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Bow Thruster Battery Not Charging


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Hi

And before I get told off by the traditionalists regarding my topic. We were recommended to have a BT fitted when we ordered our boat. as complete novices last year we were eternally grateful for the the BT getting us out of some hair raising situations with moored boats, bridges and by-washes.

Anyway to my question:

We have a issue with the BT battery which doesn't appear to be getting charged via the VSR. BT has its own battery in the bow locker.

A friend has checked and there is no charge going to the battery, the VSR is working fine (phew!) and all cables appear to be tight and where they should be, battery appears to fine also and it has been charged via independent charger through inverter and it retains the charge. 

Any ideas what else we should be looking for?

For info its a Vetus 55kgf and has a 110ah battery, we have a canaline 38 engine with twin alternators (75 & 100)

 

Must state I am complete boat electrical novice so please put any response in simple (women understanding terms)

 

Thanks in Advance

Ronnie :-)

 

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38 minutes ago, RonnieF1967 said:

there is no charge going to the battery, the VSR is working fine

If it’s charged by the VSR and the VSR is fine then it’s either a bad connection along the way or one of the fuses has blown. The charging lead from VSR at the rear and BT battery at the front should be fused at both ends, so check both fuses. 

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If I had a bow thruster I wouldn't admit it, but I reckon I'd have a fuse in the engine space protecting the line running the full length of the boat to the BT. Find it, visually check the fuse and, if it appears intact, then check the voltage either side of the fuse holder - thus proving the fuse and the fuse holder connections. You could just do the voltage check, but if the fuse is blown you'll get there rather quicker by the visual check first. 

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Friend checked the voltage of the battery whilst engine running and after giving the bow thruster few bursts whilst moored to lower the charge held, no charge change after running engine for 10-15 mins, I will visually check the fuses but would the BT even work if one of them had gone? 

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Not sure how it is charged if I am being honest, presumed it would be off the alternator charging the leisure battery bank.

We had previously changed the fuse in the front which had blown, haven't checked the rear one so will do so when I get back to boat.

Thanks

 

 

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6 minutes ago, RonnieF1967 said:

would the BT even work if one of them had gone? 

Sure. The fuses are there to protect the charging cable - it effectively has a battery at each end of it. That fuse has nothing to do with the BT itself, only the charging of the BT battery. 

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5 hours ago, RonnieF1967 said:

Not sure how it is charged if I am being honest, presumed it would be off the alternator charging the leisure battery bank.

We had previously changed the fuse in the front which had blown, haven't checked the rear one so will do so when I get back to boat.

Thanks

 

 

The VSR might be splitting the charge between the start and BT battery. It's a sensible way to configure it as you want max charge to your heavily used domestic bank so it's good to have a dedicated domestic alternator. The start battery is usually fully charged most of the time anyway, so you have plenty of spare charge to go to the BT.

Edited by blackrose
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36 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I thought you didn't have a BT - or perhaps you just weren't admitting it before? ?

I said if I had one I wouldn't admit it - but if I did it'd be off my engine alternator (which I freely admit I do have)! :icecream:

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8 hours ago, blackrose said:

Engine alternator doesn't really mean very much if the engine has more than one.

Oh heck, you're right, I didn't put that quite as clearly as I could, and I do have two.  In the context of the earlier post (#7) suggesting that the OP's bow thruster battery was charged off the "leisure" alternator I thought the I'd get away with not writing "my smaller alternator which charges the engine start battery" in answer to a question from an experienced boatist like yourself! :P

Edited by Sea Dog
To many alternators - thanks Alan!
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Do your bow thruster battery and the engine/domestic battery (whichever is paired via the VSR) have their negatives linked by a cable at least as thick as the charging cable? If not it can't charge (unless some clot has connected the BT battery negative to the hull).

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

????

 

Not quite as clear as it could be.

Alternator charging an alternator ?

Oh bum - the second alternator (in the post, not on the engine) is a spurious one caused by an editing error.  You knew that though, eh? ;)

 

 

I'm out now - even if this post comes out complete gobbledegook! :D

 

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On 22/02/2019 at 22:00, MartynG said:

Are all of the other batteries in good condition and fully charged and receiving a charge with the engine running?

How do you know the VSR is working?

We had a marine engineer come out to put a new relay kit on the engine (glow plug issue) and while he was on the boat he checked there was current being received on both sides of the VSR

 I haven't had chance to check the inline fuse at the back of the boat yet so will do that as soon as I can.

 

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If there is current flowing via the VSR it presumably going to the bow thruster battery?  However it should be noted this current will flow only when the main battery bank feeding the VSR has received sufficient charge.

If the main battery bank is in poor condition or only partially charged it is possible the bow thruster battery is not receiving much charge.

Alternatively the bow thruster battery could be faulty? A starter battery is the best type for a bow thruster.

Is there a high current relay for the bow thruster such as made by Albright that has damaged/burned contacts?  If the high current relay is damaged it could have the same effect on the bow thruster as a weak battery.

If you have battery isolator switches, and I assume you do, these should be checked as they can became faulty and create increased electrical resistance.

 

 

 
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When this happened to us the 100 amp Mega fuse next to the VSR had blown. With this type of fuse you can't visually see if it has blown, you have to test it with a meter. The replacement 100 amp fuse blew a few weeks later, I replaced it with a 125 amp fuse (the VSR is rated at 140 amp) This has now been OK for about six months. I now listen out for a drop in the engine revs when operating the BT and if I don't hear one I will investigate the fuse again.

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38 minutes ago, MartynG said:

If there is current flowing via the VSR it presumably going to the bow thruster battery? 

I took OP to mean that there was voltage on both sides of the VSR. Perhaps I was wrong and the guy was actually measuring current but somehow I doubt it. 

 

My bet is still on a fuse. 

12 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

When this happened to us the 100 amp Mega fuse next to the VSR had blown.

That’s certainly the most likely culprit. 

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