[C320-list] Another battery-related question
Dean Vermeire
dean at vermeire.us
Tue Sep 6 07:20:46 PDT 2011
Hi Folks,
You'd think that all possible questions have been asked by now, but I
came up with another this weekend. When we got out to the boat for a
nice long weekend and were ready to head out, the engine would not
start. The batteries just didn't have enough juice for it.
This is the first time I have had to get at the batteries on this boat,
so please forgive the stupidity here! When I got at the batteries, I
found that there was really only 1 there - a 4D truck battery (which
others have recommended lately). That's fine. Nice to know. I ran
over to the marina store (the only place open on Sunday) and bought a
Group 27 Deep Cycle battery. I will probably put in a 4D again, since
the battery tray fits a 4D perfectly.
When I hooked up the new battery. I only connected one set of battery
cables. I put the switch on "1". The radio, instruments, VHF, etc. all
worked fine, but the engine did not turn over. Not even a click. I
switched the cables on the battery and put the switch on "2". Same
thing. Finally, I put the cables the way I had found them, with both
sets of cables hooked to the one battery. I probably put the switch on
"All", although I don't understand what difference it would make. The
engine started right up.
The boats I have had in the past had two batteries. I made it a habit
of switching to just one battery once the engine was off, to make sure I
would have enough power to start up again later. Having both sets of
cables on one battery seems to be contrary to that idea.
So, why didn't the engine have power when I had just one set of cables
on the battery and have the switch set to that battery number?
Humbly,
Dean Vermeire
Moonstruck II (#847)
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