Batteries nightmare

[Up The Creek]

We are quite new to boating, and for the last 12 months have had exhaustive and exhausting problems with our electrical system.  I will try to be brief, but it's difficult............. You may want to skip some of the detail and move straight to the penultimate para!

 

Our problem first became apparent with low battery warnings in May last year when our brand new (and first) nb was just under a year old, and thus still under warranty.  After many phone calls, emails and tests, the final outcome - a month later - was a ruined bank of 6 'boiled' batteries, extensive damage to the engine room paintwork caused by leaking acid, and a bill for £1,000, which I had to pay, despite having followed the recommendations of the boat builder for sorting out the issue quickly. Our electrician said the extent of explosive gases present in the engine bay was potentially lethal.  6 new 135 amp batteries were thus installed in late July 2011.

 

After testing by the various suppliers, i.e. Victron (we have a 12/3000/130  inverter/charger, which I took to Victron for testing), the battery supplier and the boat builder, they all denied responsibility for the failure, for the cost of the new batteries (although the builders did replace one of our 2 x 95amp alternators, and repainted much of the engine room) and of the engineer's report which they had asked on me to get for them.  

 

Victron said that, apart from a faulty temperature sensor, there was nothing wrong with the inverter, while the builders and battery suppliers have blamed 'misuse' (a term not yet defined) of the batteries. The builders say they will not pay, because both Victron and the battery suppliers say they won't.  I say my contract (and thus warranty) is with the boat builders, not with their sub contractors.  Nobody is sure what the problem was (Victron say the faulty sensor could not have caused the overcharging; and replacing the alternator was very much a 'last throw of the dice'). No issues with the starter battery thus far.  Have tried to rigorously keep the batteries topped up with distilled water.

 

But, perhaps more significantly, I still seem to have battery problems.  I now get further low battery warnings with the bank of new batteries, but seemingly not due to overcharging; although there is more evidence of acid damage to the engine room paintwork, that seems to be a residue from last year's problems, and there is no other evidence of further overcharging/boiling; the batteries don't seem to be overheating at all.  We have been on the shoreline most of the time since buying the boat; probably around 35 trips out, and 180 engine hours in 2 years.

 

The readings below were taken last night and this morning, after an evening's average use (TV, fridge/freezer, inverter and a few lights), with the batteries fully charged from the shoreline at 5pm., then taken off the shoreline until 9am.  Heaviest consumption (lights on) started after 9pm.  The figures are taken from our Victron 600S Monitor.

 

                                At 5pm.       7pm        9pm.      11pm.     9am*

V:                            12.56.         12.59.     12.43.    10.3.       10.4*

SOC:                       98.5.          96.8.       94.7.      90.4.        Not available

CE (amps used):   15               36           58.2.      98.5.        Not available

*Figure taken after electricity shut down overnight. When reconnected to shoreline, recharge started at around 14.5volts and 90amps.  Absorption mode started after around 1 hour.  I got full charge readings (100% SOC; no amps going in; V reading of 14.6 ) after 2 hours. The charger moved from absorption to float after another 6 hours (with voltage down to 14v).

 

The 11 pm voltage figure at 11pm looks very disturbing, of course, and I cannot understand the apparent contradiction between it and the SOC%, which seems fine.  Could one of them be wrong? I am at the very limits of my understanding here!  In April, with little or no load (33 amps in 20 hours) the voltage held up well, at 12.54 (SOC 97%) after 20 hours off the shoreline. We never run heaters, toasters etc. off the batteries.

 

Apologies for the length of this post.  In summary, we have been left with

a) a bill for £1,000 (now down to £700, builders having offered me £300) to resolve extreme battery/gassing problems, seemingly caused by overcharging which began within the one year boat warranty period

the suggestion that the problems were our fault ('misuse')

c) a continuing issue where voltage levels of the replacement batteries drop to very unhealthy levels within four hours of being fully charged,  but with no evidence of overcharging/gassing. This has happened with the new batteries, both when cruising (using up to 150 amps a day), but also immediately after shoreline charging, as above.

d) a developing reluctance/nervousness on our part to cruise on our brand new boat!

