This may seem like a simple question but I want to be sure as I'm new boat electronics ... I've taken the 3 deep cycle flooded batteries and TrueCharge 20+ out of my Hunter 35.5 for the winter. They've been sitting for while and are now in need of a charge (actually, I want to equalize as well). The wiring diagram in the manual for the TrueCharge has the negative terminal of the batteries and the charger going to "DC ground". I understand what this in on the boat in the water but in my house, is it safe to use the AC ground and just hook up the two charger leads to the batteries? Thanks in advance Jeff
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Grounding charger.
There should be no need for a separate ground. This assumes that the AC connection from the charger to your house is 3-wire. The 3-wire plug will ground the case of the charger. The connection from the charger to the battery will just be the two cables, one to positive and one to negative. Will you parallel the batteries or charge one at a time?
There should be no need for a separate ground. This assumes that the AC connection from the charger to your house is 3-wire. The 3-wire plug will ground the case of the charger. The connection from the charger to the battery will just be the two cables, one to positive and one to negative. Will you parallel the batteries or charge one at a time?
Caution Around Hydrogen Gas
Just a quick comment about safety. If the charger and the batteries are out of the boat it sounds like you'll be connecting and disconnecting the wires to the battery. Be careful and don't cause a spark if the battery is gassing - it can go "boom!" and blow the top of the battery off and spray the area with battery acid. It's really easy to cause a spark when one of the wires is disconnected from the battery terminal. As a minimum safety goggles is a good idea anytime one is connecting or disconnecting wires from a wet-cell vented battery and the more protection the better, especially covering up any otherwise bare skin. If the battery has been gassing and the charger is "off", just wait a while until it subsides then disconnect it.
Just a quick comment about safety. If the charger and the batteries are out of the boat it sounds like you'll be connecting and disconnecting the wires to the battery. Be careful and don't cause a spark if the battery is gassing - it can go "boom!" and blow the top of the battery off and spray the area with battery acid. It's really easy to cause a spark when one of the wires is disconnected from the battery terminal. As a minimum safety goggles is a good idea anytime one is connecting or disconnecting wires from a wet-cell vented battery and the more protection the better, especially covering up any otherwise bare skin. If the battery has been gassing and the charger is "off", just wait a while until it subsides then disconnect it.
STOP- STOP -STOP
Do not connect both red to one battery, they are BOTH positive. The Negative (black) on the boat goes to a neg. bus that is connected to the neg side of batteries. Out of boat you need to connect the black to the neg of both batteries you want to charge. BTW I have just got a Truecharge charger and have this info from the manual. Tony
Do not connect both red to one battery, they are BOTH positive. The Negative (black) on the boat goes to a neg. bus that is connected to the neg side of batteries. Out of boat you need to connect the black to the neg of both batteries you want to charge. BTW I have just got a Truecharge charger and have this info from the manual. Tony
let me suggest that you leave the battery charger on the boat next time and buy a small trickle charger (avaliable at most auto stores,Sears,etc)Would be much easier and would only have two leads (positive and negative)You might be surprized it can come in very handy at home for the car as well as winter charging of boat batteries
Tony, where did you. . . .
get the idea that he would connect two red cables to a battery? Is there more than one cable from the TrueCharger colored red? So that you can charge two separate banks at once I suppose. Then I should not have assumed that Jeff knew how to wire it. That's why I asked the question about separate or parallel. Jeff, are you there and have you got it straight? And I agree with Pete, much less opportunity to screw up.
get the idea that he would connect two red cables to a battery? Is there more than one cable from the TrueCharger colored red? So that you can charge two separate banks at once I suppose. Then I should not have assumed that Jeff knew how to wire it. That's why I asked the question about separate or parallel. Jeff, are you there and have you got it straight? And I agree with Pete, much less opportunity to screw up.
Some clarification
Q: Why'd I take it off the boat? A: It seemed like a good idea at the time. The main reason was educational. I wanted to learn about chargers, equalization, testing specific gravity etc. All of which are very hard to do onboard given the 35.5's configuration. Q: what is the battery/charging setup? A: The three batteries form one bank (as configured in the boat). I was planning on charging them in that configuration. Charger has two leads(see below), one common ground and one "hot". The plan was to connect everything just as it was on the boat (I took pictures
, plug the charger into the wall and capture the hydrogen for my fuel cell. Well, maybe not the last part... I was almost there and saw the "DC ground" thing in the manual so wanted some advice. Other than "why the heck did you take it off the boat" issue, any flaws in the plan? As always, all input greatly appreciated. Jeff For completeness: The truecharger can charge three *banks* at once and so can have a total of four leads coming off it (one ground, three hot). I am only using one of the charging banks and so have only two wires (one ground and one hot).
Q: Why'd I take it off the boat? A: It seemed like a good idea at the time. The main reason was educational. I wanted to learn about chargers, equalization, testing specific gravity etc. All of which are very hard to do onboard given the 35.5's configuration. Q: what is the battery/charging setup? A: The three batteries form one bank (as configured in the boat). I was planning on charging them in that configuration. Charger has two leads(see below), one common ground and one "hot". The plan was to connect everything just as it was on the boat (I took pictures
, plug the charger into the wall and capture the hydrogen for my fuel cell. Well, maybe not the last part... I was almost there and saw the "DC ground" thing in the manual so wanted some advice. Other than "why the heck did you take it off the boat" issue, any flaws in the plan? As always, all input greatly appreciated. Jeff For completeness: The truecharger can charge three *banks* at once and so can have a total of four leads coming off it (one ground, three hot). I am only using one of the charging banks and so have only two wires (one ground and one hot).Jeff's got it.
As you described it sounds right to me Jeff. The three batteries are sitting there wired in parallel, three positive terminals connected to each other and likewise with negative terminals. Then you connect the TrueCharger to any, but only one, of the batteries. Red to positive and black to negative. Plug the TrueCharger into "housepower" and it should be just as it is at the dock. If there are dip switch settings as on my Heart Freedom 20 those must be set correctly. And remember John's warning about the gas. Good luck.
As you described it sounds right to me Jeff. The three batteries are sitting there wired in parallel, three positive terminals connected to each other and likewise with negative terminals. Then you connect the TrueCharger to any, but only one, of the batteries. Red to positive and black to negative. Plug the TrueCharger into "housepower" and it should be just as it is at the dock. If there are dip switch settings as on my Heart Freedom 20 those must be set correctly. And remember John's warning about the gas. Good luck.
From your post Ed
Hi On reading the post from Ed It concerned me that it said to ignore the ground, and connect to the pos & neg of batteries, knowing there is more than one pos lead I did not want to see two pos leads attatched to batteries pos and neg terminals. Having said that it seems as if Jeff has it worked out anyway. Tony
Hi On reading the post from Ed It concerned me that it said to ignore the ground, and connect to the pos & neg of batteries, knowing there is more than one pos lead I did not want to see two pos leads attatched to batteries pos and neg terminals. Having said that it seems as if Jeff has it worked out anyway. Tony
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