New house battery not charging

[Gucci]

Greetings, My charger was not charging the house battery, we found out that the 60amp fuse in the charger was burned, after fixing it, the house battery started charging again but only for a few days, then it did not charge. We checked the fuse inside the charger again but it was in good condition. What could be the problem now causing the house battery not to charge at all? Thanks for your help.

 

[Stee6043]

If this is the original charger there's a good chance it's kaput. 28 years is a good run. It's a relatively easy replacement that many of us have gone through.

Did you check to make sure the charger is connected properly? Did it work before the fuse blew?

 

[Lazy Daze]

If you have power coming into the charger -- we can probably assume you have it turned on -- but there is no power showing up at the battery, then the issue is with the charger. As noted above, it won't be worthwhile to spend any more of your time trying to diagnose an old charger.

However.... there is one quick thing you can try. Swap the charging lead of the house battery with another battery. This is just to make sure the battery, itself, isn't the issue. Use each battery for a bit and then use a voltmeter directly on the batteries. You should see upper 13 to about 14 volts, give or take.

 

[Skybolt]

Not much info to go on here, but there should a battery isolator in the system right? If so is the new house battery connected through that? If not that could be why it is not charging also. The isolator is usually on the fire wall with 4-5 heavy gauge wires attached to it. It would look something like this -

 

[Lazy Daze]

Not much info to go on here, but there should a battery isolator in the system right? If so is the new house battery connected through that? If not that could be why it is not charging also. The isolator is usually on the fire wall with 4-5 heavy gauge wires attached to it. It would look something like this -

Good question. The smaller/medium sized boats often didn't have one - I'm not sure in this case, offhand. But we're also going back nearly 3 decades with who knows how many previous owners and what they did!

 

[Skybolt]

Good question. The smaller/medium sized boats often didn't have one - I'm not sure in this case, offhand. But we're also going back nearly 3 decades with who knows how many previous owners and what they did!

Exactly, but if there isn't one, he needs one now. They rarely went bad but that is the only way a third battery will charge without a three bank battery charger.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Exactly, but if there isn't one, he needs one now. They rarely went bad but that is the only way a third battery will charge without a three bank battery charger.

Yup... and as you said above, need more info... for example...

-- Is there a dedicated house battery or is it the typical stock setup in older/smaller/medium boats where the house battery also doubles as one of the engine batteries?

EDIT:

-- I guess we also need to know if it's a two bank or three bank charger and how it is hooked up.

-- I would "assume" it's the correct charger based on the number of batteries (not banks) and that the charging leads are all hooked directly to each battery? But anything is possible!

 

[Skybolt]

Yup... and as you said above, need more info... for example...

...

-- I would "assume" it's the correct charger based on the number of batteries (not banks) and that the charging leads are all hooked directly to each battery? But anything is possible!

Sometimes the the charger is connected to the battery switches on the switched side of the switch. But as you said anything is possible.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Sometimes the the charger is connected to the battery switches on the switched side of the switch. But as you said anything is possible.

Yeah, sorry - I was typing quickly when I said "direct" - I should have added that clarification.

 

[Gucci]

If this is the original charger there's a good chance it's kaput. 28 years is a good run. It's a relatively easy replacement that many of us have gone through.

Did you check to make sure the charger is connected properly? Did it work before the fuse blew?

Not the original charger, it is pronautic about 4 years old, it is charging start batteries so it is working fine I guess. Just ordered another house battery to test if it is battery related. Are there any fuses other than the fuse inside the charger that might have gone bad?

 

[Skybolt]

Not the original charger, it is pronautic about 4 years old, it is charging start batteries so it is working fine I guess. Just ordered another house battery to test if it is battery related. Are there any fuses other than the fuse inside the charger that might have gone bad?

So how many batteries do you have and which Pronautic? Is what your calling the house battery a dedicated house battery or shared engine battery? Also is the pronautic connected to all batteries or is one bank being used to charge multiple batteries? Are there more then one battery connected in parallel?