 

Any views on the problem, and the attitudes of the various parties? Suggestions/comments would be gratefully received - many thanks.

 

Bob

[Chris Pink]

solicitor.

[Chalky]

One for Gibbo...?

[Biggles]

The Victron inverter has many charging options that can be changed with the PC interface. Voltages and time for bulk and absorption etc. Also there is a setting for the type of battery used.

 

Linky

 

You say it's a 12/3000/130. Is the 130 a typo of is it so?

 

Have you spoken to the service desk in Holland. The chap Jaggart is very very clued up and I'm sure will endeviour to solve the problem.

 

As for the batteries over gassing. Can you not duct the gasses out through a manifold? I had a bank explode on me. Not nice, and not cheap.

 

Another linky

Edited June 6, 2012 by Biggles

[cariad]

it's for the boat builder to sort out this problem, then they can take any issues with faulty equipment to his suppliers.

.

previous advice of getting a solicitor would be a wise move.

 

good luck with the outcome.

[Tony Brooks]

Would this have a Beta engine?

 

If so there have been two cases I know about where the regulated volatge of the domestic alternator is, shall we say, "on the high side". This has ruined battery banks and Beta covered them selves by saying in the manual ( not the exact words, but the gist) batteries should be checked for electrolyte level every x days (I think it was something silly like two days).

 

If this is the cause then it will have nothing to do with the Victron.

 

Check the charging voltage at the END of a good day's cruise, 1500 rpm at least, and then compare it with the maximum volatge allowed by your battery manufacturer. I would say if it is much above 14.5 volts then you do need to ensure the batteries are kept topped up.

 

Modern sealed batteries may well accept a higher charging volatge, in fact some AGMs do better with voltages that would make open cell lead antinomy batteries gas.

[Chalky]

I would say if it is much above 14.5 volts then you do need to ensure the batteries are kept topped up.

 

Modern sealed batteries may well accept a higher charging volatge, in fact some AGMs do better with voltages that would make open cell lead antinomy batteries gas.

 

Agreed. I run AGMs and the alternators on the Isuzu regulate at 14.8 which is OK for AGMs but would cook wet cells.

[Tony Brooks]

Agreed. I run AGMs and the alternators on the Isuzu regulate at 14.8 which is OK for AGMs but would cook wet cells.

 

 

Actually it would only cook them if they were not kept topped up. It would probably be OK if the open cells were lead calcium.

 

Open cells are tolerant of such voltages, it is just that people will not put back the liquid that has been gassed off.

[Nickhlx]

We have a Beta 43, Iskra 175 and 480 aH of Trojans ( T-125, the flooded lead acids...)

 

I too have been concerned that the Iskra output is somewhat on the high voltage side, although have not had any obvious problems in 3 years...

 

I wonder if it is possible to adjust the output from the Iskra to around 14.4 volts - I need to re-read the manual but I seem to remember that there are DIP switches on the alternator, although this may have been referring to another type of alternator.

 

I have only had to top up the batteries once in 3 years, largely because, due to an accident, we have used it so little, which may have been a blessing in disguise... The battery bank has been kept up on the Victron 12/3000/120 ( not 130) ....

 

I must give this some time in the coming weeks as we are about to start using the boat for longer periods and more frequently..

 

Nick

[Jay Clements]

Hi,

 

I would look through all the instruction books related to your equipment in detail. Although you got your boat brand new from a builder faulty installations can still happen from new (I recently heard about a boat that had its exhaust outlet with no bend in it from new so when it rained water slowly trickled down the pipe and into the engine which made it overheat once the oil emulsified). A few things to look for to see if you have a faulty installation:

 

- Is your battery bank connected with the output +ve cable at one end of the bank and the -ve at the other end? If not this is bad practice.

