Dead Battery(s) Thoughts?

steveziv

steveziv

Member
Sep 28, 2015
49
United States
Boat Info
'07 Sundancer 340
Engines
Twin 8.1 Horizon
Seems like something always goes wrong at the end of the season. Weather and other commitments have kept us from using our 290 Dancer for several weeks. When I tried to start the port engine I got nothing. A closer look at the electrical panel showed I had left several DC switches "on". Still, it was just the stereo, cabin lights, water, head, stuff like that, no ignition switches or refrigerator and I doubt anything was left on. The boat was covered so the bilge pumps shouldn't be a concern. Maybe a slow drip in the water system led to the pump running? The starboard engine is started by 2 parallel batteries which also run the DC systems, the 3rd battery starts the port engine and the generator and is fine.

So I tried the emergency switch, which I've never seen work, no luck there. This morning I hooked up my WeGo jump starter. It fired up the bilge pump but wouldn't turn over the engine. Next I guess I'll take a pair of jumper cables down and see it that gets a result.

Any other suggestions? These are newer batteries but I have a sneaking suspicion I'm on the hook for a couple hundred bucks worth of batteries and a PITA change out job.

I'm also wondering why the on-board charger didn't keep them charged. I looked at it this morning and the needle was just laying on zero.
 
Is the main shore power switch on? Are you registering 110V at the AC meter on the panel? Is the battery charger/AC converter switch on?
 
Lazy Daze said:
Is the main shore power switch on? Are you registering 110V at the AC meter on the panel? Is the battery charger/AC converter switch on?
Click to expand...

The shore power switch was on. The green light on the panel indicates I have 110. The AC converter switch was on.
 
I also assume you put a volt meter on the batteries? Both with the charger on and then off? FYI before you change out the batteries you should also do a load test. It could be that your charger is toast.
 
steveziv said:
The shore power switch was on. The green light on the panel indicates I have 110. The AC converter switch was on.
Click to expand...
The green light indicates that things are hooked up properly and you do not have reversed polarity. Some more research could be done on this to be sure, but I don't believe that the green light guarantees 110V. That's the function of the AC volt meter.

But assuming you have proper voltage, the next thing to look at is your charger - based on the info provided, so far, it sounds like it's kaput. Check it out to be sure.

Then you'll need to figure out why the batteries were drained... if a battery is kaput (being "newer" doesn't mean definitely good), some things were left on, or you have an excessive parasitic draw.
 
If they were on a charger and dead, you have a bad charger (or no 110 to it). I went a couple of years on a "dead" battery -- it would be fine on the charger and while running, but wouldn't hold a charge for more than a day or two. Good luck.
 
Also check for any in-line fuses between the charger/converter and the batteries that may be blown. Its possible there may be breakers somewhere too. On my 97 330 I replaced my old 30 amp OEM charger wiht a Pronautic 1240 and it blew the fuse on one battery bank when it had to kick in at the full 40 amps and the fuse was only 30amps. My symptoms were the same. Came back to the boat and my house bank was dead, and they were only a couple years old.
 
Thanks for all the input so far. I started the port side w/ jumper cables and let it run for 20 minutes, after which everything connected to the batteries ran but it still wouldn't start. Jumped it again, let it run for another 15 minutes at which point the port side belt had problems so I shut it down. Tried to restart, got clicking, which I guess is progress. So the alternator is charging and the batteries are taking a charge. Which doesn't mean they'll hold a charge.

So my plan is to trim up the belt (there appears to be an off center pulley), jump it and try to charge the batteries again. Repeat as necessary to get it winterized. Pull, check/charge/replace batteries over the winter. Check the converter/charger. Replace the belt. Who knows, I might even find the motivation to do it all before I store it.
 
Do you have a tic tracer or volt meter?

You can do some simple test to see where you have and don't have power when trouble shooting the charger.
 
Shorted out cell in one of your batteries. Check batteries individually. Some times the shorts are intermitant but that's where I would check. This battery glick has kicked my but more than a few times
 
steveziv said:
Thanks for all the input so far. I started the port side w/ jumper cables and let it run for 20 minutes, after which everything connected to the batteries ran but it still wouldn't start. Jumped it again, let it run for another 15 minutes at which point the port side belt had problems so I shut it down. Tried to restart, got clicking, which I guess is progress. So the alternator is charging and the batteries are taking a charge. Which doesn't mean they'll hold a charge.
.
Click to expand...
It was my understanding that the most efficient way to charge batteries from an alternator is under load rather than just at idle. Maybe that's just an urban legend but it's one that's worked for me.

I'll go back to my original post; voltmeter on the batteries with charger on then off, will tell you if the lack of charge is related to the on board charger. If that's working then it's time to load test the batteries.
 
Where were the fuses between the charger and batteries located? I don't see any at all on my 1997 330'. Installing a new 1230P.

Thanks

Creekwood said:
Also check for any in-line fuses between the charger/converter and the batteries that may be blown. Its possible there may be breakers somewhere too. On my 97 330 I replaced my old 30 amp OEM charger wiht a Pronautic 1240 and it blew the fuse on one battery bank when it had to kick in at the full 40 amps and the fuse was only 30amps. My symptoms were the same. Came back to the boat and my house bank was dead, and they were only a couple years old.
Click to expand...
 
Comfortably Numb said:
Where were the fuses between the charger and batteries located? I don't see any at all on my 1997 330'. Installing a new 1230P.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Mine were in the line from the charger to the harness where it would go to the “hot side” of the battery switch. I just looked at the wiring diagram for the 330 though and it does not show fuses. My boat has them though. Its possible they were installed by a prior owner, but the charger was OEM when I bought the boat. Hmmmmm.
 
Creekwood said:
Mine were in the line from the charger to the harness where it would go to the “hot side” of the battery switch. I just looked at the wiring diagram for the 330 though and it does not show fuses. My boat has them though. Its possible they were installed by a prior owner, but the charger was OEM when I bought the boat. Hmmmmm.
Click to expand...
That has to be a high capacity fuse.
 
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