Electrical Anomaly on 360DA

I'm new to all of this and could use some assistance and/or advice. We've had our 2002 360 for 5 seasons now and have had very little issues. We are weekend boaters. Two visits ago when I arrived to the boat the galley fridges (our freezer was replaced with a second fridge by the PO-so there are two fridges side by side) were warm. They had power (interior lights on, but no cooling). I figured it was a refrigerator specific problem (as I've read tons on this forum) that I'd let my marina diagnose and fix at a later time. We moved necessary stuff to the cockpit fridge which was still working. Then we disconnected shore power and went for a ride with the generator running for most of it. When we got back and reconnected to shore power, the fridges began to cool. By the next morning they were cold again. We left the boat thinking that there had been a miraculous recovery--yeah, right?!? We left the boat with the refrigerators working plugged into shore power with the normal switches on the panel on (batteries on, AC converter on, and both fridge switches).

5 days passed, when we came back down to the boat there was definitely something wrong. The cockpit fridge was the only thing working on the boat. The shore power was still present (I could see via the gauge on the panel) however two of the three battery switches were off and would not light (only the center one lit). Neither of the galley fridges had power and they were very warm. I turned off all switches and the single lit battery. I turned off the shore power breaker and let it sit for a minute before turning it all back on. Eventually the batteries began to charge and everything turned on. The fridges had power but never went passed 50 degrees in the day and a half that we were there. We didn't go out because I wasn't sure what the heck was going on with the batteries. While at the dock, the lights seemed to flicker a little at times and the carbon monoxide detector (hardwired in the stateroom) would beep once every once in a while (both of these making me think that the power to the entire boat must be interrupted or inconsistent and that my issue is bigger than just the refrigerator issue).

I've tried searching multiple terms to find what might be going on but I haven't stumbled upon anyone with my same problem after two days of searching. I'm going to talk to some people on my dock this weekend, but I thought I'd post something on here to see if anyone's been through this. I hesitate to turn it over to the marina and have them go on an expensive wild goose chase if there's an easy answer out there.

Thanks to all in advance, and I'll try to answer questions in a timely manner, but I'm only in front of a computer from 7 to 4 during the work week. Thanks!

I’m guess the galley refrigerators are dual voltage or 12v only and either way are running on 12v. Sound like you have a battery issue. Now here’s the tricky part. You said they were replaced so you don’t know how they are wired without pulling them out.

What is the status of your battery banks. Will they operate with only ac turned on?
Can you post a picture of your panel and the refrigerator model numbers?

CO detectors will beep if the batteries are dry and the charger is "cooking" them...

Have you checked water levels in batteries?

I can't post any pictures till I get to the boat tonight, but I'm happy to then (if I can figure out how).

The batteries were replaced last July. I did it myself with some help from a dock mate. I reinstalled the exact batteries that were in it, the exact same way. They've worked up until now with no issues.

I agree that the batteries are draining, but why would they not be charging with the AC converter on and being plugged into shore power?

I did check them in April. I better check them again.

How can you tell if they're cooked beyond use and have to be replaced?

are they "wet" batteries? have you checked the fluid levels?
is your charger actually charging?

They are wet batteries (or should be). I'll be checking them tonight.
The charger did seem to charge when I turned everything off and back on.

What’s the update? If you haven’t added water in a year you may have just found your issue.

NotHerDecision said:

What’s the update? If you haven’t added water in a year you may have just found your issue.

Click to expand...

When I got to the boat, it was in the same state as last time. Of the three battery switches on the panel only the center was lit fully. I went down to check the batteries and they were all wet, not full, but not dry either. There was no rotten egg smell. I topped them all off and turned everything back on. Nothing happened. They aren’t charging at all this time. (Different from last weekend). By the end of the night the two outside battery switch lights where completely out. The gauges for the batteries are still pegged at the bottom. I lost everything on the bottom dc part of the panel. We had no lights, water, head, or anything but the air conditioning ran the whole time without issue. We ended up staying on a friends boat and will try some more diagnostics today. Any thoughts? Thank you all in advance.

