Beneteau 423 battery question

[Jeffinjax]

Well, do I have egg on my face. We went out on the boat and were testing the battery combinations to start the engine, and I couldn’t start the engine in any place, until my son noted that I needed to turn the key...further. In my defense, I had only started the engine once. But, the engine started in either start only, House only, and both house and start paralleled.
Thanks for all the information and tips. We are enjoying our new to us boat.

 

[Ron20324]

...Well, do I have egg on my face. I couldn’t start the engine in any place, until my son noted that I needed to turn the key...further. In my defense, I had only started the engine once. .Thanks for all the information and tips. We are enjoying our new to us boat.

Reminds me of the Peanuts comic where Snoopy is standing on the sidewalk next to the sign that says, "to cross street, push button", so he does. And he waits and waits. Linus comes up and says, "You have to move your feet, too".

 

[Mechone]

Or how about having the fuel shut off pulled out and stand there turning the engine over and getting freaked out why it won't start

 

[kappykaplan]

having the fuel shut off pulled out and stand there turning the engine over

Been there, done that!

 

[Jeffinjax]

With that semi-puzzle solved, I'm off to another electrical question: In a previous boat, I had dissimilar battery banks, house, and start, as I have in the 423. When I motored any length of time, I made sure the battery selector was in one or the other battery position, and not in "Both." My reasoning is/was that I didn't want the alternator, a Balmar aftermarket job with an external regulator, to get confused with trying to charge both banks at once. The current boat has a similar setup, with dissimilar banks, and the stock alternator on the Volvo 55 HP diesel. I have no solar (yet!) nor an onboard genset of any sort, nor a battery charging monitor. I am planning to approach the battery selection in the same fashion. Make sense? It does to me, at any rate. (Regarding the above previous boat battery selection scheme: I was pretty good about making sure the batteries were properly charged when motoring for long periods. We never dried them out or smoked them.)

 

[NYSail]

Does not make scenes......

Get a blue sea ACR charging relay. I installed the 7622. You may have to change a few things as I did when installed new Balmar alt. Feed alt directly to house bank. ACR is then connected to house bank and starter/secondary battery bank. It will automatically feed your start battery as needed and disconnect when charged. Great setup, idiot proof....see Maine Sails website... he has a great article and you can purchase it at a great price.

Good luck