Catalina 320 panel at Nav station says "weak charging" , Charles 30 amp inverter always reads 0, fridge at 60 degrees, batteries 1.3 years old. micro wave works, 120 volt heater works, shore power on. Can any one tell me where to start?
Electrical charging problem
- Thread starter Ted10028
- Start date
Start with a multimeter, measuring the voltage at the battery posts. When the shore power is on and the battery charger is running you should see something in the low 13 volts or more. If not then your shore charger isn’t charging for some reason.
Do you see the weak charging light when the engine is running or all the time? If all the time I’ll defer to other 320 owners to say what that means. My guess is it’s a warning light for bad alternator function when the engine is running. If you have both both bad alternator function and lack of shore charging that would be surprising - a failure in both systems wouldn’t be too likely. If that were the case I’d suspect one of the batteries has gotten an internal short and is preventing any charging source from getting up to a good voltage. The bad battery might be warm or hot, and if it is you should disconnect it before it causes any more damage.
Do you see the weak charging light when the engine is running or all the time? If all the time I’ll defer to other 320 owners to say what that means. My guess is it’s a warning light for bad alternator function when the engine is running. If you have both both bad alternator function and lack of shore charging that would be surprising - a failure in both systems wouldn’t be too likely. If that were the case I’d suspect one of the batteries has gotten an internal short and is preventing any charging source from getting up to a good voltage. The bad battery might be warm or hot, and if it is you should disconnect it before it causes any more damage.
I think the batteries will read low because they are not charging. They are new or almost so I'm thinking its the inverter. Is there an easy way to test the inverter. Have not tried to start the engine
The inverter doesn't charge your batteries. It just takes DC current and converts it to AC current. Do you know what charges your batteries?
it's a Charles 30 amp charger. So maybe the charger isn't working.? The AC on the boat seems to be working I can run the microwave and 120 V heater. It has a meter on the front but it is always stuck at zero. Do you think that means the charger is not working?
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,614
Ted. From the way you are describing the issue, it sounds like Marine electrical systems are a new thing. If so you should either seek an electrical marine professional, take a class or you have to do a bit of reading to understand the electrical systems on your boat.
The Battery is part of the DC system. It can store power from either the Alternator on the engine or the Charles 30 amp charger you identify.
The other source of power is from the plug you run ashore to the dock power plug. This dock connection ( in the big yellow or orange extension cord) provides 120 Volt 30 amp AC electrical power. In the boat it controled by the AC panel.
The Charger (which could be in the same unit called an Charge/Inverter - have no idea what you have) Takes AC 120V power from the shore and changes it to 12V DC power to charge your batteries.
There will be AC or DC breakers on the appropriate panel to turn these units on or off. (A picture of your panels at the Nav station would be helpful.)
This does not answer the specific question you posted, I know. We need to know from you which of the units are not working. Pictures of your system and machine labels are a good place to start.
Here is one book to start you understanding.
Boatowner′s Mechanical and Electrical Manual, third edition
Nigel Calder
Maintain, repair, and improve a boats essential systems. A comprehensive guide to electrical, mechanical, and propulsion systems.
The Battery is part of the DC system. It can store power from either the Alternator on the engine or the Charles 30 amp charger you identify.
The other source of power is from the plug you run ashore to the dock power plug. This dock connection ( in the big yellow or orange extension cord) provides 120 Volt 30 amp AC electrical power. In the boat it controled by the AC panel.
An inverter takes DC 12 V power and inverts it into AC 120 V power.
The Charger (which could be in the same unit called an Charge/Inverter - have no idea what you have) Takes AC 120V power from the shore and changes it to 12V DC power to charge your batteries.
There will be AC or DC breakers on the appropriate panel to turn these units on or off. (A picture of your panels at the Nav station would be helpful.)
This does not answer the specific question you posted, I know. We need to know from you which of the units are not working. Pictures of your system and machine labels are a good place to start.
Here is one book to start you understanding.
Boatowner′s Mechanical and Electrical Manual, third edition
Nigel Calder
Maintain, repair, and improve a boats essential systems. A comprehensive guide to electrical, mechanical, and propulsion systems.
the voltmeter on the panel will never read 0 even with dead batteries and a non-functioning charger.
Do you have a handheld voltmeter?
I think that’s an output ammeter on the charger. It sitting at 0 would kill my theory of an internally shorted battery though. Sounds like either the charger has failed or it’s not getting power because of a tripped breaker or something.
Ted, you need to clarify how you are using your systems, but offhand, I'd say that your charger may be failing and your batteries are undercharged. Your refrigerator is running on DC and you need to leave your refer breaker and probably your selector switch on when you leave the boat. If the temp is just 60 when you come back, it's because your batteries haven't been charged while you are away or you are turning either the breaker and/or the selector switch off.
Your A.C./heat (I'm assuming reverse cycle) runs on AC and will obviously work just fine on shore power even when your batteries are low or dead. The DC power makes no difference.
Based on your Charles charger, I'm assuming you have a stand-alone inverter. (Edit: You call it an inverter and a charger on separate instances - so now it appears to me that it is a combo unit - Charles probably made crappy products since it seems they no longer sell or support marine products). We know nothing about your inverter, but we know that it doesn't charge the batteries. We don't know what you are running on the inverter or when (I assume you don't have AC systems, such as reverse cycle plugged into the inverter, but you must have some appliances that are used with the inverter. You should describe how and when you use the inverter because it makes no sense to use an inverter when you are plugged into shore power.
