[C320-list] battery/charger issue

[Karl Mielenhausen]

You're right Chris... that is a different animal altogether.
Most likely a bad cell in the battery. Alternator keeps trying to
charge and results in overcharge of good cells.
See if one cell still has normal electrolyte level. If so, that is the
bad one and it is time for a new battery.
You could also use a battery hydrometer to measure the specific
gravity in each cell. Differences greater than .02 indicate a problem.


Karl

On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 6:00 PM, Chris Descher <cdescher at cedtulsa.com> wrote:
> Something that I still don't understand is that the battery was boiling and
> overheating while we were motoring.  The circuit breaker to the charger was
> turned off.  How would it be the charger?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of
> hcreech at comcast.net
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 9:46 AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] battery/charger issue
>
>
> Chris,
> If your charger is a ProMariner that is definitely the problem. this has
> been reported many times here. I originally had a ProMariner on my 99' boat,
> it was noisy and fried batteries without notice. Switch it for a Xantrex and
> never had another problem, you can't hear a thing.
>
> Herb Creech
> Cloud Chaser 606
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Descher" <cdescher at cedtulsa.com>
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 8:55:21 AM
> Subject: [C320-list] battery/charger issue
>
> This weekend I noticed a bad smell in the boat and thought that it might be
> the head. I got a pumpout, but the smell remained. Motoring back to the
> dock I started going through the cabin searching for the source. It turned
> out to be the 4D house battery. The acid was boiling out, and it took more
> than an hour for it to cool down enough that I could disconnect and remove
> it. This battery is less than two years old, and I've always maintained the
> liquid level. The boat is a 1998 model, and I still have the original
> charger. Any guesses as to whether this was a battery problem or a charger
> problem? The starting battery seems to be fine.
>
> Chris Descher
> #500
>