Battery issues.

[Dr Bob]

5 minutes ago, canals are us? said:

Sadly there is no volt meter on the boat or battery monitor and I have been away twice working for 5 and 4 weeks and my Sister wouldn't know how to use a multi meter or even think of looking at her batteries.

I'll get a digital volt display from ebay and wire it in. I find mine useful as well as a NASA BM2 and MT50 solar Meter on my boat.

I'll get my Sister to buy new batteries and I'll fit them and see if I get an increase in volts to indicate the charger is working. The charger has printed the float charge to look for and bulk charge. Certainly when I run her engine I got 14.2 volts at the batteries.

 

James.

Yes, a good start. Come back with questions if you are unsure of what voltages are important. If you get a cheap ebay volt meter, check it against your multimeter to make sure it is reading in the the same ball park. If the boat is always on shore power then the voltage should always be in the 13.0-14.0 volt range and usually at around 13.2v for continuous charging. Cheaper chargers may have a float voltage of 13.7V which can damage a lead acid if kept at that. My victron IP22 drops to 13.2 after 12 hours or so from full. You should be able to give your sister some voltage numbers to watch for and call you if there is an issue. Glance at them once per day.

[ditchcrawler]

Did your sister by any chance start the engine with this charger set up, if so that could well have taken the fuse out and then when the engine stopped no charge

 

[canals are us?]

2 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Yes, a good start. Come back with questions if you are unsure of what voltages are important. If you get a cheap ebay volt meter, check it against your multimeter to make sure it is reading in the the same ball park. If the boat is always on shore power then the voltage should always be in the 13.0-14.0 volt range and usually at around 13.2v for continuous charging. Cheaper chargers may have a float voltage of 13.7V which can damage a lead acid if kept at that. My victron IP22 drops to 13.2 after 12 hours or so from full. You should be able to give your sister some voltage numbers to watch for and call you if there is an issue. Glance at them once per day.

Thanks for the advice.

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

Did your sister by any chance start the engine with this charger set up, if so that could well have taken the fuse out and then when the engine stopped no charge

 

I started it up 6 days ago after around 8 weeks not started and engine took a while to start, blowing out white smoke, then fired up and ran clear. I had forgotten to turn off the charger then so may of blown the fuse!

 

James.

[canals are us?]

Ordered 2 new batteries from Tayna batteries, so awaiting them. Budget at £69 each.

I found that connecting the charger to the battery at 10 volts the charger fired straight up. Thankfully not getting warm and will be binned when the new batteries arrive. 

 

Many thanks. James.