1989 34 ft Sundancer is plugged in to shore power but has no 12 volt readings,

[Bruce LaChance]

Hello Gents,
Couldn't get the general question section to let me post....I finally got up to get a serious look at the boat I bought a few weeks ago and can't get anything 12 V to come on.
No blower, no radio, no voltage going to the battery charger and no bilge pumps, both new batterys dead... . On the main panel is shows the 110 v coming in but when I turn on the converter switch nothing comes on and meter shows zero. I'm plugged into No. 1 main and have a good connection although one yellow light is steady and the other just flickers...Engines not too rusty. Although I noticed my rudder post support brackets are wasted away. I see all the breaker boxes on the front bulkhead in the engine compartment and don't see anything tripped but don't see anything designated charger. I opened the side door to the battery charger and put a volt meter on some on the connections and didn't show any 110 v getting in there although I wasn't sure if that was the input or output side. Any help would be greatly appreciated on where to start looking for a bad breaker. Tits up at Smith Mountain Lake...Bruce 757-515-6482

 

[mistercomputerman]

You may want to start here:

http://www.searay.com/Page.aspx/pageId/10530/Parts-Manuals.aspx

 

[HUMPH]

You need to first check at the load side of the A/C breaker to verify voltage and work back from there. If no voltage on the load side of the breaker then simply replace the breaker. Don't delay in correcting this problem so you can try and bring the battery's back to life. You may want to bring a portable charger to try and charge a battery at a time for now.

 

[SCORPIO]

OK, dumb questions here, but are your battery switches turned on? Simply having the boat connected to shore power will not power the 12V accessories. Also, are the battery cables all connected properly, clean and tight? There are usually fuses located in the charger output lines near the batteries, check them. Are the batteries any good? Do they have electrolye, have they frozen over the winter? A load test would be a good idea if unsure.
I may be misreading your question, but I'm not sure if you have no 12V to anything or if you can't get the charger to come on. Could you clarify what problems you are having?

OK, reread your post, I see you say both new bats dead, I missed that first time thru (not enough coffee yet).
Sounds like you had a drain on the bats over the winter and now can't charge them.
I agree with the above posters, start at the breaker and work from there. Be sure there is power at the panel and move to the convertor. It would be a good idea to pull the main panel out and look at the back side of it and see what condition the connections are in back there. Could just be a loose lug or wire pulled out of a crip connector. You could also have a bad breaker, I've experienced that.

 

[Bruce LaChance]

Hello Gents,
Couldn't get the general question section to let me post....I finally got up to get a serious look at the boat I bought a few weeks ago and can't get anything 12 V to come on.
No blower, no radio, no voltage going to the battery charger and no bilge pumps, both new batterys dead... . On the main panel is shows the 110 v coming in but when I turn on the converter switch nothing comes on and meter shows zero. I'm plugged into No. 1 main and have a good connection although one yellow light is steady and the other just flickers...Engines not too rusty. Although I noticed my rudder post support brackets are wasted away. I see all the breaker boxes on the front bulkhead in the engine compartment and don't see anything tripped but don't see anything designated charger. I opened the side door to the battery charger and put a volt meter on some on the connections and didn't show any 110 v getting in there although I wasn't sure if that was the input or output side. Any help would be greatly appreciated on where to start looking for a bad breaker. Tits up at Smith Mountain Lake...Bruce 757-515-6482

Thanks Gents,
I put a big charger on the two stbd batteries in series and everything 12 V started coming on. Even the spotlight worked perfect on the bow after 11 years of layup... Now the only question I have is why wouldn't the battery charger bring the batterys up? I will check for inline fuses near the charger but I hear a faint hum at the charger but no output amps. In Position 2 on the charger I did have 28 volts?? but nothing on position 1. My battery switches only have one position so not sure if my reading means anything is charging. I now have to blow out my bilge discharge lines for mud wasp buildup and make sure my aft bilge pumps comes on. The forward pump worked but didn't discharge due to suspected line clog. X-14 brought back the seats nicely...Overall a good day for "Hard Times" Thanks Again. Bruce

 

[SCORPIO]

Sounds like the batteries were deeply discharged, some chargers can't bring a bat in that condition back. I'm assuming you used a large capacity charger like the ones on wheels a garage has. They can put high current back into a dead bat. You may also have something wrong with your onboard charger.

 

[Bruce LaChance]

Thanks Gents,
I put a big charger on the two stbd batteries in series and everything 12 V started coming on. Even the spotlight worked perfect on the bow after 11 years of layup... Now the only question I have is why wouldn't the battery charger bring the batterys up? I will check for inline fuses near the charger but I hear a faint hum at the charger but no output amps. In Position 2 on the charger I did have 28 volts?? but nothing on position 1. My battery switches only have one position so not sure if my reading means anything is charging. I now have to blow out my bilge discharge lines for mud wasp buildup and make sure my aft bilge pumps comes on. The forward pump worked but didn't discharge due to suspected line clog. X-14 brought back the seats nicely...Overall a good day for "Hard Times" Thanks Again. Bruce

Yes I used a large charger. I will look in the parts manual offered by MrComputerMan and see if I can find the fuse lines for the charger although its probably an accessory. Also it should tell me where the discharge port is for the bilges so I don't pump air into anything wrong.. A few things like the central vac and AC, Potable water tank, toilet system I still need to play with. Bruce

 

[chandalen]

From experience with military batteries and their charging abilities... if a standard 'home' or basic 'marine' battery can’t bring the batteries online, then they are not useable anymore. Even if a larger amp charger is used to revive them, chances are they fell below the 10.5 threshold. The longer they were in this state the more perm damage was done. I STRONGLY recommend load testing them to ensure they actually have a held charge. I had a deeply dead battery that would charge 'fully', but only last about 40 minutes under a load.

Also, placing a questionable battery in series with a good battery is a huge, and expensive mistake. The dead battery will literally suck the life out of the good one.