Battery Charger Stopped Working

[c130king]

Moved my boat on Monday to a temporary slip for a week. New slip has 50-amp power so using a 50-to-30 Y-Cord Adapter. AC power seems to be working fine. Outlets working fine and air-conditioner runs fine. However, my battery charger has stopped working. Pretty sure it was working fine before I departed my old slip and pretty sure it has not worked since I moved.

Not sure if the chargers are "standard" for C310's but has anyone ever had one stop working? I am hoping there is an in-line fuse somewhere that has blown but haven't looked for it just yet.

Will be back in my normal slip (with installed 30-amp power) next week. But wouldn't think using 50-amp through an adapter would be the issue.

Any thoughts on this issue would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[Stu Jackson]

Jim, chargers usually were not factory installed, maybe on later boats, in many cases were done by the dealers, and sometimes replaced by owners. We just don't know. Please advise on what specific charger you have on your boat so we can help.

 

[c130king]

Thanks Stu. Haven't started digging into this just yet. Probably will start trouble shooting on Saturday if I can keep the batteries topped up with the alternator until then.

Will post what I find out.

Besides...too darn HOT right now.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[CCHer]

My 310 had a Charles 20 amp charger factory installed in the aft port locker. Easy enough to check AC in and DC out but as said there should be fuses between it and the batteries that need to be checked. Nevertheless these things do have a shelf life and it just may have decided it's time to retire.

 

[Calif. Ted]

There is a 10 amp breaker on the AC side of your power panel for the charger, the other 2 10 amp breakers serve the water heater and cabin outlets.
If you've already checked it forgive me for suggesting the obvious, I know I've spent hours tracking problems only to discover someone had flipped a breaker without my noticing.

 

[CraigS]

Also, make sure the AC phase reversal light is not on. Outlets etc will appear to work ok for most applications with reverse hot/neutral. However, chargers don't like that condition. New dock outlets or adapter could be a culprit.

 

[c130king]

Thanks for all the advice. Will look for those 10 amp fuses...haven't looked yet. That is what I am hoping is the issue and hoping it will be quick/easy fix.

New slip so I thought about bad power...using 50-amp with Y-cord adapter...but outlets and air conditioner are working fine and I have the normal green "good power" light and no red "reversed polarity" light.

My charger is mounted in that aft port locker but that is where my air conditioner is so I may have to disconnect/move some of the ducting to get access.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[mfarinas]

C130King. I also had to use the 50 amp to 30 amp adapter once at a different marina while cruising. My Charles battery charger is also in the aft port locker and I can report there was no trouble using the 50 to 30 adapter. Definitely check those 10 amp breakers.
Good luck!

 

[c130king]

I looked but did not see any 10 amp circuit breakers. Can anyone provide me with some additional clues on those? Are you talking about hte backside of the switches on the AC panel?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[c130king]

I guess I could disconnect the wires from the water heater and hook the wires from the battery charger wires to tje water heater switch and see if it works. Switch could be bad.

 

[Admiral]

The fuses are the 10amp. breakers, not a fuse. Check to see if they are in need of reset. Instead of disconnecting the H2O heater get a multi tester and stat with the AC line in to make sure you have voltage there. The test the 12 volt out to see if you have voltage there. Then use those tests to further troubleshoot.

 

[c130king]

Sounds good. Will do that this afternoon. Thanks.

 

[c130king]

Multi-meter shows good AC power (116.9 volts...I think) coming out of the back side of the Battery Charger switch/circuit-breaker/fuse (whatever it is)...I think. Have my more mechanically savvy buddy coming over tomorrow evening and we will do more trouble shooting of the system.

Was told there is a fuse inside the unit and that may have blown and can possibly be replaced without replacing the entire unit. But haven't had time to check the unit itself just yet.

For now I continue to sail every day and just watch battery voltage levels and use the alternator to keep the batteries charged while being more cautious of how much juice I am using.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[pk104]

My 2001 had 20 amp inline fuses right at the batteries from the charger. They would sometimes blow when returning to the dock after a long weekend and the charger tried to send as many amps as possible to the battery.

 

[c130king]

I have not looked at the batteries themselves. They are charging when the alternator is running. But I will look in there as well.

Thanks.

 

[hoastonge]

My sailboat, Catalina 30 MKIII 1994.
Had a fire, a total loss. because the battery charger, that have heated when connect to the shore power. One chance is I don't slept into on that night, if I was pass a night into the boat for sleeping, I would have died
So don't hesitate to call an electric expert
I try to found a replacement for my sailboat. I'm living in Montréal, QC.

This Guest Charger

Gave me this fire

 

[Long Story]

There is also an inline fuse (large) on each red wire leading from the charger to the battery itself. You might want to check to see if that fuse is blown. A simple way to check would be when the charger is on, use your meter that is part of the panel and you will see voltage upwards of 13.8 V in each bank. That is a good indication the charger is working. (or trying to work, check both position 1 and position 2 of the switch)

Your "Switch" at the panel is a breaker, much like a home breaker but it also serves the switch function. To check to see if it tripped, turn it on, then all the way off again, then on.

How old are your batteries? I know I was living on borrowed time, (mine were 6 years old) and at anchor this weekend one failed (good reason to have reserve or dedicated start battery) A bad battery could also make you think the charger is not working, and could effect only one side.

Lastly, with the idea of sticking meters on the back side of the panel - please use caution, as that is very real, 120v power on the AC side of the panel (220 if your boat is in other countries) and that side of the panel can kill you.

Russ
s/v Long Story

 

[c130king]

Russ,

Will be looking for those fuses this evening. Hoping that is the issue.

Have already checked the circuit breaker/switch. There is power going through it when on. But battery voltage stays at 12.5ish. Normally voltage on battery charger is up around 14.

Get around 14 volts from alternator when motor is running and that is how I am keeping the batteries charged up for now.

Batteries are about 15 months old. 2 x Group 4D.

Cheers,
Jim

 

[Long Story]

Should look like these - - - the black holder on the smaller cable next to the battery.

Russ

 

[c130king]

Checked those fuses. Both seemed to be good. And we have good battery voltage flow back to Battery Charger...which I think also verifies those two fuses are good.

So we are going to change out the battery charger and see what happens.