jpd85
Member
Hi,
On a Rodman 810 with twin D3-130's the domestic battery doesn't seem to be charging. It's not my boat and the it's new to the owner so I'm not sure of the electrics setup.
It seems that all the domestic stuff, bilge pump, windlass and instruments are run off the domestic battery and the engine battery is kept for engine starting only.
The other day the instruments switched off(did not trip) when i operated the windscreen wiper. The wiper moved much slower than normal. Once the wiper was off I could power up the instruments again.
As the day went on the instruments powered off repeatedly but I could turn them on again for a couple of minutes at a time. Each time they stayed for a shorter time. Eventually I could not switch them on. This led me to the conclusion of the battery not charging. Confirmed when I put a meter on it and it read about 9 volts. Then put a battery pack in its place and everything was fine including the wiper operating at full speed.
Both guages on the dash show 14.7V when the engines are running. Is this the voltage of the battery or is it just an indication that the alternator is working? On the day we had the problem they both consistently showed 14+ volts.
So my question is why isn't the battery charging?
I know the Engine Battery is charging as I can still start the engines but I have no power to the instruments. Would the charging set up be different on every boat or is there a standard diagram i can use to trace the fault? I am assuming the Port engine charges one battery and the starboard engine is charging the other. I am guessing that the port engine charges the engine battery as was told by the previous owner to always start the port engine first.
There is no 1/2/Both switch on the boat. The batteries have separate isolating switches. Any info greatly appreciated.
On a Rodman 810 with twin D3-130's the domestic battery doesn't seem to be charging. It's not my boat and the it's new to the owner so I'm not sure of the electrics setup.
It seems that all the domestic stuff, bilge pump, windlass and instruments are run off the domestic battery and the engine battery is kept for engine starting only.
The other day the instruments switched off(did not trip) when i operated the windscreen wiper. The wiper moved much slower than normal. Once the wiper was off I could power up the instruments again.
As the day went on the instruments powered off repeatedly but I could turn them on again for a couple of minutes at a time. Each time they stayed for a shorter time. Eventually I could not switch them on. This led me to the conclusion of the battery not charging. Confirmed when I put a meter on it and it read about 9 volts. Then put a battery pack in its place and everything was fine including the wiper operating at full speed.
Both guages on the dash show 14.7V when the engines are running. Is this the voltage of the battery or is it just an indication that the alternator is working? On the day we had the problem they both consistently showed 14+ volts.
So my question is why isn't the battery charging?
I know the Engine Battery is charging as I can still start the engines but I have no power to the instruments. Would the charging set up be different on every boat or is there a standard diagram i can use to trace the fault? I am assuming the Port engine charges one battery and the starboard engine is charging the other. I am guessing that the port engine charges the engine battery as was told by the previous owner to always start the port engine first.
There is no 1/2/Both switch on the boat. The batteries have separate isolating switches. Any info greatly appreciated.
