My Victron was working perfectly. In fact, it told me that my Schumacher charger was trying to push 15.5+ volts into my expensive new AGM's. So, I ripped out the Schumacher.
First, I disconnected the negative battery lead from the Victron shunt to be sure of a dead system. I had the Schumacher hooked up to the battery switch and the ground buss because I didn't know any better when I put it in 5 years ago. So, I never touched the battery connections. Since I was leaving the boat for a week of traveling, I decided to just leave the battery cable disconnected and put a plastic bag over it to be sure of a dead ship.
I just reconnected the cable and, nothing, nada. I checked the voltage between the end of the Victron sense wire and the ground buss and have 7.(something). Voltage between the battery switch and the ground buss is 12.58. I never touched anything at the other end of the Victron wire under the battery box cover I haven't removed yet.
WTF? ! ?
Later:
Driving back to the boat I mentally narrowed the list of suspects down to the fuse or aliens. It was the fuse (much to my disappointment). The 1 A. Slow Blow fuse that comes with the Victron will look intact but show open circuit and still pass enough current with two fully charged batteries behind it to produce a bit over six volts. I put in a new fuse and everything is ducky.
Despite my care working cramped up and backwards in the dark, I must have brushed the red sense wire against the battery lead. Disconnecting the battery bank at the shunt is risky with the PC board right there on the shunt. Working inside the battery box is risky too. I'm going to look at battery disconnects. This might be a good place for one of those with a key. It would be a comfort leaving the boat in an area where theft isn't out of the question.
First, I disconnected the negative battery lead from the Victron shunt to be sure of a dead system. I had the Schumacher hooked up to the battery switch and the ground buss because I didn't know any better when I put it in 5 years ago. So, I never touched the battery connections. Since I was leaving the boat for a week of traveling, I decided to just leave the battery cable disconnected and put a plastic bag over it to be sure of a dead ship.
I just reconnected the cable and, nothing, nada. I checked the voltage between the end of the Victron sense wire and the ground buss and have 7.(something). Voltage between the battery switch and the ground buss is 12.58. I never touched anything at the other end of the Victron wire under the battery box cover I haven't removed yet.
WTF? ! ?
Later:
Driving back to the boat I mentally narrowed the list of suspects down to the fuse or aliens. It was the fuse (much to my disappointment). The 1 A. Slow Blow fuse that comes with the Victron will look intact but show open circuit and still pass enough current with two fully charged batteries behind it to produce a bit over six volts. I put in a new fuse and everything is ducky.
Despite my care working cramped up and backwards in the dark, I must have brushed the red sense wire against the battery lead. Disconnecting the battery bank at the shunt is risky with the PC board right there on the shunt. Working inside the battery box is risky too. I'm going to look at battery disconnects. This might be a good place for one of those with a key. It would be a comfort leaving the boat in an area where theft isn't out of the question.