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  1. #11

    Re: Any tricks to find the short?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eddieclemons View Post
    I can't imagine tracking this down without a DC amps clamp. A must have to see what's really flowing down those wire. Keep us updated.
    Quote Originally Posted by cww View Post
    My boat is equipped with a DC amp draw gauge so this is easy, turn everything in the boat off at the lamp, etc. Then just turn off the circuit breakers one by one while watching the gauge and the one that drops the gauge is the circuit that has the draw on it. That will immediately narrow it down to just a few things, this is why that gauge is there. If you don’t have the gauge take the dc panel off the wall and take your multimeter to the wires feeding the panel with the charger off and do the same process.
    I took a couple neighbors fishing today and blew-off the project. But after about a 30 mile day, the port bank is still only 30v. So, I ran the multi-meter on each battery and they're all between 7.9 and 8.1. EXCEPT one - which shows only 5.3v. So, I guess it's a bad battery cell. Captain Ralph is right, again. I opened her up to see a few tiny little champayne-like bubbles on one side. Water level still good though.

    All that lead laying there, 8 batteries, and one bad spot threw it off. So, I'll grab a new one from Napa tomorrow. 8/2019 is the date on them all ... not great.


    All that said, a DC amp draw gauge would be excellent. I'd really like to mount one of those in the ER by the switches. Has anyone put a modern digital panel somewhere? Even a little cheapo like this would be very useful, if accurate:
    https://www.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-100V-Display-Multimeter-Voltmeter/dp/B013PKYILS/ref=asc_df_B013PKYILS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241994092016&hvpos=&hvnetw= g&hvrand=923679774991162337&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt= &hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012253&hvta rgid=pla-522037414964&psc=1

    Last edited by JuiceClark; 01-17-2022 at 09:46 PM.
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  2. #12

    Re: Any tricks to find the short?

    "I opened her up to see a few tiny little champayne-like bubbles on one side. Water level still good though."

    Could you please elaborate on the above description.... can you really see little bubbles from inside half of a cell which is broken when looking in?

    Just curious what to look for.
    +++
    1984 61MY #353 with 9' cockpit extension.
    Sydney, Australia.

  3. #13

    Re: Any tricks to find the short?

    Quote Originally Posted by scottinsydney View Post
    "I opened her up to see a few tiny little champayne-like bubbles on one side. Water level still good though."

    Could you please elaborate on the above description.... can you really see little bubbles from inside half of a cell which is broken when looking in?

    Just curious what to look for.
    Well, I've had an inboard boat for most of the last 25 years, but never had a battery in which was "boiling." My Detroits in this boat start so fast, there's not even time to notice a slow grind from a weak battery...like happened in previous boats. Guys in here said their battery was hot to the touch and the water inside boiling. This wasn't like that.

    It was dead quiet in the ER and I'm leaning over this bank of 8 batteries. All I heard was like a tiny popping noise - like if you put a glass of champagne to your ear. So, I put my ear down there and identified that barely audible noise coming from the 1st battery in a series of 4. I opened the top and saw tiny little bubbles floating up on only the right side of the battery. The charger had been off for about 10 minutes - so, maybe it was bubbling more prolifically while being juiced?

    I put the meter on them. That battery was only 5.3v while all the others were fully charged. So, that's it. I guess that battery won't come up to 8v no matter how long I cook it.

    I went to Napa this morning and spent $170 on a new battery. Tonight, I'll go through the chronic PITA of putting it back in the corner and removing the old.
    One of these days, I'll have a tech de-convert the boat back to only 8 batteries. I get why a PO headed to the Caribbean wanted more batteries, but the SB side has 8 deep cells only to start the motor! Ridiculous. There's a lot of other ways to back up your house batteries without adding 600+ pounds of lead in a hard to access corner of the ER!
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

  4. #14

    Re: Any tricks to find the short?

    Sounds like good detective work; congrats.

    Something else, which few do, is you can check each cell individually in a flooded-cell lead acid battery.

    Just start at one end with your meter on a post and dip the other probe into the acid-water to take a reading. Continue moving on the next cell dipping in each side-by-side.

    Chances are you would find the bubbling cell was near zero volts, meaning basically shorted.

    This is probably what is making the heat and boiling away the electrolyte.

    DAN

  5. #15

    Re: Any tricks to find the short?

    Well, it's just never easy in a renovation project to figure out where to start. While updating, fixing and cleaning everything up, you see so many possibilities for failure. However, you can only get to them one at a time.

    I should have checked the batteries individually before even thinking about looking for a ground somewhere. But nothing else worked-out easy! So, plotting against another big mystery becomes a habit.

    Plus, I tend to put off anything in that #*&%^ corner. If any of you want batteries, you can have 8 of mine if you reroute the cables for down the center isle only!
    20220118_171847.jpg
    Last edited by JuiceClark; 01-18-2022 at 07:52 PM.
    At the mouth of the Caloosahatchee
    1984 52C

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