Anyone got any tips for reviving my new boats electrical system. I delivered it two weeks ago to my slip from dealer and left it unhooked to shore power since my new slip didn’t have 50 amp service. Powered down ALL 12 volt loads on the push button panel and figured the 4 big agms would keep it powered for 2 weeks. 4 volts today. The touch screen interface that works all the shore power/generator/battery switching and status is dead. Running motor and/or plugging into shore power don’t revive the little touch screen controller. Touch screen controller lines up and starts generator so I don’t know how to start that. Touch screen controller also shows batt voltage etc so only way to read that is meter right to battery terminals. I’m guessing I need to get power enough to revive the touch screen controller and 12v house bank bus to some reasonable voltage, but maybe the charger or the controller need to see near 12 volts to start the recharge?
My new 40.1 ran down the house bank
- Thread starter hvac&r tech
- Start date
Seems like a residual discharge resulting from the batteries trying to keep up ECMs in some of the instruments on the boat. Things like computer clocks and memory in a multifunction display or a radar left in standby mode could drain a system in a relatively short period of time. (When I put one of my cars in winter storage, it has to have a maintenance charger attached or its dead within a few weeks.)
Another thought is that one or more of the AGMs were defective from day one effectively killing all of them because they were not taking a charge.
New boat… brand new or new to you there are always gremlins to chase.
Welcome to the forum… you will probably get a lot of help and suggestions from others.
Another thought is that one or more of the AGMs were defective from day one effectively killing all of them because they were not taking a charge.
New boat… brand new or new to you there are always gremlins to chase.
Welcome to the forum… you will probably get a lot of help and suggestions from others.
Welcome HVAC to the forum and congrats on your new boat.
Sounds like she is getting to know you. Leave me for two weeks. I’m going to be cranky when you return.
For me, I think about my boat, as a tiny city. All the systems of a tiny community infrastructure are there: power, sewer, storage, garbage and I’m the benevolent mayor.
When the switch doesn’t work the electrician in me grabs the DVM (digital volt meter) and checks the battery. Is there voltage still stored there. The answer leads me to either recharging the batteries, replacing the batteries or finding a switch to flip.
Sounds like she is getting to know you. Leave me for two weeks. I’m going to be cranky when you return.
For me, I think about my boat, as a tiny city. All the systems of a tiny community infrastructure are there: power, sewer, storage, garbage and I’m the benevolent mayor.
When the switch doesn’t work the electrician in me grabs the DVM (digital volt meter) and checks the battery. Is there voltage still stored there. The answer leads me to either recharging the batteries, replacing the batteries or finding a switch to flip.
Hi,
I'm confused. You wrote that you can start the engine. When you do that, are the house batteries getting changed? Can you use a volt meter and measure the DC voltage at each battery? If the engine is running ALL batteries on board should be charging. With the engine running, any DC device should be receiving at least 12V. Can you verify that with the engine running there is 12+ volts at each battery and can you check the voltage on your chart plotter or other device? It seems strange and wrong that you controller doesn't have 12+ volts when the engine is running.
I'm confused. You wrote that you can start the engine. When you do that, are the house batteries getting changed? Can you use a volt meter and measure the DC voltage at each battery? If the engine is running ALL batteries on board should be charging. With the engine running, any DC device should be receiving at least 12V. Can you verify that with the engine running there is 12+ volts at each battery and can you check the voltage on your chart plotter or other device? It seems strange and wrong that you controller doesn't have 12+ volts when the engine is running.
Did you place the battery switch to off when you departed the boat if you did then look at what is un-switched on the DC system as even at 1 amp hr it could drain your battery over time. I have 300 watts of solar and don't use shore power from Apr. to Nov. with no problems in maintaining fully charged batteries.
Have you looked in your bilge for water and/or do you have a bilge pump counter? If you have a slow leak that is allowing water into your bilge from any source (fresh or salt) your bilge pump will cycle and over a two week period could drain your battery. Your bilge pump should be powered directly from the batteries and not effected by the switch positions, including the the "battery switch". If you have a Low Voltage cutoff switch, I would guess that the bilge pump doesn't go through this switch either.
