I will second this, Several years ago one of my crew was telling me he smelled batteries, and I kept telling him he was crazy,
Well, it turned out I was crazy. They were less than a year old, and I just figured there was no way they could be acting up. Turns out one cell (?go figure, all the same and same age ) went low, and because the charger was trying to pump 10 volts up to 14, it burned all three up! Like you say, establish a regimen for checking acid level !! Bill Coleman Erie, PA From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Rick Brass via CnC-List Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 12:36 PM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Rick Brass Subject: Re: Stus-List Starting An Engine with Battery Charger Connected? John; Imzadi has a Pro Mariner Pro-Nautic 40 amp smart charger. My house bank is 400 amp-hours (flooded Group 27 deep cycles), and the start battery is a 90 AH flooded deep cycle. Our local electronics expert discouraged me from buying a Xantrex charger. The newer models have a bad reputation about reliability, and I had one that failed after less than 3 years. I also know of at least one person who has had problems using a Guest charger - though he is trying to charge about 270 AH (3 batteries, 2 house and 1 start bank) - and the problem may be that there is not enough current to fully charge boat banks. The rule of thumb is that your charger output should be at least 10% of the Amp Hour capacity of your largest battery bank. And make sure all the batteries are the same type, mixing flooded/AGM/sealed batteries can reportedly cause charging problems. You said your batteries were dry? When did you last top them up with distilled water? With flooded batteries it is best practice to top up the water every 90 to 120 days. I had to replace my start battery this week. The boat has not been on charge since before Dorian, the bilge pump was being powered by the start battery, and the pump was cycling on and off because of back flow of water from the hose into the bilge. That killed the start battery, which was below 5 volts when I went down to the boat last week. Actually I'm not unhappy, the start battery was bought in 2007, so I've gotten good value from it. My house bank was showing about 11.5 volts last week. The only thing drawing current was the control for the propane system, but it had been running for two months. Since I had to remove one of the house batteries to R&R the start battery, I cheeked the water level and found it very low across all of the batteries. It took almost 3 quarts of distilled water to fill the batteries back up. As I thought about it, I realized it had been a long time since I had checked the water - at least 6 month prior to disconnecting from shore power (and thus turning off the charger) before Dorian. Even with a smart charger, some water will evaporate from the batteries over time. Should not be a problem to refill with water, charge them, and see if they come back to 12.5 - 12.7 volts when resting. And I need to start adding a reminder to check the water in my batteries more often. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of John Conklin via CnC-List Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2019 8:10 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: John Conklin <jconk...@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Starting An Engine with Battery Charger Connected? My West Marine 40 Amp Charger Inverter appears DEAD ! no life. House bank is pretty new but when I checked the 2 started batteries(flooded) and 1 was dry as a cork so is that starter battery also shot shot?!! House bank looks fine and holds charge, but all were drained to zero, with dehumidifier fans on for the week. I think Start Batteries are 2017? Guessing charger is shot and this is my problem? What I was getting at is what would be a good replacement for the West Marine 40 amp ? cute little place inside door back against wall in small compartment left of companion way Ughh! how can I check that to be sure as I did'nt see a fuse or anything. Thanks ! John Conklin S/V Halcyon _____ From: CnC-List <cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com> on behalf of Josh Muckley via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2019 3:20:25 PM To: C&C List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Josh Muckley <muckl...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Starting An Engine with Battery Charger Connected? I have a modern charger. ProMariner P-Nautic 1260. Granted my batteries are big and not failing. For unknown reasons I have blown a Xantrex True Charge 40 amp(modern). Refunded under warranty. Could have been bad luck but I'm leaning towards the idea that it is bad engineering. Under the exact same conditions I've never had a problem with the P-Nautic. Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Wed, Oct 30, 2019, 1:27 PM Steve Thomas via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: Ok, so I have read the other responses and what your experience means to me is that you have been doing this with reasonably good batteries and or older battery chargers. I too have never had a problem with the charger in a boat but I have personally killed 4 or 5 of the modern chargers with electronic voltage regulation by attempting to start cars and tractors with the chargers still hooked up. Here is what I think is happening: When the starter relay opens the starter motor circuit, there is a high voltage inductive kick-back from the collapsing magnetic field in the motor that is "clamped" to a lower voltage by the low impedance through a good battery. If because of a bad battery or wiring or whatever that energy is not clamped down to a low enough voltage then it kills the voltage regulator electronics. The rectifier diodes themselves have survived. I have installed a shorting wire around the circuit board in a couple of the affected chargers and they still work but they are anything but regulated now. A suitably large rectifier diode installed across the starter motor could prevent this from happening. Steve Thomas ---- Edd Schillay via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: Listers, I'm seeing conflicting opinions on the web and would like to know from the collected wisdom of the group. Is it OK or not OK to start your engine while your battery charger is running? I was surprised to see some people say it is not, as people have been jump-starting their car engines for decades, but am interested in seeing what you all have to say on this. All the best, Edd Edd M. Schillay Captain of the Starship Enterprise C&C 37+ | Sail No: NCC-1701-B Venice Yacht Club | Venice, FL Starship Enterprise's Captain's Log <http://enterpriseb.blogspot.com/> _______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
