[C320-list] New Owner: Battery, Electrical and Starting Problems

[Graeme Clark]

Hi Leonard  -  congratulations on the purchase!

My thoughts are that the batteries were at such low voltage that the power available from the booster pack was insufficient an din fact they dragged down the booster voltage.
Generally a voltage of 12.2v is considered 50% discharge. If yours are down 11v or 10v they are pretty much fully discharged and probably -  unfortunately -  will not recover.

I have had the same experience with a car battery. (left the lights on in the airport car park when on holiday). Trying to use jump cables didn't work and when the breakdown service came out, his booster pack didn't work either.  In the end he had to leave my battery charging for about 30 minutes before we got anywhere.

I would recommend changing out one battery for ANY charged 12v battery which the terminals will fit -  maybe you have a spare car battery you can use.  Select just that battery and you will at least see if you have power and can probably start the engine.  This may recharge the other battery if it isn't beyond redemption. Then you can swap back the original battery and use the newly recharged second battery to do the same thing in reverse.

However the batteries my recharge temporarily but not hold their charge in which case you will have to buy new.

My (1996) original charged failed a few years ago and I got a discount on a new one from Pro-Nautic by the way.

Hope this helps

Graeme

> On 18 May 2019, at 18:38, Leonard Hooks <lehooks at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> We are the new owners of 2001 - #856 also known as Revelation. This site
> was a great comfort in purchasing our new boat and we look forward to
> participating.
> 
> Our saga is just over a month old. We moved her from the Dallas area to
> Lake Waco, just 3 minutes from our house.  Then just 3 weeks later, our
> battery charger (ProNautic 1230P) stopped charging the batteries (2 4D's).
> They were dropping into the 11v range and I started diagnostics from
> ProMariner.  Before I could complete the tests to determine the problem,
> our lake rose 16 feet due to heavy rains. Needless to say, all power is off
> at the marina and will be for at least another 3 weeks.  The batteries are
> now in the lower 11v and upper 10's.
> 
> I took a borrowed battery booster to the boat in an attempt to start the
> engine and charge the batteries.  The booster was connected to one battery
> and my battery switch was set to that one battery. At first, there was
> power to the pedestal since the fuel gage engaged. The engine turned slowly
> a few times but did not start.  After checking the connections to the
> battery and switching the battery switch to both batteries, the boat lost
> power to the pedestal - the fuel gauge would not even power up.
> 
> Since first there was power to the pedestal and now not, I am guessing a
> fuse has blown.  I did not have a multimeter to start checking connections
> but will take one back next time. The engine is a Yanmar 3GM30F.
> 
> Any suggestions on where to start and what to check?
> 
> Thank you.
> Leonard Hooks
> Revelation #856
> Soli Deo Gloria