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 Battery charging?		  New Topic  Topic Locked
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unixverse
Deckhand

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19 Posts
Initially Posted - 06/25/2004 :  13:57:59  Show Profile
Hello -

I have a Catalina 25 with an inboard diesel and two batteries. Last weekend I plugged in the shorepower and turned on the Battery Charger switch (up position). What I don't understand is that the gage on the battery charger in the lazaret did not move. Is it supposed to move and indicate that the batteries are acutally charging? I had 110 V inside so the shorepower was up. I also tried all possible battery selections (1/2/Both/Off) with the battery selector.

How can I find out if it is actually charging the batter?

Thanks,
Joe
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lancej
1st Mate

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81 Posts
Response Posted - 06/25/2004 :  15:17:12  Show Profile
Joe, can't comment on battery chargers in a C25, as my C25 does not even have shore power (you have a diesel, I'm quite jealous) but on previous boats I have owned w/ shore power and the trickle charger, the charge rate could be as low as 2-3 amps. With the reserve capacity of 2 deep cycles, this could take weeks to charge. IMO these chargers are meant to maintain batteries at best. If in doubt, check this out with a multi tester. Don't believe the meter on the charger, as these often measure output potential rather than actual output. With all outgoing circuits off, you should see + current in the system. Hope this helps.

Lance
85 FK/SR
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unixverse
Deckhand

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19 Posts
Response Posted - 06/25/2004 :  16:31:16  Show Profile
Lance -

Thanks for your comments ... I guess I'll just try it out with a multi tester. Would you know whether I have to have the battery source selector on "both" to charge both batteries or whether it has to be in the "off" position?

Thanks!
Joe
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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts
Response Posted - 06/25/2004 :  16:45:20  Show Profile
The DC output from your battery charger should be wired directly to the battery terminals and not through the battery selector switch. Hopefully your charger is of the multiple battery type so one common negative wire (black) can be connected to both batteries and an individual positive (red) wire can be connected to each battery.

If you have an automatic charger and your batteries are already sufficiently charged, you'll notice no output on the meter. Since you have a diesel, it wouldn't surprise me if your batteries were already topped off when you turned the charger on. You can test this by putting a decent load on your batteries with the charger turned off and after a reasonable period of time, turn on the charger to see if it kicks in.

It's one possiblity that there is really nothing wrong and I hope this turns out to be the case.
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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts
Response Posted - 06/25/2004 :  16:53:09  Show Profile  Visit JimB517's Homepage
You can't really tell without a digital voltmeter. The batteries, fully charged, should be 13.6 volts. 12.25 volts is essentially discharged. Your system is probably fully charged. Unplug charger, turn on all lights (cabin, nav) for a couple of hours, turn them off, and check the voltage. Then plug in the charger and see if you can measure a difference. You will probably not be able to detect a difference on your analog, needle, voltmeter - the difference between flat and full are just too close.

A good charger should pump lots of current into the batteries when they are down, then shut itself off and go into trickle mode when the voltage reaches 13.6

The West Marine Guest 3 amp smart charger (cost about $60) works fine on our boats. Mine clips directly onto battery 2. I keep the switch in the "both" position to charge them together. Or I can move the clips. A red led is on when charging full power and a green in trickle mode.
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unixverse
Deckhand

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19 Posts
Response Posted - 06/25/2004 :  17:37:23  Show Profile
Great!

Thanks so much for the help!

Joe
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Dave Laux
Captain

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318 Posts
Response Posted - 06/25/2004 :  20:48:39  Show Profile
Joe, what kind of charger do you have, Name, rank , and serial number. Most old chargers, which are on most old Catalina's, are battery destroyers. Dave
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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.