Electrics Problem (Help!)

[johnsons185]

Hello All,

Having an electrical problem, i still have the combi fitted to our Vega but it has been modified to use the Dynastart as a starter motor and an alternator has been fitted.

The problem is i dont seem to be getting any power through to anything, my batteries feed to a 3 way isolator switch which then feeds to the small silver box please forgive the native names for everything im no sparky.

What i am getting - power to the radio/cassette, Nav gear, cb radio, a faint crackle on the vhf but no buttons or lights working, and the ignition light comes on.

What im not getting - No cabin lighting, no power to turn engine over, no bilge pump, basically anything that seems to require a load.

What have i done/tested - Firstly i checked the batteries took them out and fully charged them so i know there ok. i traced and checked the earth to the engine and its intact and ok. I looked inside the silver box and there's no obvious signs of damage, iv'e checked every fuse i can find and all are ok.

Any idea's! to me it seems as if only low voltage equipment is working and not enough power is coming through to feed the items with greater demand, but im no sparky so really i have no idea.

Regards

Scott
Vega 891

 

[j.hunter9999]

Scott,
Do you have a voltmeter? You'll need to check the voltage at various points to isolate the problem. Do you have a single battery bank or two separate banks (starting and house)? If you have a separate house bank, check the voltage from the house bank to the main shutoff switch. Turn on the main and check from the switch to the DC distribution panel. Then from the panel points to each of the items on the circuit. You might also need to check the starting bank at each point in the circuit. If you take a methodical approach and check each point in the circuit you should be able to isolate the problem.

Best of luck.

Jack
Bella - V2620

 

[chris20636]

Scott:

Check all - Repeat: ALL - connections for corrosion.. Many connections,
especially on those (but not limited to) wires that are not "tinned copper,"
will form a corrosion barrier that is usually / often invisible, but
highly resistant to current flow. Often, it is actually inside of the crimped
"lug" at the end of the wire. Also, non-tinned (non-tin-plated) wire will
crystalize much more readily than tinned wire in a salt-air environment. If
you find that the wire to your connections is too easily broken, it is most
probably this....

Good Luck..........

..........Ed......................

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`


In a message dated 5/17/2009 7:22:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
j.hunter9999@... writes:


Scott,
Do you have a voltmeter? You'll need to check the voltage at various
points to isolate the problem. Do you have a single battery bank or two separate
banks (starting and house)? If you have a separate house bank, check the
voltage from the house bank to the main shutoff switch. Turn on the main and
check from the switch to the DC distribution panel. Then from the panel
points to each of the items on the circuit. You might also need to check the
starting bank at each point in the circuit. If you take a methodical
approach and check each point in the circuit you should be able to isolate the
problem.

Best of luck.

Jack
Bella - V2620

 

[johnsons185]

Hi,

I have a bank of two batteries, the negatives are piggybacked and run to the back of the engine to form what i assume to be the bonding. I then have a cable from each posotive running into a 3way isolator switch, which allows me to select either battery no 1 or 2 independantly or i can select both but i always turn to off position when not in use.

regards

scott

 

[j.hunter9999]

Definitely get a voltmeter and check your voltage coming off each battery. Someone mentioned earlier that you could have corrosion in the non-tinned wire. You could also be experiencing excessive voltage drop from wire that is too small. The best thing is to take a step by step approach, starting at each battery, and test for voltage at different points in the circuit.

Best of luck.
Jack

 

[osmyrrah49]

I hope your problems are solved now. I can't agree more on getting a
meter...the dumber the better for a newbie to sparks. Here are three pesky and
easy things that happened to me:
I shorted the battery circuit in putting them in and blew the fuse in
line with the battery...do you have a fuse (large amperage) in line before
the multi switch?..you should! Check it.
The lead on the keyed ignition switch was lose, fell off. Turned the
key and nothing happened. And that just happened out of the blue. (But it
sounds like you have different problems).
Loose connections and corroded leads.
Good luck and do trace from the batteries on. Sometimes I use a
bell...cheap 12v door bell - science experiment stuff - when connecting leads with
clips instead of a meter that I can never see when diving into the places
that are so hard to get to in the first place.
Paul Brown
Zama



In a message dated 5/18/2009 4:52:30 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
johnsons185@... writes:


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[johnsons185]

Hi All,
Been at it all day checked every thing from the batteries and up, cleaning and renewing connections along the way. The problem was still there until i tried alisdairs jump lead method from the neutral to an earth point and everything stated to work so i will replace the cables from the batteries to the earth point and that looks like it will do the trick.

Many thanks to all who have replied to me, i have done everything you have all suggested and finger crossed i will have it fixed tomorrow.

scott

 

[johnsons185]

Hi All,
Been at it all day checked every thing from the batteries and up, cleaning and renewing connections along the way. The problem was still there until i tried alisdairs jump lead method from the neutral to an earth point and everything stated to work so i will replace the cables from the batteries to the earth point and that looks like it will do the trick.

Many thanks to all who have replied to me, i have done everything you have all suggested and finger crossed i will have it fixed tomorrow.

scott

 

[kevinwoods.vega]

Echoing the need to check the contacts / connections.

I spun my wheels for a good long time - even with the voltmeter (get one) but finally found that the culprits were staring at me all along.

When I pulled the friction-fit electric connectors off (one at a time!) at the main fuse panel, just behind the wood panel, I scruffed up the little spade connectors with a bit of emery paper, and gave a bit of a scratch to the other side with a screwdriver. Once they re-connected, as if by magic, most of my annoyingly-transient problems just vanished.

I haven't used that dielectric gel stuff to prevent future oxidation from happening, but it should probably preempt future problems. I've heard that, while it is rather like petroleum jelly - it's not. A tube may be a few dollars, and would likely serve a lifetime of boats.

My starter motor has been a bit fritzy, but I've got the gas engine, and I just use the crank. I've taken the motor off, and blown the carbon out from the inside - and it seems that it needs new carbon brushes, but that's for later.

Good luck - and be sure to get a Multimeter. Actually, I should have one for home and the boat, since I carry it back and forth a lot. They're in the $15 range.

Kevin
Nossa 1039

 

[johnsons185]

Yes the voltmeter is a must and i found it very handy.

I have been advised to cover the contacts with vaseline (petrolium Jelly) as this will prevent oxidisation.

Kevin if you need new brushes for your starter you can get them from www.albinmotor.com in sweden i have had parts from there recently and stefan provides a great service. One of the core plugs in our exhaust cooling manifold corroded out and dripped water over our carb and oil pump, luckily we were able to re-use the carb and pump but we had to get all new seals washers and gaskets which stefan provided.

Scott