found on the first night of a North Channel trip last year. I was plugged into shore power with no appliances or lights on except the standby mode of the FM cassette deck. Around 2AM I awoke to the tell tale tones the radio outputs when the batteries go dead, yes I did this before but with previous batteries and other circumstances.

After checking the obvious circuits and narrowing it down to the cabin circuit I traced the wired down and found a very hot auto quality butt splice in the head. A fire would have been next as the fuse was not blowing and the resistance was huge. Before I found the cause I was watching the volt meter drop visibly whenever I turned the Cabin switch on, dropping one half volt in a couple of seconds. Needless to say, I pulled the butt splice off the wire and respliced it properly the next day.

So that's my tale and hopefully your solution might in the end be as simple.

Dietrich

Calliope Catalina 30

this is exactly why i harp on about limiting connections and keeping things as simple as possible. people worry about propane (another thread) and yet i would bet SD's right nut that far more boats have burned due to poor connections. if you paid less than $70.00 for your crimping tool, you're a disaster waiting to happen.

 

I'd have to agree that electrical problems are probably responsible for more damage than propane, but not as dramatic looking most times.

Hoffa doesn't know how to shop obviously...Look here, Here, and Here

Obviously, there's a reason he had to fake his death.

 

Seems like you have two problems,
a) low lights the night before (even tho connected to the pier and charger on)
b) GPS etc.. not engerizing from the 12v panel even tho engine is running; apparently the altenator is working because the batteries are getting a charge.

Since seldom in life does two things go wrong at once let's look for the simple solution.
A) your charger crapped out a1) your charger crapped out because your batteries crapped out or at least one of them did and maybe that boiled off the other

B) while farting around in the battery compartment you knocked loose or did not reconnect either the positive or negative cable that supplies power to your panel; or you reversed a connection (only takes a second) and blew the primary panel fuse.

There is no need to panic, it's not magic.

Alternatively, The more complex response:
While playing monopoly with the kids the lead horsie figure was loose and running around making random shorts in the system by creating lead horse droppings on connections, then it got hungry and ate some copper cable and caused opens in other places.
To fix that requires 4 bottles of rum, food for a week, 3 naked virgins (female, non-minors) and from 8 to 10 viagra's, PM me with my airline ticket reservations and I'll drop in and fix it.

 

Chuckles-

Be careful what you wish for or sailhog will have you over to help and be offering you three very nice sows... as you didn't specify what species the virgins had to be.

Seems like you have two problems,
a) low lights the night before (even tho connected to the pier and charger on)
b) GPS etc.. not engerizing from the 12v panel even tho engine is running; apparently the altenator is working because the batteries are getting a charge.

Since seldom in life does two things go wrong at once let's look for the simple solution.
A) your charger crapped out a1) your charger crapped out because your batteries crapped out or at least one of them did and maybe that boiled off the other

B) while farting around in the battery compartment you knocked loose or did not reconnect either the positive or negative cable that supplies power to your panel; or you reversed a connection (only takes a second) and blew the primary panel fuse.

There is no need to panic, it's not magic.

Alternatively, The more complex response:
While playing monopoly with the kids the lead horsie figure was loose and running around making random shorts in the system by creating lead horse droppings on connections, then it got hungry and ate some copper cable and caused opens in other places.
To fix that requires 4 bottles of rum, food for a week, 3 naked virgins (female, non-minors) and from 8 to 10 viagra's, PM me with my airline ticket reservations and I'll drop in and fix it.

 

It sounds to me like you forget to hook up the + wire for your 12 volt stuff or you have a bad connection to them

 

Any update Hog?
What did you find out?