That is why I have a "bilge pump counter" since I have my boat on a mooring. I want to know if my bilge pump is cycling indicating a leak. Everytime the bilge pump starts it registers on a counter. 0 over two weeks is ideal (and what I've been able to achieve chasing leaks). A few is probably okay from a safety and battery standpoint. Hundreds IS NOT
I'd bet on an unkown leak and the bilge pump cycling. But that is just a guess. Bilge pump counters are cheap insurance IMHO.
That is why I have a "bilge pump counter" since I have my boat on a mooring. I want to know if my bilge pump is cycling indicating a leak. Everytime the bilge pump starts it registers on a counter. 0 over two weeks is ideal (and what I've been able to achieve chasing leaks). A few is probably okay from a safety and battery standpoint. Hundreds IS NOT
I'd bet on an unkown leak and the bilge pump cycling. But that is just a guess. Bilge pump counters are cheap insurance IMHO.
Thanks so much for all the tips. The manual helped me. I still don’t know what ran the batteries down but I found that the shore power and generator have a transfer switch to line up one or the other or both to the 120v house wiring which also powers the house bank charger. There’s a manual handle to switch it from center not connected position to shore power one way and generator the other. It won’t connect with the powered relay switch with house batteries all dead. I powered down everything and manually moved it to shore power and plugged in shore power. Then I closed the house bank battery switch and battery charger powered up and it’s been charging all day. and systems are working. It’s got a touch display that shows voltage and percentage charge of the 4 house bank agm 100 batteries and at about 20% I tried switching the relay transfer switch back to remote operation and have it work normal but it wouldn’t connect shore power to boat like it normally does.
I switched back and let it charge rest of day and now when it got to all 4 batteries about 75% I tried it again. Now I’m ticked I just didn’t leave it all night, because not only did it not connect through relay operated transfer switch, now when I turn the switch to shore power manually the charger doesn’t energize.
kerping at it
I switched back and let it charge rest of day and now when it got to all 4 batteries about 75% I tried it again. Now I’m ticked I just didn’t leave it all night, because not only did it not connect through relay operated transfer switch, now when I turn the switch to shore power manually the charger doesn’t energize.
kerping at it
The controller display has a battery health screen it’s showing all batteries same voltage to one decimal place 12.7 -two have positive fractional amps flowing the other two fractional negative. The house bank screen says the bank is flowing 1 amp to system. I’ve got all the switches off again- gotta get ice for my beer again tonight- so this is basically condition it was in when it went dead. Having the 120v shore power unable to power up the charger now either with the powered relay transfer or the manual switch is simulating what happened while I didn’t have it plugged in, all the 12v panel push button switches off and no known devices powered. Bilges are bone dry.
Talked to dealer service manager early in day and he did get Benneteau on phone to get me that advice about the manual transfer switching. But now with this seemingly new issue of the transfer not happening even manually I won’t be able to bounce that off them until Monday.
Talked to dealer service manager early in day and he did get Benneteau on phone to get me that advice about the manual transfer switching. But now with this seemingly new issue of the transfer not happening even manually I won’t be able to bounce that off them until Monday.
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No the house batteries weren’t getting charged when I ran the motor. I had my meter on the bank and it stayed at 4.4 volts, that was before I got the shore power manually switched to run system and charger. So maybe the alternator charger controller must also need 12v on housebank to charge house bank with alternator, that’s seems unfortunate- just when you need the engine to charge house batteries most - run low at sea- the engine alternator can’t charge them? Controller (the one I photographed the display of in my previous post definitely powers down when house bank battery switch is opened.
From your initial post I am assuming this is a "brand new" boat straight from the dealer. If so, did the dealer install any electric powered "options" or items that were in addition to what was delivered from the factory to the dealer? With what you paid for this boat, especially if it is brand new, the dealer should be all over this and working with Beneteau to solve this immediately. With a boat like this, whose electrical system is not particularly straightforward, they should have given you a detailed briefing and instruction on operation of the electrical system or at a minimum, a detailed manual describing all the line up nuances for care of the system. If it turns out the problem can be traced to something they installed and not your "negligence" they should replace ALL of your 4 house batteries. By discharging them to 4 volts, even if you can revive them, there is a case to be made that it has shortened their life. Maybe @Crazy Dave Condon can weigh in on what you should expect from your dealer.
