Dolphin Battery Charger wiring question

[mattonthesea]

I have a Dolphin, Power First, 15 amp, shore power battery charger which has partially died (the fan has seized). I can fix it I think but when I took it out I could not understand the wiring. It has a black and red DC lead which would be -ve and +ve and two orange leads; what can these be for? They could have been attached but that was unclear.

I don't want to fit it back in if these are important - I can't find a wiring diagram that includes orange leads! But it is the cost of a new one (best part of £200) versus a fan (£5)

Thanks

 

[pvb]

4-wire fans allow the equipment to control and vary the fan speed.

 

[mattonthesea]

thanks - do you know where they attach?

 

[pvb]

thanks - do you know where they attach?

You said "They could have been attached but that was unclear." If this was when you removed the original fan, presumably you'd have had to disconnect the wires. Is that correct? Are you saying you don't know where you disconnected the wires from?

 

[Mistroma]

A few clues might help. Are there connectors on the fan wires or just bare wires? I assume you know where the read and black connect. If you unsoldered everything then you might be able to locate holes with traces of solder?

It's not exactly easy to say where to connect the orange wires unless someone who knows the product turns up.

A bit obvious, but have you looked at the manual? Probably just the useless type with no technical detail but worth looking for online if you don't have one.

 

[mattonthesea]

Hi, sorry for the confusion

The unit has a mains lead coming out of it; plus:

Red lead- to +ve battery terminal leisure bank
Black lead - to -ve battery terminal
2x orange lead - one of them to the starter battery+ve terminal. The other unattached.

Inside these latter four go straight to the circuit board.

I have not touched any internal wiring yet.

I can't find a circuit diagram that shows any other than red and black wires.

Confused!

 

[VicS]

Hi, sorry for the confusion

The unit has a mains lead coming out of it; plus:

Red lead- to +ve battery terminal leisure bank
Black lead - to -ve battery terminal
2x orange lead - one of them to the starter battery+ve terminal. The other unattached.

Inside these latter four go straight to the circuit board.

I have not touched any internal wiring yet.

I can't find a circuit diagram that shows any other than red and black wires.

Confused!

They should connect to the temperature sensor screwed to the the positive terminal of the main battery .................. ?????????/

 

[mattonthesea]

They should connect to the temperature sensor screwed to the the positive terminal of the main battery .................. ?????????/

so that's possibly why the fan went kaput! Plus that it was under water for a while...

Given the various circumstances I think it's time for a new charger and in a better position.

Thanks for the help

Matt

 

[Mistroma]

so that's possibly why the fan went kaput! Plus that it was under water for a while...

Given the various circumstances I think it's time for a new charger and in a better position.

Thanks for the help

Matt

I think the fact that the fan was underwater has more to do with it seizing than anything related to the position of a temperature sensor.

Not certain why you are going to buy a new charger without further checks. Testing it without the fan shouldn't be a problem, it's not likely to overheat instantly and the fan wouldn't be much help with that amount of heat anyway. A longer test could be carried out without the cover, any mains or battery fan would keep it cool.

You can consider just replacing the fan if the charger is fine in other respects. If you already know that the charger doesn't work then investigating the fan connections isn't really important.

 

[Pye_End]

If you are talking about the external wires - the red and black charge the house battery bank, and the two orange can be connected to other banks, or not as required.

The red will take priority, and the orange available as the charger has capacity.

So red to house, one orange to engine battery, and the third unattached is perfectly fine.

On my Dolphin charger, the fan only comes on when the unit is in boost mode.

 

[pvb]

They should connect to the temperature sensor screwed to the the positive terminal of the main battery .................. ?????????/

If you are talking about the external wires - the red and black charge the house battery bank, and the two orange can be connected to other banks, or not as required.

Well that's two possible uses for the orange cables. Perhaps the OP should look at the charger and see where the cables are attached to it. If the orange ones are connected to the temp sensor socket, they'll be for a temperature sensor. If the orange ones are connected to +DC2 and +DC3, they'll be for charging.

 

[Pye_End]

Or try and fine the manual - https://www.dolphin-charger.com/help-center

If it helps, this is the best photo of mine to hand at the moment:

If it is the same I can retrieve the manual this week and copy any relevant pages.

 

[mattonthesea]

As luck would have it I was offered a modern charger for less than half price so I've consigned this one to the bin - thanks for all your advice

Matt