Question about 12volt converter on 2000 340DA

[friscoboater]

My Dad just bought a 2000 340 DA and everything is going great, but we had a little issue today and I wanted to see what you guys though. Now this happened why we were hooked to shore power, so remember that.

Soooo... the previous Owner had not used the freshwater tank much at all, and it needed to be flushed in a bad way, so Dad and I threw some bleach into the tank and used the chrome spigot at the stern attached to a hose and just let the freshwater pump run. This went perfect for two tanks, and then toward the end of the last flush the low voltage alarms started going off and the engines would not start without using the emergency start. I was puzzled... We were hooked to shore power and the converter switch was on, but it still ran the battery down. We did have the 12V cabin lights on at the same time which seems to really pull alot of amps.

Could it be that the used more amps that the converter could put out, or do I need to do some more testing?

 

[Creekwood]

The converter should push 20 amps itself or more to run the house load withut running down the batteries. Sounds funny. Did it charge the batteries back after?

 

[techmitch]

Sounds like either the battery charger/AC converter is not working, bad battery('s) or both. I would start by checking the fluid level in the battery's and top off with distilled water. Then the battery's can be fully charged and tested for both proper voltage and load capacity. If the on-board charger is working you should be able to see a difference with a volt meter as they charge.

 

[friscoboater]

I forgot to mention that the batteries are all Optima Gel Cells. Once we took the load off the charger refreshed the batteries fine.

With everything running on the 12V side, we were pulling almost 20 amps.

 

[techmitch]

Gotcha. Once they come up to full charge, turn batt. switches off, disconnect all neg. cables let sit for a couple hours (if possible) and then test both voltage and load capacity.

 

[friscoboater]

What does that do?

 

[kaz911]

I forgot to mention that the batteries are all Optima Gel Cells. Once we took the load off the charger refreshed the batteries fine.

With everything running on the 12V side, we were pulling almost 20 amps.

GEL or AGM batteries? Gel batteries are know for "not nice" behaviour in hot climates since the gel evaporates. AGM's are better in hot climates even though I had some problems with Optima AGM's in the heat.

 

[techmitch]

All battery's regardless of type need to stabilize (at least for a short time) before testing, otherwise the testing results may be erroneous. Removing the negative batt. cables ensures that all loads, no matter how minute have been removed during the stabilization process.

 

[friscoboater]

I had a though while standing in the shower. Are you supposed to have the battery solenoids on at all times when docked?

 

[Creekwood]

I had a though while standing in the shower. Are you supposed to have the battery solenoids on at all times when docked?

I do. The charger will still be able to charge the batteries if the switch is off since its behind the switch, but the 12v house side won't be powered at all by either batteries or the charger converter. I think like said above there is something wrong wiht the batteries or the charger. Maybe just a wiring issue but my bet is on bad batteries.