Voltmeter on Dashboard

[340DA]

I have 2000 340 DA with twwin 7.4l MPI. The voltmeter for the Port engine registers 12 amps. The batteries start the engine fine, with seemingly no problem but the voltmeter on the dash will not go above 12. The starboard registers 15amps.

The marina changed the fan belts because they said they were slipping and not charging the batteries. That did not solve thew 12 amp problem.... it is still registering 12 amps even after the belts were changed.

Does anyone have any ideas???

 

[Alegria]

Have a similar issue on our port battery bank. But from my snooping around I am leaning towards a malfunctioning gauge...

When you see that the gauge at the dash is 12V go into the cabin and check the port battery voltage on that gauge. If they match then there is more searching to do. On our boat the gauge in the cabin panel measures 14V while the one on the dash is 12V so that at least to my naive being means my gauge or wiring to that gauge is not functioning right.

If they both show the same reading then you could either have an issue with one of the batteries in the port bank(bad cell), loose connection on the alternator or at the battery bank, or an internal alternator issue...

 

[fc3]

Put a known to be accurate voltmeter across the battery terminals. The helm gauges aren't really accurate.

Best regards,
Frank

 

[Weekends Aweigh]

Jeeze - exact boat - same problem. I just live with it.

 

[David Morgan]

Get a good digital multimeter, like a Fluke, and start probing around. Whats the voltage at the meter? Whats the voltage at the batteries? Whats the voltage at the alternator? Are you finding any voltage drops across wire connectors or wire terminals?