Battery Question

[Gofirstclass]

It wasn't the way I'd planned on spending the day, but yesterday I had to replace my 3 port batteries. They're down in just about the most inaccessible part of the boat that I could imagine so they're a beatch to change. I got them out OK, and before I removed them I took phone pics of the battery cable attachments so I could make certain I got them hooked back up the same way.

The wife of one of the crew who helped get me down here had driven down and brought GW on Monday, so he and I went to Costco and returned them. It only cost me $25 for the exchange of the three old batteries for the new ones. Thanks Costco. We got back to the boat and I installed them, making sure the cable hookups were the same.

But when I turned on the battery switches back on and checked the electrical panel, things were not as they should have been. Here are the indications I'm getting or not getting....
-the lighted numbers on the indicator panel that show the power levels are not illuminated, but if I flip the emergency start switch they come on.
-a few of the 12vdc lights don't work unless the emer switch is held in.
-last night the head wouldn't work (the vacuum part) unless the emer switch was held in. This morning it worked when I used it though. ?????

I do have 24V to the engine start batteries on both sides. I have 240VAC and 110VAC coming in through the panel and it goes to all the appliances and lights correctly, even though none of the lighted numbers on the main elec panel are on.

I quit troubleshooting and scratching my head last night around 6:30, figuring if I slept on it I'd have an "aha moment". Well that didn't happen either.


Any ideas on where to look for the problem would be appreciated. Oh, one other thing, when I fire up the genset and set the breakers to that source, all the lights function normally.

 

[Bob & Sue]

I know you have plenty of experience with boats but it seems from what you've stated that maybe when you were moving around in there with the cables you may have pulled on a cable or bumped one or more and now have a poor connection maybe some corrosion or a nut has come just loose enough to not be getting a good connection.

Both of these sound like a loose connection or corrosion.

-last night the head wouldn't work (the vacuum part) unless the emer switch was held in. This morning it worked when I used it though. ?????

I do have 24V to the engine start batteries on both sides. I have 240VAC and 110VAC coming in through the panel and it goes to all the appliances and lights correctly, even though none of the lighted numbers on the main elec panel are on.

Good luck finding this one great timing but when is good timing for failures?

 

[Gofirstclass]

OK, now I'm really stymied. And Bob, I NEVER get ticked off because someone questioned something I might have done or not done.

I fired up the genset this morning because I was getting a "low battery" indication on the inverter panel. I ran it for about an hour before we left to go listen to the music. When I shut it down I flipped the main breakers back to the "shore power" positions and the lights on the electrical panel were working fine. And so, it appears, was everything else. I left it that way figuring when I got back I might find a discharged battery indication or something.

Well, everything seems to have fixed itself, or maybe the "Cruising Good Fairy" came by and flicked her magic wand and blessed our boat. Whatever happened, it looks like things are fixed.

Go Figure!!!

 

[Bob & Sue]

How was the Blues Festival? We're huge blues fans BB King, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo etc. You might still check some of the battery connectors running the genny might have heated up a battery post or connector to give you a good connection and the onboard charger kept the current flowing or maybe one of the batteries was low needing a charge. Glad it's working we're leaving in the morning not sure where yet doesn't matter as long as we're on the water.