boughtabouy
New Member
- Jun 6, 2008
- 434
- Boat Info
- Sea Ray 36 SD/Caribe DL12
- Engines
- Twin 496, 8.1 Horizon/Yamaha 40HP
Hi All,
Background: I've got an issue going on with my Stb batteries, and some other battery/power related questions that I need to resolve before I spend the night on the hook and end up with a Sea Tow bill the next day. I have 2 sets of 2 Group 31 batteries. They are run in a series (I believe...battery 1 has black going out to engine, red going to black of battery 2, and red of battery 2 going out to engine), one pair for each engine that also acts as house batteries.
1. I had an issue over the 4th weekend where we took the boat out for a cruise and gas up (about 3 hours of cruising) and returned to the dock to get ready for the 4th of July outing. when I returned to the dock, I noticed a warning on vessel view. "Low Voltage" and "battery not charging". The next day, went to head out and Stb engine wouldn't even turn over. Checked water level, and found one a little low. Had to emergency start that engine off the Port, which was working find. Ran over to our anchorage, and ran the gen for a few hours to charge the Stb batteries (which worked). Both engines started after the fireworks, as the gen was running off and on all day while we were on the hook. While hooked to shore power over the next two days, both battery sets seemed to charge as normal. We spent another day on the hook, and ran the batteries down some, but both engines started when it was time to leave. The next day (after the night on shore power) I checked the batteries when it was time to leave for home, and port was fine, but Stb was showing 10 volts, and amps "0", which normally shows a negative number as the battery is charging. Any ideas? Bad battery in the series? Evidence now has shown that the alternator didn't charge the Stb batteries in one instance, and the charger didn't in the other instance.
2. Since the boat is less than a year old, I called service. They are supposed to take a look next week. Then I noticed that batteries are not covered under the normal 1 year warranty offered by Sea Ray. Shouldn't the batteries at least last for the first year? Not looking forward to a huge bill for new batteries that should at least last for the first year.
3. Does the gen run off the 4 batteries that I referenced above, or does it have it's own battery? It's a Kohler 7.5Kw, and I know it has it's own alternator, but not sure about it's own battery. I noticed that the blower dims when starting the gen, so I'm guessing it runs of the main batteries. Just don't want to run down the main batteries on the hook, and be stranded the next day. Maybe the CCA's required to start the gen would be much less than the main engines, which would allow the gen to be started to then charge the main batteries, which would solve the problem.
4. If the batteries are a problem, and need to be replaced, I might switch all over to Optima's. They seem to be the way to go. Anyone that has to crawl all over to fill the batteries up on this boat will understand. The pain is felt for the entire next day. Does the charger need to be set different for AGM batteries?
Wow, is that enough to chew on for a while?
TIA,
Kevin
Background: I've got an issue going on with my Stb batteries, and some other battery/power related questions that I need to resolve before I spend the night on the hook and end up with a Sea Tow bill the next day. I have 2 sets of 2 Group 31 batteries. They are run in a series (I believe...battery 1 has black going out to engine, red going to black of battery 2, and red of battery 2 going out to engine), one pair for each engine that also acts as house batteries.
1. I had an issue over the 4th weekend where we took the boat out for a cruise and gas up (about 3 hours of cruising) and returned to the dock to get ready for the 4th of July outing. when I returned to the dock, I noticed a warning on vessel view. "Low Voltage" and "battery not charging". The next day, went to head out and Stb engine wouldn't even turn over. Checked water level, and found one a little low. Had to emergency start that engine off the Port, which was working find. Ran over to our anchorage, and ran the gen for a few hours to charge the Stb batteries (which worked). Both engines started after the fireworks, as the gen was running off and on all day while we were on the hook. While hooked to shore power over the next two days, both battery sets seemed to charge as normal. We spent another day on the hook, and ran the batteries down some, but both engines started when it was time to leave. The next day (after the night on shore power) I checked the batteries when it was time to leave for home, and port was fine, but Stb was showing 10 volts, and amps "0", which normally shows a negative number as the battery is charging. Any ideas? Bad battery in the series? Evidence now has shown that the alternator didn't charge the Stb batteries in one instance, and the charger didn't in the other instance.
2. Since the boat is less than a year old, I called service. They are supposed to take a look next week. Then I noticed that batteries are not covered under the normal 1 year warranty offered by Sea Ray. Shouldn't the batteries at least last for the first year? Not looking forward to a huge bill for new batteries that should at least last for the first year.
3. Does the gen run off the 4 batteries that I referenced above, or does it have it's own battery? It's a Kohler 7.5Kw, and I know it has it's own alternator, but not sure about it's own battery. I noticed that the blower dims when starting the gen, so I'm guessing it runs of the main batteries. Just don't want to run down the main batteries on the hook, and be stranded the next day. Maybe the CCA's required to start the gen would be much less than the main engines, which would allow the gen to be started to then charge the main batteries, which would solve the problem.
4. If the batteries are a problem, and need to be replaced, I might switch all over to Optima's. They seem to be the way to go. Anyone that has to crawl all over to fill the batteries up on this boat will understand. The pain is felt for the entire next day. Does the charger need to be set different for AGM batteries?
Wow, is that enough to chew on for a while?
TIA,
Kevin