Starter Battery Charging Issue on 2005 Hunter 36

[drm1]

We've got the Xantrex Freedom 20 Charger/Inverter.

Ion a trip through the thousand islands in Kingston and have been plugged into shore power in Confed Basin for a couple of days now. Starter battery is not charging. Can get the engine started with a booster pack, but otherwise battery won't charge. Just wondering if anyone has experience with this to help figure out if there is an issue with the Xantrex or some other issue. Any thoughts on how to diagnose and fix?

 

[DaveMcL]

A few thoughts here, do you suspect the battery? Is water level correct? What do you have for a controller, I have a Zantrax Freedom 20 being controlled by the Zantrax Link 1000 battery monitor, There's a reset procedure in the Link 1000 Manual here

http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Link1000_OwnerGuide(975-0084-01-01_Rev-A).pdf

As well as a wealth of other info.
I had a house battery boil on me in Kingston 2 weeks ago and did not succeed in finding anyone knowledgeable on inverter chargers but got lucky with battery change and all was fine after resetting the controller.
And one more test, make sure when the charger is on you have around 14v accross the batt indicating it's putting a charge in

 

[Scott B]

How many batteries do you have. I have 4 golf cart batteries and and starter / backup battery that is charged from an echo charger. I leave it on the house bank to start the engine and only have the starter for emergency use.

 

[drm1]

I have the basic Remote Control Panel.

 

[drm1]

Scott, I have the same configuration. Not sure why my engine won't start from the house batteries either.

I took the same approach as you until it stopped working in the middle of our trip :-(

 

[DaveMcL]

The 458 will have a reset procedure if you google the manual.
On my 43 Legend, the Zantrax system only addresses the house batteries, On my AC breaker panel there's a "Batt Charger" breaker that controls a separate charger that only charges the starter battery.

 

[JamesG161]

We've got the Xantrex Freedom 20 Charger/Inverter.

Same here.
Mine never charged the Engine Start Battery.

Only the Engine Alternator or Genset Alternator charge the Start Battery.

Why not?

House batteries do not normally have the Cold Crank Amps to start an engine and have a different charge pattern.

Simple to verify. Volt meter on your Start Battery , connected shore power, if not +13V then you need a new Start Battery.
Jim...

 

[Scott B]

House batteries do not normally have the Cold Crank Amps to start an engine and have a different charge pattern.

Jim...

Aux diesels do not require the CCA that larger engines require. House batteries are typically more than enough to start. Mine have for 14 years. Yanmar 29 hp. Somewhere Mainesail has a test on starting with house batt's

 

[JamesG161]

The 458 will have a reset procedure if you google the manual.

Most Hunter Owner Manuals can be download on this site.

For the HUNTER 36 Owner's Manual and other useful info... look here....
HunterOwners.com downloads

aka SBO
------

House batteries are typically more than enough to start

House batteries do not normally have the Cold Crank Amps

Different size engines. I have a Jump start for my 50 HP engine.
Jim...

 

[Scott B]

Different size engines. I have a Jump start for my 50 HP engine.
Jim...

OP has the same engine in his 36 I have in the 33.

 

[DayDreamer41]

I am pretty certain that the only time the start battery is charged is when the engine is running. There is a Cole Palmer solenoid on the back of the DC distribution panel which closes when the ignition is on, with this closure the charging circuit from the alternator is completed to both the start and house battery banks. The battery charger is isolated from the start battery bank, unless you add ACR in place of the Cole Palmer relay.

 

[JamesG161]

Can get the engine started with a booster pack,

Well the OP used his Jump Start.

I am only trying to help.
Jim...

 

[drm1]

Thanks for your help everyone. I have the Yanmar YM30 diesel

 

[ice breaker]

Daydreamer41 is likely the right answer. My house bank charger has never been connected to the start battery. I have always carried a set of jumper cables as a backup. And keep a small trickle charger on the boat incase it needs topping off.

I would also add just a bit of caution when looking at hunter's electrical schematics. The are a good guide, but generally every boat was wired just a bit differently depending if you have an inverter/charger or just a charger. On our 2004, 41, neither of the on off rotary switches disconnects anything. And no, the wiring has not been played with. Stock from the factory.

 

[seadaddler]

I never had good luck with my inverter charge charging my start battery I added one of those
Blue Seas ACR charges which charges start battery when house bank is charged and works great
Start battery is always charged.

 

[artboas]

Ok,,
Know the freedom chargers well.
Many of them had an “echo charge” output, which was an auxiliary charger which was tied to the start battery. It had an inline fuse somewhere, to protect the circuitry against dead shorts. Find your charger, and see if this is connected. If so, look for a fuse.
When the charger is on, read voltage across the battery with a meter. This will tell you if it’s being charged.
The solenoid that people speak of was actuated by the engine key switch. It connected engine to house, to permit charging while the engine was running.
I’d check your start battery with a hydrometer to verify its condition. If it’s over 4 years old, just replace it
If you don’t have the echo output on your charger, get a Blue Seas ACR. Connect it from house to start with #4 cable. Super easy project

 

[drm1]

Yes I have an echo charge output.also have the inline fuse to my starter battery.

so I guess when my boat was wired the starter battery (which is fully isolated) only gets charged when the switch is on 1 or both, but not on 2 (which I select for when we are sailing or on the hook). Also the house batteries don’t appear to be able to be used to start the engine. That’s not typically a big problem since we’re often on shore power. But if there’s more than 1V differential between the starter and house batteries then ithe Xantrex doesnt charge the starter battery. So i think we probably dropped the voltage on the starter battery too low on our first long run on the engine, it didn’t charge on shore power but had enough to start the engine. Eventually drained. Bought a smart charger, brought it back up and all is good now. Also good to know for sure how my boat is wired

 

[drm1]

Thanks for your help everyone

 

[drm1]

Well here's another update, since the starter battery drained again.

I have 4 house batteries (Golf cart batteries) split into two banks and an isolated starter battery.

I upgraded my alternator to a 100A Ballmer with 3 stage regulator (from the stock 60A). The mechanic who did the work was able to take a detailed look at the system and determined that the 1-2-Both-Off switch charges house battery bank 1 on '1' and other house battery bank on '2'. So as others have said always just leave on 'Both' to charge the house batteries.

Beneath the switch is 2 switches ... a '1', a '2' and a slider switch. This is a feed to the DC panel and inverter. My mechanic speculated that this was related to the original OEM install, and that at the time there was not an isolated starting battery, and this was added at the dealer after delivery. He's guessing that the two house banks feed the panel equally, but couldn't verify since the wires were too short to get the panel off.

The starter battery is completely isolated, and gets charged through the echo charger ..... and the echo charger was not working. Basically beat up the starter battery so badly that it needed to be replaced since it wasn't charging having been drained so many times. Had a new echo charger installed, and a new starter battery. No further action to charge it, since it's handled automatically by the echo charger. So hopefully we are now good to go.

A couple of other points. I plan to install a better battery monitoring solution, so that I can actually see what's happening with each of the house battery banks and the starter battery. I also carry a battery booster that I charge regularly in case there are any further issues with the starter battery!

thanks again for all the advice and help.