Sounds like the charger was on when the battery was swapped out and shorted to ground at some point and why the 60A fuse was popped. The charger could have been damaged when that happened. You need to measure the voltage of each battery with the charger on, then when the charger has been off for an hour or so. What were the voltages?

When the charger is on all banks should read close to 13.8v When the charger is off all batteries should read above 12v but less then 13v (rough specs). The other thing you can do is get the battery(s) load tested, that will tell you where they are at.

 

[dvx216]

Check to see if the battery has any voltage on them at all if not you will have to charge them with a manual charger to build some resistance in them so your on board charger will charge them. A completely flat battery has zero resistance and smart charges and some older charger do not have a flash voltage to get them going again. In the case of lithium batteries you might need to hook another good battery along with the dead one to get it to take a charge.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Not the original charger, it is pronautic about 4 years old, it is charging start batteries so it is working fine I guess. Just ordered another house battery to test if it is battery related. Are there any fuses other than the fuse inside the charger that might have gone bad?

Aren't there inline fuses on each lead?

 

[Gucci]

Aren't there inline fuses on each lead?

Yes, we checked those too they are good condition

 

[Gucci]

So how many batteries do you have and which Pronautic? Is what your calling the house battery a dedicated house battery or shared engine battery? Also is the pronautic connected to all batteries or is one bank being used to charge multiple batteries? Are there more then one battery connected in parallel?

Sounds like the charger was on when the battery was swapped out and shorted to ground at some point and why the 60A fuse was popped. The charger could have been damaged when that happened. You need to measure the voltage of each battery with the charger on, then when the charger has been off for an hour or so. What were the voltages?

When the charger is on all banks should read close to 13.8v When the charger is off all batteries should read above 12v but less then 13v (rough specs). The other thing you can do is get the battery(s) load tested, that will tell you where they are at.

Great detective work., The charger was on when I replaced the house battery, which explains the shorting of the fuse, however once we replaced the 60amp fuse, the house battery started charging again for only a few days then stopped. If the no resistance was the issue wouldn’t the house battery charge first time either. The charger is charging the start batteries and the house battery perko switch is 1 for each start battery and 2 for the house battery

 

[Lazy Daze]

I don't understand what you're trying to say about your battery switches, but battery switches don't factor into this equation so don't worry about those.

Still need clarification on your exact battery setup (see detailed question above).

Have you physically measured the voltage at the battery? Or tried swapping charging leads, yet?

 

[Skybolt]

I don't understand what you're trying to say about your battery switches, but battery switches don't factor into this equation so don't worry about those. ...

Wow, same for me, no idea what was being said. But it sounded like there is a selector switch for the house battery and that wasn't selected. I think? But to your point Dennis, the battery switches shouldn't be in the conversation, as long as they are on that is.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Wow, same for me, no idea what was being said. But it sounded like there is a selector switch for the house battery and that wasn't selected. I think? But to your point Dennis, the battery switches shouldn't be in the conversation, as long as they are on that is.

I probably wasn't clear in my response. What I meant to say is that position of the selector switch should not be a factor in whether or not the battery(ies) is/are being charged. Gucci, this means the switch can be in the OFF position and the battery should still be charged by the charger. ASSUMING no one has changed things from the way it was setup at the factory

 

[Skybolt]

I probably wasn't clear in my response. What I meant to say is that position of the selector switch should not be a factor in whether or not the battery(ies) is/are being charged. ...

No you were clear, perhaps I wasn't. But I agree that the selector switch shouldn't be a factor. What I was trying to say was it sounded like there is a 1-2-both selector switch for the house battery. And possibly it is being used incorrectly so the house battery isn't being charged as a result.

 

[Gucci]

I have two start batteries one house battery, house battery has about 4 volts in it. Is it cooked? Please see the photos regarding the pronautic charger. It appears to be working but who knows. I used a portable charger to charge the house battery. for about ten minutes but when I removed the nods, still nothing. Should o replace the battery or the charger or both?