If you are on a mooring, there is no way that your batteries will stay charged with an inverter running AC systems or appliances of any kind without some charging source. Your Charles charger obviously does not function when you are not on shore power. There are just too may unknowns and you will need to fill in the blanks.
I'd say that you are not charging your batteries properly, or you are running systems without providing a charging source, or your charger has failed. In a year and a half, you may have kept your batteries chronically undercharged and the batteries have been killed during a short useful life. (Edit: I'd bet the charger is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced.)
Also, you never described what voltage meter you are telling us is 0. Is it a DC volt meter for the batteries, an AC voltmeter that will read the shore power voltage, or a volt meter on the inverter reading input on the DC side and/or output on the AC side. We need to know what you are looking at.
Your A.C./heat (I'm assuming reverse cycle) runs on AC and will obviously work just fine on shore power even when your batteries are low or dead. The DC power makes no difference.
Based on your Charles charger, I'm assuming you have a stand-alone inverter. (Edit: You call it an inverter and a charger on separate instances - so now it appears to me that it is a combo unit - Charles probably made crappy products since it seems they no longer sell or support marine products). We know nothing about your inverter, but we know that it doesn't charge the batteries. We don't know what you are running on the inverter or when (I assume you don't have AC systems, such as reverse cycle plugged into the inverter, but you must have some appliances that are used with the inverter. You should describe how and when you use the inverter because it makes no sense to use an inverter when you are plugged into shore power.
If you are on a mooring, there is no way that your batteries will stay charged with an inverter running AC systems or appliances of any kind without some charging source. Your Charles charger obviously does not function when you are not on shore power. There are just too may unknowns and you will need to fill in the blanks.
I'd say that you are not charging your batteries properly, or you are running systems without providing a charging source, or your charger has failed. In a year and a half, you may have kept your batteries chronically undercharged and the batteries have been killed during a short useful life. (Edit: I'd bet the charger is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced.)
Also, you never described what voltage meter you are telling us is 0. Is it a DC volt meter for the batteries, an AC voltmeter that will read the shore power voltage, or a volt meter on the inverter reading input on the DC side and/or output on the AC side. We need to know what you are looking at.
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Really would just like to get the problem solved rather than take a course on boat electronics. Is there an easy way to test the Charles battery charger and see if it is working???
no one suggested “taking a course” but some basic understanding isn’t a bad thing.
Do you have a voltmeter? It doesnt get any simpler than reading the voltage (or current).
From your initial statements, it’s obvious that you are usually dockside and that the AC power is working normally. As @Davidasailor26 and @Scott T-Bird have suggested, I would start by checking if the battery charger is functioning. Check output with handheld voltmeter; if no output, check the charger’s fuses at the charger as well as the AC power circuit breaker for the charger on the AC power panel. If you’re getting power to the charger & have no charger output, the charger needs to be replaced. If you’re not confident in doing those procedures, hire a marine electrician to do it for you. BTW, if there is a US Power Squadron club in your locale, they offer an excellent course in marine electrics & electronics. Presents basic theory & hands on experiences to help you troubleshoot & repair on board problems. Highly recommend it! Please let us know your findings.
If it’s on and working you’ll see 13+ volts at the battery posts. If you don’t see that either it’s not on or it’s not working. Troubleshooting why it might not be on means testing voltage on the 120V side, which is a bit more dangerous than the 12V side. I’d only recommend testing there after some learning and practice with a voltmeter.
The Charles charger has a meter on it and measures amps do you know when it would show a particular amperage?
#3. Do you have a voltmeter?
I have no clue if the charger works, is malfunctioning or the meter is broken or there is some other problem which is why I keep asking this question to start with the basics- the battery voltage and the charger output voltage. Absent these data, all anyone here can do is guess. That’s not helpful and it wastes everyone%’s time
I have no clue if the charger works, is malfunctioning or the meter is broken or there is some other problem which is why I keep asking this question to start with the basics- the battery voltage and the charger output voltage. Absent these data, all anyone here can do is guess. That’s not helpful and it wastes everyone%’s time
Should show the most amperage when it's charging low batteries.
If it's a 30 amp charger, the batteries are very low and the charger is working it should show about 30 amps.
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The charger could show 0 amps and still be working. There could be a problem in the circuit between the charger and the battery. It could be a blown fuse, or loose terminal, or corrosion, or…
You need to measure the voltage at the output terminals of the charger first.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,614
I found this information about "Charles 30 Amp Chargers".
Here is the troubleshooting page.
Please note that, as @Don S/V ILLusion has indicated a couple of times, you will need a voltage meter to do any testing.
You are asking for simple answers. There are none without the data.
Charles Industries has discontinued its complete Marine & Industrial product lines and all associated part numbers. Discontinued products include all battery chargers, standard and custom transformers including power, isolation, current, surface mount and audio switching transformers. This includes all Airport Lighting, Isolation Transformers and ISO-G2 Isolation Transformers.
Here is the Manual for your charger if it is the 2000SP Series.Here is the troubleshooting page.
Please note that, as @Don S/V ILLusion has indicated a couple of times, you will need a voltage meter to do any testing.
You are asking for simple answers. There are none without the data.