rbryn
Member
- May 27, 2009
- 254
- Boat Info
- 2003 260DA
- Engines
- 350Mag MPI Bravo® III (re-powered 2013)
I have a 2003 260 Sundancer using the stock battery switch and wiring. 2 batteries (12v g27 starter on battery 1, 12v g27 deep cycle on battery 2). The negative leg is shared between both battery 1 and battery 2 via a single cable that attaches inline to both batteries..
Now the backstory... we had an incident recently where the battery switch was left on "both" (by accident) and the pedestal in the marina was switched off for maintenance - the boat drained both batteries to dead (battery 1 went all the way to 1v). After getting the batteries recharged fully we were unable to get battery 1 recovered enough to start the engine. Any time we tried to start in battery 1 the power went off while the starter was engaged. Had no problem with battery 2. We assumed that we killed battery 1 and pulled it off the boat, taping up all the leads on battery 1 with electrical tape to ensure there were no accidental shorts. Knowing that the marina might pull the pedestal power off again (They warned us of upcoming maintenance) we intentionally switched to battery 2 and turned off the refrigerator/radio/cabin lights on the DC panel in the galley. We thought this would at least allow the bilge to operate if necessary.
Question #1
I thought that the bilge was directly wired somehow so that dc power was always provided regardless of the battery switch position. Is this a true statement? Is it only wired to battery 1 or both?
Mystery #1
With battery 1 pulled and the switch over to battery 2 - the boat had no DC power at all. It was like there was no battery connected at all - we tried the switch in all 3 positions (1,2, both) and the result was exactly the same. Checked battery 2 with a volt meter and it shows 12.7v across the terminals. We pulled and re-seated the cables with no change.
We went and grabbed a brand new starter battery (880 CCA g27 - same config as the previous battery) and put it in.
Mystery #2
As soon as we added battery 1 back to the circuit we were able to regain power on both battery 1 and battery 2 on the switch. Everything was working again (or so we thought). We attempted to start the boat on the brand new battery (battery 1 position only). No joy, the starter would click and the lights would dim, but it wouldn't turn the starter.
Assuming that it was just a half charged battery (it did just come off the shelf from west marine) and it being a beautiful day I decided to start the engine on battery 2, then switch to "both" to charge the battery and run around for a bit. I ended up drift fishing for about 5hrs (the engine on idle most of the time with 20min intervals at 4000+rpm). Voltage at the GPS and dash registered 14.5V all day (even at idle).
Mystery #3
At the end of the day I return to the marina and shut down. Switch the switch from "both" to battery 1 and try to start the engine... As soon as I switched to battery 1- the power cut off - not enough power in the batter to run the radio or gps. I thought the engine would run on just the juice from the alternator and when the engine was on, it had excess to recharge the batteries. In this case it drained battery 1 instead of charging it. Grabbed the volt meter and checked both batteries, Battery 2 still showed a perfect 12.7v, battery 1 showed 10v.
So now I'm flummoxed... Is it a bad switch? or bad wiring? Any ideas on how to troubleshoot and chase this one down?
Now the backstory... we had an incident recently where the battery switch was left on "both" (by accident) and the pedestal in the marina was switched off for maintenance - the boat drained both batteries to dead (battery 1 went all the way to 1v). After getting the batteries recharged fully we were unable to get battery 1 recovered enough to start the engine. Any time we tried to start in battery 1 the power went off while the starter was engaged. Had no problem with battery 2. We assumed that we killed battery 1 and pulled it off the boat, taping up all the leads on battery 1 with electrical tape to ensure there were no accidental shorts. Knowing that the marina might pull the pedestal power off again (They warned us of upcoming maintenance) we intentionally switched to battery 2 and turned off the refrigerator/radio/cabin lights on the DC panel in the galley. We thought this would at least allow the bilge to operate if necessary.
Question #1
I thought that the bilge was directly wired somehow so that dc power was always provided regardless of the battery switch position. Is this a true statement? Is it only wired to battery 1 or both?
Mystery #1
With battery 1 pulled and the switch over to battery 2 - the boat had no DC power at all. It was like there was no battery connected at all - we tried the switch in all 3 positions (1,2, both) and the result was exactly the same. Checked battery 2 with a volt meter and it shows 12.7v across the terminals. We pulled and re-seated the cables with no change.
We went and grabbed a brand new starter battery (880 CCA g27 - same config as the previous battery) and put it in.
Mystery #2
As soon as we added battery 1 back to the circuit we were able to regain power on both battery 1 and battery 2 on the switch. Everything was working again (or so we thought). We attempted to start the boat on the brand new battery (battery 1 position only). No joy, the starter would click and the lights would dim, but it wouldn't turn the starter.
Assuming that it was just a half charged battery (it did just come off the shelf from west marine) and it being a beautiful day I decided to start the engine on battery 2, then switch to "both" to charge the battery and run around for a bit. I ended up drift fishing for about 5hrs (the engine on idle most of the time with 20min intervals at 4000+rpm). Voltage at the GPS and dash registered 14.5V all day (even at idle).
Mystery #3
At the end of the day I return to the marina and shut down. Switch the switch from "both" to battery 1 and try to start the engine... As soon as I switched to battery 1- the power cut off - not enough power in the batter to run the radio or gps. I thought the engine would run on just the juice from the alternator and when the engine was on, it had excess to recharge the batteries. In this case it drained battery 1 instead of charging it. Grabbed the volt meter and checked both batteries, Battery 2 still showed a perfect 12.7v, battery 1 showed 10v.
So now I'm flummoxed... Is it a bad switch? or bad wiring? Any ideas on how to troubleshoot and chase this one down?