Hi Dave,
If you're getting 14.4 volts charging at the battery then your
alternator diodes are okay.
If that battery takes a charge then you should have it load tested
before going back into the boat. There is no harm in disconnecting
the propane alarm while you're away form the boat. That will help
eliminate it as a parasitic load. Just no smoking aboard before you
turn it back on eh :)
Cheers, Russ
Sweet 35 mk-1
At 06:22 AM 27/08/2013, you wrote:
I used a pair of jumper cables and hooked up the dead battery in
parallel with an old but servicable battery I had at home and
hooked up the charger to it. After an hour I had about 7
volts. Now the charger would recognize the dead AGM and is
charging it. It was up to 10V overnight, so I am hoping it will
finish the job. If so, then I am back to figuring out what drained
it or if there is an alternator problem. I presume if I measure
the voltage at each battery while the engine is running it will
be the charging voltage? If I get 14.4 volts or so at both
batteries, then presumably my alternator is OK? Then I would be
back to the propane alarm issue as the most likely culprit. Does
that plan sound reasonable? Thanks- Dave
On Aug 26, 2013, at 11:08 PM, Russ & Melody
<<mailto:russ...@telus.net>russ...@telus.net> wrote:
Hi David,
1. - yes, a new battery can fail and a two month old battery is
still on warranty. Give it back for a load test / replacement.
2. - The AGM will charge from an alternator if discharged but may
not charge from a smart regulator as the have a dumb battery
validation check. If you want to use a smart charge on a really
flat battery then you need to jump start the process with a dumb
charger or another battery.
- you should see life in the battery after a half hour on the
alternator but a few hours for a good bulk charge
You may have a fried diode in the alternator which can deplete a
battery when the engine is not running (and not isolated from the
battery) and give insufficient charge voltage.
Cheers, Russ
Sweet 35 mk-1
At 07:04 AM 26/08/2013, you wrote:
I am beginning to feel that I have bad karma with my new
boat. First the good news: based on all the advice I received,
the Universal starting issue seems definitely fixed- since I
cleaned the ground connection, it has started smoothly every
time. The only strange thing is that all the directions I have
read say that you should continue to push the glow plug button
while pushing the start button. However, on mine, the engine will
not turn over unless I release the glow plug button. Also, the
GPS restarts each time I start the engine, which may mean there is
still some electrical issue, but neither is a serious problem at this point.
Also, the black smoke etc. is largely gone since I cleaned the
bottom and prop as best I could. The shaft and prop were
completely crusted with barnacles, so clearly my Pettit zinc coat
did not do its job. I may try Velox next spring based on the
advice of a local old timer.
So yesterday I go went to the boat and found that my #1 battery is
completely dead. This is the battery that is wired for the
auto-bilge pump switch and propane fume alarm (that is all I know
of). The batteries are 2 month old Power-tech AGM group 27's. I
could not get much of any charge after a day of running the engine
for a few hours totals.
Questions:
1. do new batteries fail at some rate?
2. Will an AGM charge from the alternator if fully
discharged? If so, roughly how long would it take? I brought it
home and tried to use my smart charger and that is not charging it
at all (the charging light does not come on).
Perhaps related- I twice was on the boat briefly during the week
and found the Xintex propane fume alarm going. Both times I
checked the propane system and the tank shutoff was closed and all
switches were off. So I don't believe there were really propane
fumes in the cabin. So could the sensor have failed? Could the
alarm going for many many hours drain the battery (I don't think
the bilge pump is doing it).
David Knecht
Aries
1990 C&C 34+
New London, CT
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David Knecht, Ph.D.
Professor and Head of Microscopy Facility
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
U-3125
91 N. Eagleville Rd.
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT 06269
860-486-2200
860-486-4331 (fax)
David Knecht
Aries
1990 C&C 34+
New London, CT
[]
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