[C320-list] Battery Charger Issues

[Jason Alexander]

Hi All,

Hi Warren,

I don't think I did a very good job describing what I've got going.
Now I have to admit that I didn't have much time to work on this.   We
were getting ready to deliver the boat over about a 120 mile distance
down the Chesapeake.    Here is what I do know.

1.  When I took possession of the boat it was known that the charger
was dead.   I think the charger in on the forward wall of the port
cockpit locker on the wall that would be the aft wall of the kitchen.
 I think this is the standard location as the wiring all seems to run
to that location is nice neat plastic sheathing.

2.  The existing charger only had two banks connected.  I've searched
the boat and unless it's very well hidden I don't have a 3rd starting
battery.

3.  I have the standard setup of two 4D batteries under the starboard settee.

4.  Now this is where I start to get confused.  Connected to each
batter is two large gauge positive wires.   And three large gauge
negative wires.

5.  Two of the large gauge positive wires run to the A/B switch on
starboard wall forward of the head.  I can't seem to figure out where
the other two wires go.

6.  When I connected the new charger only one of the banks would
engage.   I initially thought the battery was bad as the previous
owner hadn't used the boat much in the last two years and had not
really taken care of the batteries.   I replaced that battery but that
didn't solve the issue.  We were unable to confirm continuity from
that bank to the positive wires for that battery.   Both positive
wires on the batteries are much larger gauge then the wires connected
to the charger.

7.  When I connected the batteries together with the A/B switch the
first bank charged both batteries without issue.

8.  Once the engine was started the alternator provided solid charge
to both batteries and after 10 hours of motor sailing the batteries
were fully charged and the charger was just keeping them full.

So where is what I need to figure out.

a.  Why are there two large gauge wires connected to the batteries.
On my previous boats I had one larger gauge wire to connect to the DC
system and then a smaller wire from the charger.

b.  If this is standard for the 320 where do the charger wires connect
to the batteries.


Thanks,
Jason




On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 3:15 PM, Jeff Hare <catalina at thehares.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On the association website "Reference Material -> Shortcut to all files", there is an owners manual with schematics.
>
> With that said, it depends on what the prev owner did. But generally one or two + cables go to the switch (depending on whether main batts are in parallel), one goes to the starter and one goes to the windlass via the windlass breaker.
>
> Typically all the battery neg posts are connected and one goes to the engine starter/block, one goes to the breaker panel, one goes to the windlass.
>
> The charger neg is usually wired directly to battery neg and one charger pos leg goes to each house battery.
>
> -Jeff
>
> "Albrecht, Alan" <Alan.Albrecht at Williams.com> wrote:
>
> I couldn't follow the explanation of how you checked the batteries. Here are two things you might try to see verify if the charger is working. I don't know if the Xantrex True Charger 2 has two isolated outputs, but this should work in either case. 1. Watch the voltmeter on the dc panel in position one. With the charger operating it should be around 14.5 volts. With the charger off it should be around 13.2V. Move the rocker switch below the meter to position 2 and do the same test. Or 2. Buy yourself a volt meter and check across the battery terminals. Charger on approximately 14.5 Volts, charger off 13.2 volts. I don't know for sure but the positive wires from the charger may go to the transfer switch. Electrically that is the same as running back to the battery terminals. -----Original Message----- From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jason Alexander Sent: Monday, March 28, 2011 7:26 PM To: c320-list Subject: [C320-list] Battery Charger Issues Hello all, So I've completed my purchase of #782 which used to be named "Sea Ya" and which is now named "MoneyPenny". Anyway when I did the survey it was determined that the battery charger was dead. So as part of the settlement on the boat the owner purchased a new Xantrex Truecharge 2 battery charger. I was able to pull out the old charger and put in the new one. Now the issue I'm having is that it seems that only one of the banks has continuity to the charger. I tested this by taking a long wire to my meter and checking the wire that attached to the battery charger and to the positive terminal on the battery. Now what's interesting is that on my batteries I have two large positive cables and 3 large negative cables. None of the cables look like the wire from the battery charger. One of the large positive cables goes to the combiner switch but I can't seem to figure out where the other large cable runs to. Anyone have a good wiring diagram or might be able to provide some guidance. Jason
>
>