Not being judgemental here. Even if you can afford to replace the 4 house batteries with no strain on your budget, if the discharge was the fault of either the dealer or Beneteau, you should DEMAND that they replace all 4 of your house batteries. I'm the guy that politely asks the McDonalds worker who gives me a Large Fries that is only half full to "Please fill them up, "I ordered a Large Fires, not a Small Fries in a large box." If we don't insist on quality we get what we deserve.
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I am working with dealer and they asked Beneteau on Friday for assistance which I finally got, it was past business hours when I had an extension of the problem- the manual transfer switch now not energizing the battery charger, and it not connecting to shore power through controller operated regular transfer switch (which it understandably wasn’t doing while batteries were dead but should be now), I was letting batteries charge all day. Thanks for the encouragement to ask for more dealer and Beneteau service. Yes it is a complex system and my boat is new.
If anyone has any tips to diagnose the transfer switch not manually connecting or through regular controller remote switching connecting the shore power to my boats 120v bus/wiring let me know. I have my manual and voltmeter and am working on that, thanks.
If anyone has any tips to diagnose the transfer switch not manually connecting or through regular controller remote switching connecting the shore power to my boats 120v bus/wiring let me know. I have my manual and voltmeter and am working on that, thanks.
Yes that would be true. It is pretty boat and will make for an enjoyable summer this year in the Islands, once you get the kinks worked out.
Engaging the dealer is a smart move. Providing a day or more of on board support working each and every system with you certainly does not seem too much to ask.
I get it that you are a tough customer and I assure you I don’t want to buy batteries that someone else is responsible for damaging.
My new boat was unplugged from shorepower, the 12v panel switches left off and it ran down 4 100ah batteries in 3 weeks.
I started with 2 issues, one the actual problem of no power on my boat and two determining the root cause and correcting that. I think there is a problem. The boats under warranty and I am requesting the problems both be addressed under the warranty.
Before fixing problems, I don’t focus on fixing the blame. The dealer has to fix this. I will get full consideration for warranty, yes the boat was pricey and no I don’t just buy stuff I am covered on under warranty, cheers!
@hvac&r tech I fully agree. I am not fixing blame at this point, although there is "responsibility" and "accountability" somewhere. As you inferred, if this would have happened at sea and you could not charge your house bank and power your 12V essential loads this would have been a significantly different situation.
I did not mean to insult you and if I did, I sincerely apologize. This is a "soap box issue" for me. They (the dealer and Beneteau) should have every opportunity to "satisfy the customer" and IF (my previous post said IF) they are responsible, then they should offer to replace your batteries without you even asking, whether it is covered by warranty or not.
I am "Rickover trained" and firmly adhere to his philosophy that "Responsibility is an unique concept". (google it)
Sorry, off my soap box and back to recovering from a current COVID+ test.
I did not mean to insult you and if I did, I sincerely apologize. This is a "soap box issue" for me. They (the dealer and Beneteau) should have every opportunity to "satisfy the customer" and IF (my previous post said IF) they are responsible, then they should offer to replace your batteries without you even asking, whether it is covered by warranty or not.
I am "Rickover trained" and firmly adhere to his philosophy that "Responsibility is an unique concept". (google it)
Sorry, off my soap box and back to recovering from a current COVID+ test.
Hey no harm no foul, my friend. I’m not insulted in the least just responding to your input, which I appreciate. Giving you a glimpse into my thinking since you were helping me is all. Yes I agree that dealer and Beneteau have skin in game too and they’ve been helpful as hell so far, I’m 2 hours away from them and it was a Friday and so I am looking stuff over and thinking about it myself too is all.
seems like a group that’s got some valuable insights, thanks
seems like a group that’s got some valuable insights, thanks