I have an electrical problem.

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gordon029

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Hi there I have had a trouble free season with my boat up to now.I went away for 2 weeks recently and when I came back the batteries were dead.As the engine battery was 4 years old I replaced it and engine started fine .However a week later tried it again and the new battery was dead. So my question is did the domestic batteries take all the power out of the new one even though the power switches were off.Shortly after buying the boat last year I fitted a victron battery charger but I have not finished wiring it up as when I powered it up to try out the wiring there was a clicking sound from a little black box already fitted which has VSR on the front of it so rather than doing any serious damage I disconnected it until I found someone who knows more about the intricacies of electrics than I.What does the vsr do and can I bypass it to get my charger working.Thank you in advance for any helpful advice you have to offer
 
Your VSR is a voltage sensitive relay.

Quite what it is set up to do would need some more digging. It will be automatically switching a part of the system on or off as the voltage drops.

So I suspect when you connected the charger the vsr switched on and started charging both sides of the system.

I don't know what's happening to discharge your batteries - the VSR may be jammed?
 
gordon029 said:
Hi there I have had a trouble free season with my boat up to now.I went away for 2 weeks recently and when I came back the batteries were dead.As the engine battery was 4 years old I replaced it and engine started fine .However a week later tried it again and the new battery was dead. So my question is did the domestic batteries take all the power out of the new one even though the power switches were off.Shortly after buying the boat last year I fitted a victron battery charger but I have not finished wiring it up as when I powered it up to try out the wiring there was a clicking sound from a little black box already fitted which has VSR on the front of it so rather than doing any serious damage I disconnected it until I found someone who knows more about the intricacies of electrics than I.What does the vsr do and can I bypass it to get my charger working.Thank you in advance for any helpful advice you have to offer
Click to expand...

Not enough information to guess why the battery went flat.

I'll take a punt at the VSR clicking though. Your battery charger has caused the VSR to close, as it detected the voltage from the charger, in which case it's doing what it's supposed to do.

Is the charger connected to one or both battery banks ?
What are the voltages, measured at each bank with the charger turned on ?
What make/model of charger ?
 
Firstly thank you all for your responses. The victron battery charger is not connected at present as when I connected it initially a couple of months ago I heard a clicking sound and disconnected it immediately as I wasn't sure what was happening with the vsr.I used the boat every week this summer without any problems with starting and it was only when I left it for the 2 week break that this problem presented itself.So it would seem that the alternator is doing its job as the regular use of the boat kept the batteries up in charge.Im just concerned about the new battery going flat within a week of fitting as with the power switches off how could the other batteries drain it.The wiring was all done professionally and is pretty recent (2003) so I dont think there are any breaks in the cables etc.
 
I have charged up the new battery so what should I check before I fit it to eliminate the possibility of the domestic batteries draining it again.I am assuming that's what happened as the main power switches were off.Thank you all again
 
So, I'd measure voltage on the new battery just before you connect it.

Then the house batteries just before connected.

Then connect, and recheck.

If the two are connected through VSR or a manual 1/2/1&2 switch etc once connected they would be expected to have equal voltage.

May be worth measuring current from the new battery when fitted (require ammeter in series - don't try and draw big current like starting etc) if everything is genuinely off... Should be NO current
 
gordon029 said:
.Shortly after buying the boat last year I fitted a victron battery charger but I have not finished wiring it up as when I powered it up to try out the wiring there was a clicking sound from a little black box already fitted which has VSR on the front of it so rather than doing any serious damage I disconnected it until I found someone who knows more about the intricacies of electrics than I.What does the vsr do and can I bypass it to get my charger working.Thank you in advance for any helpful advice you have to offer
Click to expand...

What output is the charger ? one or two outputs ?

Common problem for VSR clicking is a single small charger output, it charges up one battery and voltage rises, relay closes connecting extra battery capacity, overloading charger and output voltage falls, VSR drops out reducing battery capacity, voltage rises and VSR again closes, and so on giving you a clicking sound.

As said battery drain will be just taking voltage reading, have a paper at hand to note them, makes life a lot easier.

Brian
 
ShinyShoe said:
So, I'd measure voltage on the new battery just before you connect it.

Then the house batteries just before connected.

Then connect, and recheck.

If the two are connected through VSR or a manual 1/2/1&2 switch etc once connected they would be expected to have equal voltage.

May be worth measuring current from the new battery when fitted (require ammeter in series - don't try and draw big current like starting etc) if everything is genuinely off... Should be NO current
Click to expand...

Check the voltage a couple of hours after they have been taken off charge, otherwise you get a false reading.
 
Evening all once again many thanks for your input.It is very much appreciated. I got the best of the day (weather wise) and fitted the charged battery and hallelujah the engine started first time .Unfortunately I hadn't read all the current suggestions until I got home so will try taking some readings tomorrow. I ran the engine in gear at about 1500 rpm for 20 mins and the battery was reading 13.4v as I was leaving so will compare tomorrow. I did find one other interesting on/off switch connected to the vsr and was wondering if this was to isolate the relay.Just a thought.The boat is a one off and was built in Lymington in 2003 in Steve Etheridge,s yard.I believe it is now closed so would be unable to get the original wiring plan which unfortunate. Anyway if the weather improves tomorrow I will check out your suggestions and see where we go from there.
As a ps to Spirit of Glenans I assume (rightly/wrongly) that relates to Glenans sailing club.If it does I can say that it was a fantastic organisation which gave me and many others fantastic sailing and memories
 
Wondring if you have any equipment connected directly to th e battery bank, before the isolation switches that could be draining you battery. Diesel heaters and bilge pumps normally by pass the isolation switches and will draw power if they operate.

You could try,
Turn off the Battery isolation switches.
Remove the + Ve terminal from the domestic battery bank.
Put a Ammeter (MultiMeter.) between the + Ve Terminal on the battery bank and the +ve Supply lead you just lifted off the battery lug.
See if any current is flowing -there shouldn't be.
If there is current , check the battery isolation switches , they should be open with + VE Battery voltage visible across the terminals with a multimeter.
If the isolation switches seem ok, Disconnect any units wired directly to the battery bank ,one at a time checking for current flow each time,
These would be : Diesel heater, Bilge Pumps, Battery charger, any wind or solar controllers. You could have a diode gone in the output of the charger or solar chargers causing current to be drained rather than supplied,

Kinsale 373n
 
Evening all .After spending quite a bit of time on this problem I have decided (reluctantly)to throw in the towel and call in an expert.I, like the rest of you want to be sure the engine starts when its supposed to so hopefully the expert will find and fix the problem without asking for either my arm or leg in payment.I thank all who responded with useful ideas and I will pass on an update when I am sorted in case the information could be useful.
 
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