battery charge question

C

chazaroo

New Member
Dec 4, 2006
415
Florida
Boat Info
1996 Sundancer 250
Engines
single 5.7 w Bravo III
I left the battery switch on 'Both' for a few days and now the batteries are too low to start the engine. Anybody know how long it will take for the inverter to recharge them enough to start?
 
Shouldn't take but 4-6 hours, but:

1. Make sure your batteries are topped off with distilled water.

2. It would be nice if you knew what was left on to discharge the batteries.

Don
 
Southpaw II said:
Shouldn't take but 4-6 hours, but:

would be nice if you knew what was left on to discharge the batteries.

Don
Click to expand...

Maybe nothing was left on. If he has one bad battery and they are not isolated both go south.
 
Strange situation. Shore power was on, along with fridge and inverter and I inadvertently left the battery switch set to the 'both' position. I'm not sure how things work when both battery and shore power are on at the same time.
 
chazaroo said:
Strange situation. Shore power was on, along with fridge and inverter and I inadvertently left the battery switch set to the 'both' position. I'm not sure how things work when both battery and shore power are on at the same time.
Click to expand...

If the shore power and inverter were on you should have been charging the whole time. Check the levels in the batts, charge and load test, I bet they are on they're way south (or north).
 
Do you have a charger, inverter or inverter/charger?
 
inverter/charger, charger inverter...Tomato/ Tamato--not sure. I do know one battery was replaced a year an a half ago. The other was in the boat when we got it in 2006. Someone told me recently that you should replace both batteries at once, not one at a time. Maybe that's the problem?
 
chazaroo said:
I left the battery switch on 'Both' for a few days and now the batteries are too low to start the engine. Anybody know how long it will take for the inverter to recharge them enough to start?
Click to expand...

This question is impossible to answer with out more information, what size are your batteries and what size and type of charger do you have. A battery cannot be fully discharged or permanent damage happens.
I have a starting battery and 2 house batteries (2- 6V rated at 235 amps) I have a Link 1000 and a Xantrex 1000 inverter/charger 50amp. If I am down 150 amp hours then my charger will put back 50 amps each hour of charge. While the charger is doing this you have other things running like fridge and lights. As your battery is charging the rate of charge will drop off as the battery gets close to full charge. The link 1000 is like a fuel gauge for the battery and I have never seen it over 43 amps of input into the batteries.
My original factory 35 amp charger would take about 6 hours to charge my batteries back to capacity if down 150 amps.
I suspect that you might have had a power failure that caused your boat to switch to battery power the other thing that happened is you had one battery that was not good and the charger boiled the good battery while trying to charge both batteries.
Either way I think you will need to replace both batteries and I would have the charger checked.

Ken
 
Ken,
I'll check on the size batteries and type of charger. I do know that the batteries were not totally discharged, as the engine tried to turn over, There just wasn't enough power to do the job. I'll go down to the boat and check this morning. Thanks for the info on how this works. I'll report back as soon as I check the boat out.
 
chazaroo said:
inverter/charger, charger inverter...Tomato/ Tamato--not sure. I do know one battery was replaced a year an a half ago. The other was in the boat when we got it in 2006. Someone told me recently that you should replace both batteries at once, not one at a time. Maybe that's the problem?
Click to expand...

The reason I ask isn't a tomato tomAto thing.
There is a difference between them. If you have a Charger(sometimes labeled converter on your panel) you'll have to turn it on to charge your batteries. If you have and inverter/charger, it's the same thing, but the inverter side of that unit will give you 110V when not on shore power and that power is inverted from your batteries. When on shore power the inverter/charger will sense the 120VAC from shore and charge your batteries.
Not knowing what you have or don't have will make it difficult for us to help you.
Yes batteries are recommended to be replaced in groups. The reason is if they're ever combined(using the "BOTH" or "ALL" on your batteries switch) the bad battery will draw down the good one.
 
Todd,
Now I understand. There is a switch on the panel to turn it on. It's a Promariner 20. Batteries are Interstate marine batteries and they are not the same age. I'm about to check fluid in batteries...not easy due to location. I'll report back. Thanks for the info on the charger/inverter.
 
chazaroo said:
Todd,
Now I understand. There is a switch on the panel to turn it on. It's a Promariner 20. Batteries are Interstate marine batteries and they are not the same age. I'm about to check fluid in batteries...not easy due to location. I'll report back. Thanks for the info on the charger/inverter.
Click to expand...

Yeah, make sure that switch is on to charge your batteries when on shore power. You may have drained your batteries down so dead that they may not come back to full potential.
Best of luck
 
While you are down there get the model off the charger and the information off the labels. Also get all the information off the batteries.
Once we have that we can give you some answers.

Here is my Link 1000

15oulo1.jpg


It works with the Xantrex chargers a Link 10 will work with any charger.
Ken
 
Last edited:
If your batteries were from pre 2006 and one went North and you replaced it, the remaining battery was on its way North and took down your new battery. So, you have one bad battery for sure (the old pre 2006 battery) and likely a destroyed new battery. If the new battery was discharged to a level that it will not crank the engine, it was destroyed. You need 2 new batteries. Don't play around with this or you will be left stranded. You may want to consider as a replacement a combo deep cycle/starting. They can be discharged deeper than a starting battery. Two deep cycles can be discharged safely to 50%, and should have enough amps combined to start your 5.7. You should look at the Optima Blue tops.
 
This is not relating to the original question, but since I have you charger/inverter gurus here I have a question.

I bought a 220DA that originally used shore power. My dock has no shore power (at least not the slip I'm in) and I was thinking about adding an inverter. What is the easiest way to add the inverter into the system, considering I won't be using shore power at all?
 
Danny Troy said:
This is not relating to the original question, but since I have you charger/inverter gurus here I have a question.

I bought a 220DA that originally used shore power. My dock has no shore power (at least not the slip I'm in) and I was thinking about adding an inverter. What is the easiest way to add the inverter into the system, considering I won't be using shore power at all?
Click to expand...

That's called a hijack. Do a search for inverters. There are wonderfully detailed posts on this site with pictures and everything.
 
JuliaValentine said:
If your batteries were from pre 2006 and one went North and you replaced it, the remaining battery was on its way North and took down your new battery.
Click to expand...

As opposed to where batteries go when they die, I was referring to the literary term, "Going South," meaning going down hill or near death: http://www.joe-ks.com/phrases/phrasesG.htm

But, I like your recycling answer a lot. It's a pretty funny circle when you think about it! : )
 
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