- Were ALL the batteries replaced at the same time and type after the initial fault? You may need to look in the manual to ensure the jumpers are correct or software config as above from Biggles. If not again, blame the builder.

- Do you have any batteries in the bank that have an isolated supply being taken from them? For example it would be easy to power a bilge pump off one of the batteries in the bank. This would unbalance the charge in the bank and cause problems, again this would be the builder's fault.

- Get yourself a multimeter and measure the voltage across each battery one at a time when they are being used but not being charged and record each reading, looking for one with a very low load. If there is one with a marked low output then unfortunately that one is pulling the rest down with it. This would be a faulty battery and should be covered by the battery manufacturer. If this is the case insist they change ALL of the batteries in the bank as they will have all suffered by now.

- Sorry if this is patronising but it has to be asked - you are putting de ionised water in them right?

- If you have a twin alternator setup, has the engine ever been run with the domestic bank isolated off? An alarm should sound in this case but if that alarm fails it could happen. This could damage the alternator regulator.

 

 

In any case I used to work in warranties a bit (for an electronics company) and this is obviously difficult due to the number of well known parties involved. As I understand it a warranty is held with the manufacturer of the goods. So if you buy a Sony TV at Comet and it goes wrong within the warranty it is up to Sony to sort it out, although Comet should help you to get that done (if they still have any after service at all these days;). It is also fair to say that if your sony TV had a faulty capacitor manufactured by company xyz that you would not be expected to go after company xyz to get that capacitor fixed, that would be down to Sony. I think the product in this case is the boat and it should be up to the builder to rectify and he should make any claims necessary to his suppliers for faulty parts supplied to him. Check your contract with the builder as this obviously would not apply to things like light bulbs but the question is where is the line?

The only downside I can see to what has already happened is that the builder has compensated you to a degree and that may be seen in a court as a settlement that you have accepted for the problem, even though it is not a satisfactory one and you probably just wanted to get it sorted..

 

Good luck...

[smileypete]

We have a Beta 43, Iskra 175 and 480 aH of Trojans ( T-125, the flooded lead acids...)

 

I too have been concerned that the Iskra output is somewhat on the high voltage side, although have not had any obvious problems in 3 years...

 

I wonder if it is possible to adjust the output from the Iskra to around 14.4 volts - I need to re-read the manual but I seem to remember that there are DIP switches on the alternator, although this may have been referring to another type of alternator.

 

I have only had to top up the batteries once in 3 years, largely because, due to an accident, we have used it so little, which may have been a blessing in disguise... The battery bank has been kept up on the Victron 12/3000/120 ( not 130) ....

 

I must give this some time in the coming weeks as we are about to start using the boat for longer periods and more frequently..

What is 'on the high side'? I'd check the Trojan website to see what charge voltage they recommend.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited June 6, 2012 by smileypete

[Ark Right]

Hi,

 

I would look through all the instruction books related to your equipment in detail. Although you got your boat brand new from a builder faulty installations can still happen from new (I recently heard about a boat that had its exhaust outlet with no bend in it from new so when it rained water slowly trickled down the pipe and into the engine which made it overheat once the oil emulsified). A few things to look for to see if you have a faulty installation:

 

- Is your battery bank connected with the output +ve cable at one end of the bank and the -ve at the other end? If not this is bad practice.

- Were ALL the batteries replaced at the same time and type after the initial fault? You may need to look in the manual to ensure the jumpers are correct or software config as above from Biggles. If not again, blame the builder.

- Do you have any batteries in the bank that have an isolated supply being taken from them? For example it would be easy to power a bilge pump off one of the batteries in the bank. This would unbalance the charge in the bank and cause problems, again this would be the builder's fault.

- Get yourself a multimeter and measure the voltage across each battery one at a time when they are being used but not being charged and record each reading, looking for one with a very low load. If there is one with a marked low output then unfortunately that one is pulling the rest down with it. This would be a faulty battery and should be covered by the battery manufacturer. If this is the case insist they change ALL of the batteries in the bank as they will have all suffered by now.

