Hoplite808
Well-Known Member
- Jan 11, 2022
- 507
- Boat Info
- 1996 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer
- Engines
- Mercruiser 7.4 LX MPI EFI (Gen. V)
I recently purchased a 1996 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer that I am currently in the process of refitting and getting it ready for my family to hopefully enjoy for years to come. One of the many things I’ve found in need of replacement or repair was the factory installed battery charger and inverter system.
I’ve read up what little literature is published about the “Converter” in the Sea Ray manuals and I’ve consulted many different wiring schematics I could find for similar years and models.
As best I can deduce the original system the inverter stood alone and was mounted in the main cabin under the aft bunk with a remote display mounted under the 110 fuse panel. The 110v feed for the whole boat was split after the main fuse through the inverter so that when shore power wasn’t present the inverter could then take over to power the 110v items through the fuses just like it was still connected to shore power. There is, at least in my boat a second battery cutoff switch which is fused and mounted at the top forward center of the engine compartment which is the DC shut off for power to the 12v cables to the inverter.
The converter was a separate unit mounted on the forward bulkhead of the port side of the engine compartment in my boat. Looking at the unit it appears to be similar to ones used in RV’s I’ve seen to create 12v of power when plugged into shore power to run everything off that rather than a battery. However on the Sea Ray it appears to me that they only ran it to keep constant power to the bilge pumps and charge the batteries and keep them charged while on shore power and you would have to turn on the main battery switch to use the 12v lights, but the converter would take on that load as well once you did that while keeping the batteries charged.
Since my boat is older and the inverter and converter systems weren’t functioning I set out to locate the devices and try and diagnose the faults and repair and replace as needed to regain function. Well, once I found them it appeared that the previous owner appeared to have used a sledgehammer on the inverter and had just spliced the 110v wires together to keep the power on in the boat and the converter would not power up at all, so I decided to upgrade to a Mastervolt combination charger/inverter and I found it easily installed in place of the original factory inverter and now will maintain a charge which I can monitor from the remote mounted in the electrical panel to whichever battery I leave the engine compartment DC cutoff switch to while the main DC cutoff for the boats electronics stays off when I’m not aboard or on when I need 12v lights and whatnot.
Since the Mastervolt unit seems to be now doing the job of both original units I’m thinking of removing the remnants of the converter and cap off the wires or perhaps install a outdoor rated GFI outlet in its place to use for things like plugging a shop light into when the compartment is open and I’m working on the engine. What are everyone’s thoughts on this? Did I figure out the wiring correctly? Should I cap off the old wires to the converter and leave it or perhaps replace it with the outlet? Or would the outlet there be a bad idea because of possible gasoline fumes in that area?
I’ve read up what little literature is published about the “Converter” in the Sea Ray manuals and I’ve consulted many different wiring schematics I could find for similar years and models.
As best I can deduce the original system the inverter stood alone and was mounted in the main cabin under the aft bunk with a remote display mounted under the 110 fuse panel. The 110v feed for the whole boat was split after the main fuse through the inverter so that when shore power wasn’t present the inverter could then take over to power the 110v items through the fuses just like it was still connected to shore power. There is, at least in my boat a second battery cutoff switch which is fused and mounted at the top forward center of the engine compartment which is the DC shut off for power to the 12v cables to the inverter.
The converter was a separate unit mounted on the forward bulkhead of the port side of the engine compartment in my boat. Looking at the unit it appears to be similar to ones used in RV’s I’ve seen to create 12v of power when plugged into shore power to run everything off that rather than a battery. However on the Sea Ray it appears to me that they only ran it to keep constant power to the bilge pumps and charge the batteries and keep them charged while on shore power and you would have to turn on the main battery switch to use the 12v lights, but the converter would take on that load as well once you did that while keeping the batteries charged.
Since my boat is older and the inverter and converter systems weren’t functioning I set out to locate the devices and try and diagnose the faults and repair and replace as needed to regain function. Well, once I found them it appeared that the previous owner appeared to have used a sledgehammer on the inverter and had just spliced the 110v wires together to keep the power on in the boat and the converter would not power up at all, so I decided to upgrade to a Mastervolt combination charger/inverter and I found it easily installed in place of the original factory inverter and now will maintain a charge which I can monitor from the remote mounted in the electrical panel to whichever battery I leave the engine compartment DC cutoff switch to while the main DC cutoff for the boats electronics stays off when I’m not aboard or on when I need 12v lights and whatnot.
Since the Mastervolt unit seems to be now doing the job of both original units I’m thinking of removing the remnants of the converter and cap off the wires or perhaps install a outdoor rated GFI outlet in its place to use for things like plugging a shop light into when the compartment is open and I’m working on the engine. What are everyone’s thoughts on this? Did I figure out the wiring correctly? Should I cap off the old wires to the converter and leave it or perhaps replace it with the outlet? Or would the outlet there be a bad idea because of possible gasoline fumes in that area?
