Mystery Battery Cable

[abyssal]

The other day, when filling my batteries with water, I noticed a cable going under the battery tray that was corroded. As I went to clean the corrosion, the cable came out from the battery tray. It was attached to nothing. I have no idea where it was connected, if it ever was connected to anything. All electrical systems are working fine. Is this an extra cable that was installed at the factory or is it supposed to be attached to something? Anybody know what it runs? Thanks for your help.

Curt

 

[Witzend]

Looks like that ought to go to the Bat. charger, although I see those in your pic...snake it out and see where it goes, maybe there was a third bat. installed at some time.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Battery Charger for Bank 1

Based on what I can see from your photos, bank 1 is not hooked up to the battery charger. It appears that it only gets charged from the alternator.

If you have the same set up as I did before my charger went, you have a Flyback 20-3 charger that is placed under the aft port settee (the one on the corner near the helm seat). That charger can take 3 banks but is typically only hooked up for 2 on the C310.

The big question is it still live and was it left in a dangerous condition. This is what I would do:

1. With the shore power off, open the black fuse case and see if the fuse is present;
2. If the fuse is present, check it with a multimeter to see if it still works;
3. Stick you head in that aft port settee and see if the charger has two red (positive) lines hooked up;
4. If the charger still has the line hooked up and the fuse is good (you can get new fuses from Home Depot but not typically the marine supply stores) I would hook it back up to battery 1;
5. Turn on the charger and check the voltages with the multimeter (should be between 13.3 and 14.5 volts at each battery).

While you are at it, I would replace the wing nuts on the battery terminals with the locking nut type. The wing nuts can loosen up over time from the vibration of the boat.

Good luck.

JK

 

[Stu Jackson]

Yup, find out where the other end went. Catch it, quick!

If you do actually have a Flyback charger, I strongly urge you to consider removing it immediately and replacing it with something that will not kill your expensive batteries. For almost 15 years, our C34 Association has received so many complaints about these chargers that it's enough to make one a true believer. One of our members actually replaced his first with a newer one, and when that ate his batteries, he bought a thrid one! His "reasoning"? He claims he got a price break when he returned the first two that ate his batteries. Pound wise and penny foolish. There's yet another brand to avoid: Schumacher. Xantrex has had production issues for the past few years, so look around on Maine Sail's section of this website for some good ideas for replacement.