- Sorry if this is patronising but it has to be asked - you are putting de ionised water in them right?

- If you have a twin alternator setup, has the engine ever been run with the domestic bank isolated off? An alarm should sound in this case but if that alarm fails it could happen. This could damage the alternator regulator.

 

 

In any case I used to work in warranties a bit (for an electronics company) and this is obviously difficult due to the number of well known parties involved. As I understand it a warranty is held with the manufacturer of the goods. So if you buy a Sony TV at Comet and it goes wrong within the warranty it is up to Sony to sort it out, although Comet should help you to get that done (if they still have any after service at all these days;). It is also fair to say that if your sony TV had a faulty capacitor manufactured by company xyz that you would not be expected to go after company xyz to get that capacitor fixed, that would be down to Sony. I think the product in this case is the boat and it should be up to the builder to rectify and he should make any claims necessary to his suppliers for faulty parts supplied to him. Check your contract with the builder as this obviously would not apply to things like light bulbs but the question is where is the line?

The only downside I can see to what has already happened is that the builder has compensated you to a degree and that may be seen in a court as a settlement that you have accepted for the problem, even though it is not a satisfactory one and you probably just wanted to get it sorted..

 

Good luck...

 

Jay

The highlighted bits are just a couple of points in your post which are total crap there are many others I can't be bothered to mention.

You have not the 1st clue of basic battery systems and even less of the OP's problem

 

 

A

[Tony Brooks]

Hi,

 

I would look through all the instruction books related to your equipment in detail. Although you got your boat brand new from a builder faulty installations can still happen from new (I recently heard about a boat that had its exhaust outlet with no bend in it from new so when it rained water slowly trickled down the pipe and into the engine which made it overheat once the oil emulsified). A few things to look for to see if you have a faulty installation:

 

- Is your battery bank connected with the output +ve cable at one end of the bank and the -ve at the other end? If not this is bad practice.

- Were ALL the batteries replaced at the same time and type after the initial fault? You may need to look in the manual to ensure the jumpers are correct or software config as above from Biggles. If not again, blame the builder.

- Do you have any batteries in the bank that have an isolated supply being taken from them? For example it would be easy to power a bilge pump off one of the batteries in the bank. This would unbalance the charge in the bank and cause problems, again this would be the builder's fault.

- Get yourself a multimeter and measure the voltage across each battery one at a time when they are being used but not being charged and record each reading, looking for one with a very low load. If there is one with a marked low output then unfortunately that one is pulling the rest down with it. This would be a faulty battery and should be covered by the battery manufacturer. If this is the case insist they change ALL of the batteries in the bank as they will have all suffered by now.

- Sorry if this is patronising but it has to be asked - you are putting de ionised water in them right?

- If you have a twin alternator setup, has the engine ever been run with the domestic bank isolated off? An alarm should sound in this case but if that alarm fails it could happen. This could damage the alternator regulator.

 

 

In any case I used to work in warranties a bit (for an electronics company) and this is obviously difficult due to the number of well known parties involved. As I understand it a warranty is held with the manufacturer of the goods. So if you buy a Sony TV at Comet and it goes wrong within the warranty it is up to Sony to sort it out, although Comet should help you to get that done (if they still have any after service at all these days;). It is also fair to say that if your sony TV had a faulty capacitor manufactured by company xyz that you would not be expected to go after company xyz to get that capacitor fixed, that would be down to Sony. I think the product in this case is the boat and it should be up to the builder to rectify and he should make any claims necessary to his suppliers for faulty parts supplied to him. Check your contract with the builder as this obviously would not apply to things like light bulbs but the question is where is the line?

The only downside I can see to what has already happened is that the builder has compensated you to a degree and that may be seen in a court as a settlement that you have accepted for the problem, even though it is not a satisfactory one and you probably just wanted to get it sorted..

