[C320-list] Battery Charging w/Onboard Charger

[bruceheyman at cox.net]

Brian,
While the currents are related the generator is at 120 volts and the charger is around 12.  It might be quite possible for you to see more current on the 12 volt side of the regulator than you have on the output of the generator.  
Are there any Radio Shacks or similar in the area?  They should carry the fuses.
Bruce
Somerset 671 SoCal
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: "Amirault Family - S&B" <amiraults at sympatico.ca>

Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:59:06 
To: <c320-list at lists.catalina320.com>
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Battery Charging w/Onboard Charger


Finally did get the generator to the boat earlier this day. T-storms
expected so the plan was to do some cockpit gel coat repair while the
generator charged the batteries. No such luck!

 

Generator started, AC was created and AC powered cabin fans operated,
ProMariner 30-3 showed red charging light on but no amps being produced;
which was confirmed by the battery meter. As the main concern was the gel
coat, that was dealt with and when completed I went back to the charger
problem.

 

The MANUAL contains a trouble shooting decision diagram which directed me to
the examination of the charger's internal fuse. Access to this only required
the emptying of the cockpit locker and appropriate contortions to remove the
six screws on the bottom of the charger. One then does find a 40 amp fuse
that was blown. The largest available at Canadian Tire was 30 amp and I
replaced it with this as the generator produces less than 15. With the new
fuse in place things actually worked!

 

The charger charges both banks regardless of the position of the battery
switch. Initially the charger was producing something around 12 amps with
the charge lamp red which was no surprise as the generator produces around
13 amps. This quickly dropped to three amps (I assume that this represents
the power production of the charger switching to a different stage). The
battery meter was still showing healthy charging on both batteries at this
lower output. The documentation states that there will come a time when the
charger will show a green light as the batteries come to full charge, but I
never saw this as with the sky darkening I put the toys away.

 

The generator has proven to be all that the list claimed of it. 

 

Now, with Canadian Tire not a source for 40 amp fuses, where should I be
looking to find these so that I can bring the charger back to specification?


 

Brian Amirault

797 Waltzing Bear, too