Problem with auxiliary battery and bow thrusters

[bigczech]

Help needed: I am a new owner of a jeanneau sun oddysey. A few days back i noticed that my auxiliary battery stopped showing up on the dashboard (when i toggled the battery readout.) I used to see domestic, engine and auxiliary. Now i see only dommestic and engine.

Also, i noticed my thrusters stopped working. I am sure its the same problem.

I did install solar panels a few weeks back but they are only for engine and domestic. I used engine to charge auxiliary. Auxiliary battery power was around 12.5 last time it worked.

After malfunction I checked that all connections are good. They all seem fine and in perfect condition. I am not sure where to check for fuses or other issues

Can anyone help identify the issue? Or point me to a forum that can help?

 

[jrudge]

I think you need to start with some basics.

Using a volt meter is the auxiliary flat or charged and simply disconnected rom the boat. This starts to isolate if it is a charging problem for example ( probably likely if the charging side has just been tampered with ....)

Next can you explain what the auxiliary battery is for ? Most boats have engine batteries for each engine and house batteries. What is the aux for ? Some do have dedicated bow thruster batteries.

 

[Nick_H]

bigczech, it may be worth asking the question on Scuttlebut (another forum on this website, specifically for sailing), as some of the users on there will probably have the same boat so will have more detailed knowledge.

It sounds like the same system as a Beneteau I was on recently. On that one the auxiliary batteries did operate the bowthruster, so I agree the problems are probably linked. To increase domestic capacity we linked the domestic and auxiliary together at the charging diodes (under the aft stbd bed) and the display still toggled through engine, domestic, and auxiliary, though of course domestic and aux showed the same figure.

 

[Tranona]

Pretty sure you will find that the battery just operates the bow thruster if it is wired the same as my Bavaria sailboat. Charged from the engine alternator by a split charge system. If the thruster is not working then it is either the switch (do the indicator lights come on when you press the two on buttons?) or the battery is knackered. maybe the latter if no charge is showing.

So you need first to check the battery and its connections. If the battery is charged then the fault is in the wiring.

Problems such as this are best posted on the PBO forum as that has the most traffic from those who know about such things.