 

Good luck...

 

 

First of all IT IS NOT up to the manufacturer to sort a problem out. Warranties from the manufacturer are IN ADDITION to statutory protection and can not, and do not override the sellers responsibility to supply goods that are not faulty or rectify them if they prove so to be.

 

As far a I am aware we do not yet know the make of engine so the comment about an alarm that should sound it the engine is run with the domestic bank disconnected can not be taken at face value. An alarm may sound if the engine electrics are so fitted and a single warning lamp is used to energise both alternators. If there are two warning lamps simply running the engine with the domestic bank disconnected (as opposed to disconnecting it with the engine running) would not energise the alternator so no alarm and no damage.

 

Measuring the voltage across each battery in the bank will only tell you the bank volatge UNLESS all the interlinks are disconnected. One faulty battery will pull the rest down and the rest will try to hold its volatge up.

[Arthur Brown]

What type of batteries did you have first and do you have now. How many times do you check the electrolyte level?

 

While your warranty is with the seller, some skill on your part must be fairly presumed.

 

Given that you have acid splash damage to the battery housing you must be overcharging the batteries to long term gassing -therefore the electrolyte level is falling. ( Whether you can find or see the electrolyte it's still going way )

 

If you have acid splash damage from the second set of batteries then you are still over charging the batteries and you are gassing off the electrolyte. Can they be topped up???

 

Likely you will need a new set of batteries, you must essentially get batteries that can be topped up and you must check them weekly. Top up with de-ionised or distilled water and record how much you use.

 

You need to test the charge voltage often -say every ten minutes for a day then every hour for a month. You should check these voltages with the manufacturer's data sheet. Make certain that the figures you have lie within the manufacturer's limits.

 

Turn the charger OFF for some of the time. Batteries gas when charged past full, so if you can determine 90% SOC and stop there then use power from the batteries down to 40 or 50% SOC less or no gassing will happen.

 

You will need to find the source of the overcharge -could be an alternator could be the charger, then you will have to correct the overcharge.

[matty40s]

A few things to look for to see if you have a faulty installation:

 

- Is your battery bank connected with the output +ve cable at one end of the bank and the -ve at the other end? If not this is bad practice.

-.

 

bollocks, I have it all wired wrong, thanks jay

Edited June 6, 2012 by matty40s

[Ark Right]

Hi,

 

 

Good luck...

 

 

What type of batterie

 

 

PLEASE PLEASE

GIBBO all is forgiven come back and bring some sense to this mayhem!

A

[Ark Right]

Hi Up The Creek

 

Sorry I missed you are new to the forum, welcome.

 

Your initial responses don't seem very helpful so far, i.e solicitor etc

 

There are some very knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum so don't let the minority inane on here put you off.

A

[Jay Clements]

Jay

The highlighted bits are just a couple of points in your post which are total crap there are many others I can't be bothered to mention.

You have not the 1st clue of basic battery systems and even less of the OP's problem

 

 

A

Hi Arthur,

 

Getting my wires a bit crossed here;) These are things I have done when testing a 24V system with two large batteries in series. I tested each battery to look for voltage under 10v whilst under load - they were for a bowthruster and one fell to only 4v thus showing a faulty battery so I replaced both. I also found that time that some 12V devices were being run from just one of the batteries in the 24V bank so changed their supply to another source.

 

So you are quite right in saying that the highlighted text was wrong. If you have time to let me know where else I am wrong would appreciate it instead of being labelled 'total crap'. PM me if you have the time...

 

Jay

 

First of all IT IS NOT up to the manufacturer to sort a problem out. Warranties from the manufacturer are IN ADDITION to statutory protection and can not, and do not override the sellers responsibility to supply goods that are not faulty or rectify them if they prove so to be.

