Chrisgriff

Great thanks again for all the useful posts! this websites great! Im sure I will learn as I go with all the info! cheers

Cheers everyone..... Great and helpful responses as always!! so I did a little experiment to see if the trip to bath did knacker the batteries...... And thus why the inverter is working a lot harder at present. i unplugged the domestic fridge..... And took shore power off too see how long the batteries would last with not a lot of load on them. At this time we charged a phone, charged a laptop, and on obviously all water/bilge pumps are in use at times. The batteries last for 12 hours until the alarm on the inverter started to sound..... hoping this is narrowing down the problem! cheers

With a digital multimeter..... I just checked the volts.... Is this not correct? the vents all seem clear and fan is clear

Hi guys, i saw saw a couple of threads on this subject but thought I'd add this as it didn't really answer my problem. our Stirling pro combi Q cooling fan is going continuously....and its always on 'charger on fast mode' program. the batteries as far as I can tell are fine. I have 4 X 6v batteries and I check them to see if fully charged and it seems so.... They are reading at close to 6v when I checked them. we are on shore power 99% of the time. And the only bit of heavy loading electricity we use is a domestic fridge (not 12v) as the previous owner left it behind so we thought we would use it. we have been on the boat for over a year and the fan has come on a periodically but now it seems to be on all the time! Making a right racket!! Any clues?

SO....... i I have turned the shore power off & engine is not running. we are now running off 12.4v..... We have a fridge which is on & a laptop charging. i have checked the batteries and they are at 12.7....... & the leads running to the alternator are running at 12.7. I have have added a picture of the batteries. We have 5 of them. I could only read the front one as I couldn't reach the back..... with th the engine on the it goes up to 13.8. & also with the engine on I tested the wires connected to the alternator & that was at 14.8..... hope we this all helps...... I will leave shore power off and let you know how long we last!

"3) Your batteries are heavily sulphated ( i.e. Shot) due to the low charge voltage over a period of years and now have little capacity so 3 hrs of light use knackered them. You can check this easily by doing what Nick said in post 7. Take it off shore power and run something that puts around 10A load. (You didn't say how many batteries you have and what capacity- useful for us to know) or just run stuff and report back the voltage over a 5-10 hr period. If the capacity is down, this will show up. As Nick says, as voltage drops, put it back on shore power before it gets to 12.1 V" thanks gor this...... I will check when back in the boat this evening & report back!

Thanks for your reply. it just seems to be always on float charge mode and the fan never stops! when on shore power (which is 99% of the time) we leave it on power saver auto. if we turn the inverter off then all electrics (fridge, plug sockets) except for the main lights turn off. if we have it as power saver mode then it just does the same as auto, and just stays on float charge mode....

Any info on this blue wire with the note? it also mentions this in the Barrus shire engine manual..... this is has never been connected, and was not connected when we went for a cruise a couple weeks ago....... Seems odd that I have to attach this lead every time I want to go for a cruise..... c

Ok thanks for that. so in guessing that the batteries just can't charge properly even when engine off & connected to shore power which is why the inverter charger is constantly trying to charge the batteries...... so must be the alternator. c

I'm not sure how old the batteries are but for a guess I don't think they are that old. i just looked at the alternator and it's a Barrus alternator. i understand that the inverter is important for charging th battery when engine is running but what j don't understand is why the battery is constantly charging when we are hooked up to shore power? Does the current have to still run through the inverter? sorry for all the questions!! Electrics isn't my strong point!

Ok perfect. thanks for all the information. when crushing the battery didn't die completely..... The main lights in the boat remained on but the voltage was very low.... All other electrics turned off. Also the boat is only 10 years old so have a feeling it has a more modern alternator? So have a feeling that's probably damaged and the batteries don't hold much power! chris

Shore power off : 13.2 Shore power off & engine on : 13.9 Will attach picture of step up. also..... Just found a lead which had dropped down the back of our electric board with this note on: "This wire must be removed when the domestic battery positive lead has been connected to the terminal post. WARNING: do not run engine without this wire in place or without the domestic battery positive lead connected otherwise alternator damage will occur" we we have never seen this lead before until now........ Got a feeling that's why we have had problems since our outing to bath? cheers

Hey! yes it's reading at 13.3 and the lights on the inverter say it's: -charger on on float charge mode - shore power online, battery charger active. cgeers

Hi fellow boaters. been on my boat for over a year now. we took her out for a trip to bath the other day and moored up for one evening then came back to Bristol. On the way to bath our battery seemed fine & fully charged. but once we arrive about 3 hours later the battery was dead. Then on the way back to Bristol the battery just didn't seem to be charging at all. since we have been back and have connected back to shore power our inverter charger seems to be constantly on battery charge mode...... Which it never used to do all the time. I dont really understand why when we are on shore power that the batteries are constantly trying to charge? Does anyone one think they have any clues to this problem? Knackered batteries? cheers, chris