Continual electrical woes

mr mischief

mr mischief

Member
Joined
27 Nov 2014
Messages
34
Location
Poole
Visit site
Can someone on here please give me a clue as to why the electric power on my boat keeps cutting out
The problem is that after the boat has been running for about an hour or so the electric will suddenly cut out leaving me with no electrical power at all but when I turn the battery isolators off and back on again power will majically reset itself and be fine for about another hour or so
The boat is an Antares 6 with a 110hp Yanmar turbocharged diesel
I've checked the 5 year old batteries on a multimeter and they are both showing 12.3v and, when the engines running, charging at 14.2 volts , I,ve also checked all obvious electrical connections , earths etc but the problem persists and is starting to drive me nuts !! ,
I have this feeling in the back of my mind that one day it may not reset itself , leaving me with no gps , radio or windlass !!!
 
If your batteries are healthy they should show a higher reading than that. 12.7V for healthy. Was that checking them with the isolator off? If the readings are significantly higher with the isolator off I'd start with trying to isolate what is causing enough current draw to drop the voltage readings to 12.3
 
Might be worth checking the isolation switch.

I had a similar problem, everything would be fine, but add a new load and then everything would cut out.
Checking voltage still reads fine as the connection is still there, but not enough when any largish current runs through it.

If you can get at the back of the switch, then just put a spanner across it next time it happens, if the power comes back then replace the switch.

On mine there was a crack in the plastic frame of the switch which meant there was no pressure on the contacts when I closed the switch.
 
It should be a simple case of elimination.

When the power has gone out. Get a volt meter and start measuring from the batteries. Assuming you are getting 12.? volts at the terminals, follow the wires and measure at every point. Before the isolators, and after.... what reading there??? Work along until you get nothing. There is your problem.

If it is going totally dead.... no volts at all.... it has to be something disconnecting somewhere.... my first guess would eb an isolator switch... they can and do fail.
 
mr mischief said:
Can someone on here please give me a clue as to why the electric power on my boat keeps cutting out
The problem is that after the boat has been running for about an hour or so the electric will suddenly cut out leaving me with no electrical power at all but when I turn the battery isolators off and back on again power will majically reset itself and be fine for about another hour or so
The boat is an Antares 6 with a 110hp Yanmar turbocharged diesel
I've checked the 5 year old batteries on a multimeter and they are both showing 12.3v and, when the engines running, charging at 14.2 volts , I,ve also checked all obvious electrical connections , earths etc but the problem persists and is starting to drive me nuts !! ,
I have this feeling in the back of my mind that one day it may not reset itself , leaving me with no gps , radio or windlass !!!
Click to expand...

I would be looking to replace a 5 year old battery anyway if it is showing 12.3.According to the 12v Bible for Boats - a fully charged battery reads 12.6V +, 12.4V= 75%, 12.2V= 50% and 12.0V=25% .Finally 11.7V=0%
 
Mike k said:
I would be looking to replace a 5 year old battery anyway if it is showing 12.3.According to the 12v Bible for Boats - a fully charged battery reads 12.6V +, 12.4V= 75%, 12.2V= 50% and 12.0V=25% .Finally 11.7V=0%
Click to expand...

Thanks for the helpfull suggestions
Can anyone suggest a good battery supplier in the poole / bournemouth or southampton area
 
mr mischief said:
Thanks for the helpfull suggestions
Can anyone suggest a good battery supplier in the poole / bournemouth or southampton area
Click to expand...

a lot use the internet such as battery megastore, alpha batteries etc..... google /ebay is your friend. I go for 110 ah and 700CCA such as Lucas 664 but check out what you have on already and make sure the terminals are situated the same .
 
Last edited:
My bet here would be the batteries. I recently had to change my domestic pair for the same reason, and got a reasonable deal on line from Alpha Batteries - 2 x 135AH leisure at £95 each delivered next day.

I bought this pair only 3.5 years ago from Barden and they were not interested in the short life but happy to quote me £135 each. Won't be using them again.
 
superheat6k said:
My bet here would be the batteries. I recently had to change my domestic pair for the same reason, and got a reasonable deal on line from Alpha Batteries - 2 x 135AH leisure at £95 each delivered next day.

I bought this pair only 3.5 years ago from Barden and they were not interested in the short life but happy to quote me £135 each. Won't be using them again.
Click to expand...

haha alpha batteries is northern ya know and probably using cruise vouchers courtesy of you !!!!! teehee .Couldn't resist sorry http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?425185-3-Queens-Visit-to-Liverpool
 
Last edited:
mr mischief said:
after the boat has been running for about an hour or so the electric will suddenly cut out leaving me with no electrical power at all
Click to expand...

I have never seen a battery suddenly cut out..... and then come back to life without charging..... just fiddling with the isolator switches......

OK, the battery may be past its best, but would that lead to a total and sudden failure?? later to recover again instantly????
 
superheat6k said:
My bet here would be the batteries. I recently had to change my domestic pair for the same reason, and got a reasonable deal on line from Alpha Batteries - 2 x 135AH leisure at £95 each delivered next day.

I bought this pair only 3.5 years ago from Barden and they were not interested in the short life but happy to quote me £135 each. Won't be using them again.
Click to expand...
I've just ordered two for mine , the said co local to here were £43 plus vat more for the same exide batteries , just shows its cheaper when you go north!
 
Alpha22 said:
I have never seen a battery suddenly cut out..... and then come back to life without charging..... just fiddling with the isolator switches......

OK, the battery may be past its best, but would that lead to a total and sudden failure?? later to recover again instantly????
Click to expand...
I could have shown you a pair that did just this about two weeks ago, but I took them straight to the dump when I changed them !

Turned on with the charger disconnected, the basic domestic load of around a dozen lamps, mostly LED, and car Radio, with occasional bursts of the electric loo pump that I was testing that for leaks and within 20 minutes the voltage collapsed to below 10 volts. I then watched it recover to 12.7 within a couple minutes when I turned everything off.

I repeated this check with a VM at the battery terminals.

When I checked the SG it was around 1.170 and one cell of each was barely 1.100. These batteries had been on trickle charge all winter and had decent levels, but could have stratified I was expecting to see at least 1.250 - 1.265.
 
volvopaul said:
I've just ordered two for mine , the said co local to here were £43 plus vat more for the same exide batteries , just shows its cheaper when you go north!
Click to expand...
My new to me boat cooked a 180Ah domestic battery and was replaced by the dealer but I bought the other one [at cost via the dealer] for a matched pair, that was from that local supplier and I paid a lot less than the online suppliers so I suspect they offer big discounts to some

As for the OP problem unless it's a broken terminal post [had one on a car once] its not the battery as they don't decay in a binary fashion but gradually (even if quite quickly)
 
Last edited:
Good Morning - a good supplier of batteries your way is Shield Batteries, I think they are based Upton - may be worth a call if it is the batteries.

I have no vested interest, just a satisfied customer over the years.

Regards

Paul
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top