 

As far a I am aware we do not yet know the make of engine so the comment about an alarm that should sound it the engine is run with the domestic bank disconnected can not be taken at face value. An alarm may sound if the engine electrics are so fitted and a single warning lamp is used to energise both alternators. If there are two warning lamps simply running the engine with the domestic bank disconnected (as opposed to disconnecting it with the engine running) would not energise the alternator so no alarm and no damage.

 

Measuring the voltage across each battery in the bank will only tell you the bank volatge UNLESS all the interlinks are disconnected. One faulty battery will pull the rest down and the rest will try to hold its volatge up.

 

Hi Tony,

 

-I'm saying the builder should sort it out and it is his responsibility. Is that not so?

- Thought it was a Beta but reviewed posts and saw that another user has the Beta 43.

- Quite right about measuring the voltage. Ooops.

 

Jay

 

Hi Up The Creek

 

Sorry I missed you are new to the forum, welcome.

 

Your initial responses don't seem very helpful so far, i.e solicitor etc

 

There are some very knowledgeable and helpful people on this forum so don't let the minority inane on here put you off.

A

 

Where's my welcome!? ;)

 

Jay

[bowten]

PLEASE PLEASE

GIBBO all is forgiven come back and bring some sense to this mayhem!

A

No need to forgive Gibbo,it wasn't his fault.

[Ark Right]

Where's my welcome!? ;)

 

Jay

 

Sorry my fault , welcome to the forum Jay

 

I have not labelled you as total crap, just some of the points in your post,

It is all too easy to give advice without knowledge to back it up.

As your subsequent apologies show

 

A for Ark Right

[Jay Clements]

bollocks, I have it all wired wrong, thanks jay

 

Haha, guess I wasn't too clear here. See this link for what I mean Link . I thought that if you take the +ve and -ve for the boat supply from the same battery on the bank it isn't much good and instead you should take the =ve from one end of the bank and the -ve from the other end as per the diagram in the link. Is this total crap too?

[Nickhlx]

Have a good look at Gibbo's website - it explains just about everything you need to know and is highly respected...

 

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html in particular...

 

Nick

[matty40s]

Haha, guess I wasn't too clear here. See this link for what I mean Link . I thought that if you take the +ve and -ve for the boat supply from the same battery on the bank it isn't much good and instead you should take the =ve from one end of the bank and the -ve from the other end as per the diagram in the link. Is this total crap too?

 

It is best to wire across banks using busbars if space available.

If not, then 6 batteries, wire charge current to 5 and 2, or similar.

The Smartguage website shows the best way to wire batteries, however you want them(series or parralel) or however many you have.

[nicknorman]

We are quite new to boating, and for the last 12 months have had exhaustive and exhausting problems with our electrical system. I will try to be brief, but it's difficult............. You may want to skip some of the detail and move straight to the penultimate para!

 

.....

 

The readings below were taken last night and this morning, after an evening's average use (TV, fridge/freezer, inverter and a few lights), with the batteries fully charged from the shoreline at 5pm., then taken off the shoreline until 9am. Heaviest consumption (lights on) started after 9pm. The figures are taken from our Victron 600S Monitor.

 

At 5pm. 7pm 9pm. 11pm. 9am*

V: 12.56. 12.59. 12.43. 10.3. 10.4*

SOC: 98.5. 96.8. 94.7. 90.4. Not available

CE (amps used): 15 36 58.2. 98.5. Not available

*Figure taken after electricity shut down overnight. When reconnected to shoreline, recharge started at around 14.5volts and 90amps. Absorption mode started after around 1 hour. I got full charge readings (100% SOC; no amps going in; V reading of 14.6 ) after 2 hours. The charger moved from absorption to float after another 6 hours (with voltage down to 14v).

 

The 11 pm voltage figure at 11pm looks very disturbing, of course, and I cannot understand the apparent contradiction between it and the SOC%, which seems fine. Could one of them be wrong? I am at the very limits of my understanding here! In April, with little or no load (33 amps in 20 hours) the voltage held up well, at 12.54 (SOC 97%) after 20 hours off the shoreline. We never run heaters, toasters etc. off the batteries.