Sorry, I can’t figure out how to turn the pics. They were taken when I first got to the boat.

Ok so you have a 12v battery problem because you have less than 8 volts dc.

First check your charger. It may be called converter on your panel. Turn it off for 1 minute. Then turn it back on and then post a pic of your panel and the front of the charger. Go ahead and turn all the 12vdc breakers off. As you are not supply enough voltage to use them anyway.

To be honest, your batteries are probably not going to be in good health because they are discharged to a significant level but let’s try.

Turn off the AC, locate the battery charger/converter, check the voltage on the charger posts.voltage means your atleast connected to a battery. Remove the leads from the charger. Turn on AC, turn on charger/converter and check for voltage on the charger posts. No output voltage may be from an internal fuse in the charger

Certainly sounds like your charger is bad...

Following NotHerDecision’s advice i got down into the bilge to check the ac converter. It’s showing zero amps and no lights on top(red or green). Had someone turn it off while I was down there. We waited a minute and turned back on. The gauge didn’t move. The red light flashed on quickly and went back out.

Here r pics of the ac converter and the main panel below. Again, sorry I can’t turn them.

I do not have a voltage meter, but I think one of the guys here on the dock does. Once I track him and the meter down. I’ll post again.

Thanks for everything. I love this site.

If it`s like most 3 bank chargers I have opened up there is a non-servicable 100A Buss fuse inside. I replace it with a Maxi-Fuse

The picture of your electrical panel, there is a note next to AC Converter that says always turn on. The fridge 110v switch has a note to always leave on.

If you are not leaving the AC Converter (battery charger) on while you are away from the boat - that is an issue. If you have a newer model battery charger, you should generally leave it on when ever you have shore power.

There is also a sticker next to the refrigerator 12v DC breaker, and that breaker is on.

Thinking you may have lost dock power, the fridge switches over to 12v and killed a battery bank. When power came back, the battery charger might have went south or snapped the fuse.

I keep my 12vdc fridge switch off, unless I know I need it. I would rather have a fridge mess to clean up, then worry about a dead battery bank.

..all this given I’m reading your pics properly..

Ok so thanks for your update. The charger is not working. Before you run out and buy a new charger (which you should anyway) you need to make sure the charger has 120vac power input to it. I am almost sure you do but want to be 100%. Then go get a charger and install it. I recommend a pro Nautic 1240 as it will cover your needs. Please understand you may have destroyed your batteries. Please charge the batteries once you’re done installing the new charger and then turn it off and let them sit 8 hours without anything 12v on. Then take the voltage of each one and post it here. But good news is you get a good charger and boat is totally usable

Check the fuses in line between the charger and the batteries as well. On my boat I had an issue after replacing a 30amp charger with a new 40amp and the fuses were blowing when the charger kicked in after a weekend away. ON my boat they were in-line type and were 30amp so the 40 amp charger blew them when it kicked in at full amps.

I have a 360...was puzzled when we got the boat that there wasn’t any 12v indication from the port battery when we turned the batteries on..a couple of taps on the gauge solved the problem... old school vs today’s digital world....fwiw

I suspect you have an AC power issue with Line 1 - Check the plugs, receptacles, and wire terminations relating to the shore power feed and primary cabling on the boat. Pull the receptacle that the shore power cord plugs into on the boat and look closely at the terminations behind.

Sorry for the delay in posting. Trying to type this all out on my phone is a royal pain.

With use of the voltage meter we concluded that the house batteries are dead as door nails. The charger has 120 supplied to it. We pulled the two fuses which were both intact. Upon re-installing the fuses, it briefly kicked on, showed movement on the dial, and then went out. The fan on top never moved. We concluded that the charger must be toast.

I feel so much better that I troubleshot this (with all of your help) and narrowed down the problem. I, however, also know when I'm in over my head. There's no way I would install a new charger myself. I put the repair order in with my marina. Once its complete, I'll do a final post with what it cost me because I appreciate that when I read other troubleshooting threads. Hopefully, this will help someone else. I really appreciate everyone's help.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Labor Day Weekend!