290 Sundancer converter location/installation

[Candylicious]

Hi everyone,

New to the site and just purchased our first Sea Ray, a 1993 290 Sundancer with a 7.4 mercruiser. Boat was in mooring for almost 3 years with no maintenance and we've slowly been making repairs which leads me to my first post and question:
The previous owner gave me what I believe is the original West Marine battery charger that came with the boat. My problem is that I dont (not did the previous owner) know it's installation location. I've crawled around the bilge area and have found 3 disconnected wires that are taped together (port side, between fuel tank and gunnel). I dont see any mounts here not do I see any other wires that might go to the batteries.

Does anyone have any photos or knowledge of where this device might mount and/or hook up?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Not that it matters at this point, but that is definitely not an OEM charger/converter. You'll want to check the specific model and MAKE SURE it approved for use in a gasoline bilge (ignition protected). The general area you're talking about sounds correct. It likely would have been on the port hull side or even the port side of the forward bulkhead in the engine room. However, whether the previous owner actually had it mounted where the OEM one would have been... who knows. Then there's the question of why it was removed? But the three wires sounds like a good clue. If you have (or download from SR's website) the manual for your boat, there should be diagrams to show the locations of various items. There might even be a wiring diagram. In the end, if those are the correct wires for the charger, you can mount it any way you want. You'll need leads to go to your batteries, too.

 

[Candylicious]

Thanks for the quick reply Dennis. I do have the owners manual but unfortunately it does not contain any schematics and the parts list shows the converter in that general area (described in original post) but nothing further than that. I've not had any success in finding that model years schematics but have stumbled across late 90's early 2000's (perhaps they have not changed much?)

I poked the previous owner a bit more on the removal reason and he said that the batts were always being "cooked". I inquired further and found that he purchased batts annually from a local "used" vender for ~$20 each (group 27, 650 cca). I suspect these weren't truly refurbished batts but rather, batts that showed 12v or perhaps even passed a load test but nothing more and that they may have already been in severe states of sulfation.

I will indeed check the rating for the gas bilge. Thanks for the safety tip!

 

[Lazy Daze]

I pulled up the parts list on my end - probably the same thing you are looking at. It shows (on page 5) that it was (originally, anyways) mounted on the forward bulkhead wall, port side. Take a look for screw holes that match the mounting holes on that WM unit. You'll probably find another set of holes that would match the original unit - probably a Pro Mariner Flyback series. If the three wires you see hanging are black, white and green - those are for the charger... as long as no other wiring "changes" have been made by previous owners. But you can verify this by chasing the wires or ohming them to the breaker.

When you get info on that WM unit, also look for (I'm not sure if there's any "real" technical advice through West Marine, but maybe they can at least tell you who actually made it) a test procedure to find out if the unit is operating correctly - hopefully it's as you say and the issue the owner had was because of the cheapo batteries. If you had a Pro Mariner unit I would advise you to call them directly and they'd walk you through it over the phone - but I'm not sure on that unit.

 

[Candylicious]

Appreciate the assistance. I'll look at the wire colors and determine if those are indeed for the charger.