Electrical charging problem

[jssailem]

As far as I can find, Charles' labeled charges were not inverters.

The company made inverters under the Vanner brand name.
Here is a catalog that may help you. At the least, you may find the serial number and match the information to your unit.

https://marine-j.com/pdf/charles-catalog.pdf

 

[Scott T-Bird]

We don't know anything about his charger or his inverter or if it's a combo unit because he doesn't name the model. But he talks about the charger/inverter interchangeably further adding to the mystery. He talks about meters but we don't know if he is looking at volts or amps or whether the meters are AC or DC. He doesn't appear to even read the label on the meter(s) so that he can answer his own questions. He doesn't seem to know anything about his systems so that he can describe his problems and he doesn't want to learn. I'd wish him good luck but I am also wondering if his questions are just a troll to keep everybody guessing. Also, I have an original Catalina 320 electrical panel and I have no idea where he would be reading "weak charging".

 

[jssailem]

True @Scott T-Bird .
That is why I introduced the image and other data to identify something we could discuss. The fact that the OP has not responded is another interesting piece of information.

 

[heritage]

Ted wants a simple answer to his electrical problem: Have a marine electrician check out the system, explain to you how it works, and recommend a way to fix it.

 

[DaveJ]

Scott, couldn’t agree more.
This site is a trove of help and information, the PO
Wants an instant answer, with limited information input.
I’ve been there….help me now! But his responses could better reflect the time and effort that is offered by the fellow sailors on this site.
I have learned a lot, contributed a little, and will continue on…..
Cheers

 

[Dave]

Let's give @Ted10028 a bit of a break. It may be hard to believe, however, some SBO members do have other obligations in their lives that limit the time available to spend on line and to solve boat problems. If he is a working stiff (poor guy) he might have gotten home after a weekend on the boat and hasn't had time to get back to the boat to try any of the steps suggested.

 

[Ted10028]

Problem is solved at least temporarily. I flipped the master breaker back-and-forth a couple of times which is the very first thing I thought to do a few days ago and it had no effect whatsoever. But a few days into it I tried it again out of desperation and everything came on perfectly. There's nothing I can do to the breaker to make it fail again it seems so for the time being I consider it fixed although I'm now worried that it's going to happen again. Thanks to all those who tried to help.

 

[dlochner]

Problem is solved at least temporarily. I flipped the master breaker back-and-forth a couple of times which is the very first thing I thought to do a few days ago and it had no effect whatsoever. But a few days into it I tried it again out of desperation and everything came on perfectly. There's nothing I can do to the breaker to make it fail again it seems so for the time being I consider it fixed although I'm now worried that it's going to happen again. Thanks to all those who tried to help.

That would suggest the breaker is faulty. Replace the breaker before you have a bigger problem.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Just because it’s working now doesn’t mean it will keep working. Breakers wear out over time and get flakey, especially if switched on and off repeatedly. If it keeps failing when you’re not at the boat the batteries will keep sitting at a low state of charge, expediting their demise. Better to replace the breaker now before it causes more expensive issues.

You should still get a digital voltmeter and learn how to use it. A problem like this would be 15 minutes to troubleshoot with one.

 

[Ted10028]

Just because it’s working now doesn’t mean it will keep working. Breakers wear out over time and get flakey, especially if switched on and off repeatedly. If it keeps failing when you’re not at the boat the batteries will keep sitting at a low state of charge, expediting their demise. Better to replace the breaker now before it causes more expensive issues.

You should still get a digital voltmeter and learn how to use it. A problem like this would be 15 minutes to troubleshoot with one.

I've got a digital voltmeter. Everything is working perfectly there's not much to see on it.

 

[dlochner]

Everything is working perfectly there's not much to see on it.

Except everything isn't working perfectly. The breaker is failing. It will not get better on its on. It is $20 part and usually a pretty straightforward job to replace on. Not replacing it will cause your expensive bank of batteries to die early. Seems an easy choice to me.

 

[Davidasailor26]

And just to be clear I mean a portable multimeter that you can use to probe different spots in DC and AC circuits. A digital volt meter built into the boat is good for a quick indication of battery state, but not so much for troubleshooting.

 

[DaveJ]

 

[Scott T-Bird]

AC master breaker or DC master breaker? I still don't know what he is writing about. He says "everything came on", so is he talking about everything on the AC circuit or everything on the DC circuit? I'm still just making assumptions because it is all so vague. He never did fully explain what wasn't working in the first place! First he said inverter reading 0 and panel saying "weak charging". He said fridge at 60 d and he wanted to know how to test an inverter and check out his charger in 2 separate posts. WTF!

My Catalina 320 has an AC main breaker in the port aft locker right under the seat. The breaker has a simple on-off toggle switch and it is very easy to snag your sleeve on it and shut it off any time you reach into the locker or climb in for any reason. I recently replaced it with an ELCI breaker and a new galvanic isolator, but before I did that, I've inadvertently switched off that breaker so many times that I could never count anymore. If that breaker was off, all AC power to the nav station would be shut down, the charger wouldn't be charging the DC system and the refrigerator would soon deplete the batteries (assuming the DC side was left on so the refrigerator would stay cold). I'm guessing the breaker was off because the breaker switch in the aft locker was unknowingly off. There may not be a faulty breaker at all except that the manner of installation makes it very likely to be shut off inadvertently. Like I said, I've shut it off inadvertently simply by reaching into and/or climbing into that locker.

The reason that there is a breaker in the aft locker is because the run to the nav station panel is much longer than 10 feet from the AC input. Catalina put the main breaker just inside the locker where the AC is plugged in. There is another main breaker switch at the AC panel at the nav station with 4 circuit breakers for outlets, water heater, battery charger, and reverse cycle heat/a.c.

I just would like to see clear and concise descriptions of the systems and problems from this poster. His cryptic style is not working for me.