 

 

 

I am very sorry your enjoyment of your boat is being spoilt by battery problems. But on the positive side, it is fixable once you work out what is wrong!

 

I think it would help if you could describe your electrical system further, for example type of engine/alternator, how you are measuring State of Charge etc.

 

My first impressions are that something has caused serious overcharging that damaged the first set of batteries. That does not seem to have been corrected before the second set of batteries were installed, and unfortunately I suspect that those too are now badly damaged. I say that because the voltages you quote fall off quite quickly to "flat" by the morning, whilst the SOC, which I would guess comes from an amphour counter, shows that not much current has been taken from the batteries. The analysis is that battery capacity is down very drastically.

 

My suggested way ahead is either to employ a different electrician (since your current one has failed to identify the problem let alone fix it) or alternatively be more "scientific" in your own analysis and reporting on this forum so that we can help you without guesswork.

 

Batteries are only about two things, voltage and current. Since you cannot rely on your electrical installation to tell you either of these, you need to be able to measure them independently. To do that you can buy a clamp-meter from eBay for around £25. Just make sure it has a DC current range (not AC only). Eg UNI-T ut203

 

Then you need to measure what is going on with the batteries in terms of charging voltage and current with charging from both the engine alternator, and the shore power /charger. By that I mean measuring the battery voltage at the terminals, and the current going into the batteries, at various stages of charge from shortly after start of charge, to when you think the batteries might be fully charged.

 

Then on discharge cycle keep a track of current leaving the batteries and the voltage across the terminals, sampling for time to time. Please bear in mind that the battery voltage on discharge is affected a lot by how much current is being taken, therefore before taking the voltage readings if possible turn off all or most of the load and allow a short time for the voltage to return to its unloaded value. To be precise it would be necessary to leave the batteries unloaded for an our or so, but practically speaking a few minutes is sufficient to get reasonable accuracy.

 

Just re-reading your question about voltage vs SOC, the voltage with the batteries under no load provides good information. SOC displayed by some equipment that measures total charge taken out of the batteries, relies on the battery capacity being correct - so readings for a large battery bank that has lost most of its capacity will be complete rubbish.

 

Edited to say that there are some posts about ways of connecting batteries together etc. please ignore these as being fine points of perfection. You have a major problem which will be nothing to do with such fine points. It would be helpful to the OP if such irrelevancies did not clutter up this thread!

Edited June 6, 2012 by nicknorman

[Up The Creek]

MANY thanks for your replies.

 

With regard to the factual questions:

a) the engine is a Vetus 65. Alternators are 95 amps (Vetus, I am fairly sure)

apols for the typo error. The  charger/inverter is a 12/3000/120

c) Aquafax 135 amp batteries. All were replaced by same type at same time.

d) the batteries were regularly checked and kept topped up, with distilled water, and engine use was 130 hours at the time the first set of batteries failed.  The builders and a local marine electrician have previously re-checked the battery installation and connections

e) state of charge is measured purely by a Victron 600S Monitor.

 

It does look as if I have now 'lost' 2 sets of batteries, but remain particularly confused that the first set were damaged by overcharging, while the second damaged set have shown no sign of this.  'The Problem' has now been examined by the boat builders, a local electrician and Victron but, taking on board comments helpfully made on the Forum, and NickNorman's post in particular, we seem to be a long way from resolving it (although I will probably approach Victron again). The ways forward suggested are enormously helpful, and I will start taking suggested measurements, but I need someone of more competence than I to advise and back me up, not least to achieve some credibility when/if I take legal action against the boat builder. Can anybody recommend such a person? I am based on the Thames, near Surbiton.

 

And yes, I see the probable need for a solicitor! I think that, under the Sale of Goods Act, the builder cannot shunt responsibility onto their contractors; they must provide a boat which is 'fit for purpose', ie with an electrical system which works for at least a year..........

 

Thanks for the welcome!!!

 

Bob