Rumbamar
New Member
Hi SeaRayers, and hopefully marine electricity geeks, we have a 2004 340 Sundancer that we don't use often enough and frequently come to boat and find dead batteries and a hatch lift that doesn't work. We've hooked up portable battery charger leads to the leads under the helm in the past and that has worked to be able to open the hatch. It's berthed with shore power connected and the AC converter on. Last year, when our lead acid batteries died, we opted to upgrade from 29 group lead acids to 31 group (the largest that fits) dual purpose AGMs. This week, after not using the boat for 6 months (I know, I know, we need to start the engines a couple times a month.), the shore power is on but everything powered by the 12V panel is dead. Interestingly, the fuel gauges were stuck at 3/4 tank but the boat was turned off. We tried to charge using the 12V cigarette lighter with the portable charger but that did not work. We then hooked up the leads of the portable charger to the leads under the helm. When connecting the leads, the lights on the starboard dash lit up and the fuel gauges went to zero, then everything died again. We left the charger connected for about 90 minutes and it did not work to power the hatch lift. But the forward acc light on the port side turned on although we don't have a forward accessory hooked up. For a manual hatch lift, we know how to pull out the pins. We've done that. But the 340 hatch is super heavy. We can't even get it open by prying something under it. So then we then checked the AC converter. We have a Progressive Dynamics PD2040 for lead acid batteries. The power light is on and the green light is blinking fast which is supposed to mean full charge. Go figure. But could it be that a steady 13.6 volt charge for lead acid batteries, over many months, has ruined the AGMs if they are not maximally charged by a functioning AC converter/charger for lead acids. I think the AGMs should be fully charged for storage up to 14.7 and that today's chargers have a switch to select AGMs or gels to make sure they are being charged properly. Questions: 1) any tips on how to physically lift the hatch (special tool, how best to use leverage to open it?), 2) Could the mismatch between the AGMs and the lead acid charger over several months be the problem? We may have fried the AGMs but they're still under warranty. If getting the right charger would work, we'll get new AGMs and the charger and be done, once we figure out how to lift the hatch. Thank you.
