Bad Battery killing charger(s)??

[doc g]

So, I replaced two 5.5 year old 8D's on 6/2/17. On 6/7/17- Charles 60 amp charger goes on the fritz and has no output on that (new) bank, remove it and send it out for repair. Generator which was running last weekend now has no charge output. Manual charger used on the 8d's brings one up to normal voltage and the other after charging 12 hours at 15 A only to 8.87V. I contend the new battery has a short and has caused all these charging problems, the battery dealer says no, what do the experts say? ..............................Pat

 

[SEVEN]

Cant wait to see what comes of this. I have my opinion but I too will wait to read what the pro 's write.

 

[Top Hatt Craig]

Does the failing battery become warm while charging? Can you see that the plates are not deformed?

 

[MikeP]

I contend the new battery has a short and has caused all these charging problems, the battery dealer says no, what do the experts say? ..............................Pat

IMO you are probably correct. But convincing the battery supplier that it was bad on delivery will be difficult. They will probably contend that if the cell IS bad, you somehow damaged it - dropped the battery, overcharged it, etc.

 

[doc g]

well I got two new batteries (gratis) and have installed them with a new charger and all is well 24 hours later. To answer the previous question at 15amp charge I could not detect the battery getting hot while charging. I had it on charge for 14 hours and it had an immediate voltage of 8.85, by the time I got it to the battery shop it was 4.72 . My theory is the battery was f 'd inside and caused the 60 A Charles 5000 to bite the dust as well as my generator alternator.....Pat

 

[Walter P]

Doesn't anyone make some sort of an electrical one way device to prevent "back flow". The thought of a bad battery wrecking my charger and generator is very disconcerting....and costly.

Walt

 

[Boatsb]

well I got two new batteries (gratis) and have installed them with a new charger and all is well 24 hours later. To answer the previous question at 15amp charge I could not detect the battery getting hot while charging. I had it on charge for 14 hours and it had an immediate voltage of 8.85, by the time I got it to the battery shop it was 4.72 . My theory is the battery was f 'd inside and caused the 60 A Charles 5000 to bite the dust as well as my generator alternator.....Pat

Did the fuse not blow?

 

[Top Hatt Craig]

Generator and charger failures may be coincidental, they both should have protected themselves from overload. Fine print in battery warranty may exclude anything other than the battery. Hope it goes well.

 

[Scarlett]

As far as fuses go when I was replacing a lot of chargers and inverter/charges in Puerto Vallarta, I found more than once a charger that was completely fried from a short or a lose electrical cord and when I opened them up they would have burned circuit boards and wires but any fuses inside would not have blown, makes you wonder what they were there for. John

 

[Boatsb]

Every charger leg should be fused in the line to the battery.

 

[Top Hatt Craig]

On shore power today, kinda pushing the limit myself, I've powered down our charger until back to normal (115vac) just in case..

 

[SEVEN]

As far as fuses go when I was replacing a lot of chargers and inverter/charges in Puerto Vallarta, I found more than once a charger that was completely fried from a short or a lose electrical cord and when I opened them up they would have burned circuit boards and wires but any fuses inside would not have blown, makes you wonder what they were there for. John

Heard you ran into Ron this weekend. Small world.

 

[Avenger]

On shore power today, kinda pushing the limit myself, I've powered down our charger until back to normal (115vac) just in case..

Long Island utilities used to put out 125V consistently until Sandy took out the Long Beach plant. Now we're seeing 120V normally. AC voltage being at the high end of the scale is a good thing. Low voltage, not so much.

 

[krush]

IMO you are probably correct. But convincing the battery supplier that it was bad on delivery will be difficult. They will probably contend that if the cell IS bad, you somehow damaged it - dropped the battery, overcharged it, etc.

Rsmith had a DOA 8v battery a few weeks ago.


And for post about voltage. I'll gladly take 125-130volts all day long.

 

[MikeP]

From a practical side, the only thing I can think of that might be adversely affected over a period of time by the "higher" voltage shown in the pic might be vintage tube (valve) audio gear/guitar amps. I wouldn't expect to see either of those items on a boat, even on Blue Note!

Incandescent bulbs might also suffer longevity-wise if anybody still uses those!
The only AC incandescent bulbs on our 53MY is the 8 vanity bulbs at the master stateroom mirror/makeup table. I think they've been turned on maybe 5 times in 13 years.

 

[doc g]

As far as the output legs being fused , I'm not sure if they are . It's original Hatteras install so I will check the diagram . If the battery charger output were its full 60 amps and normal 24 volts plus why would it blow any fuses anyway ?My contention is if this battery pegged the charger and the alternator on my generator to full output how long can this stuff be expected to run at max output before it burns something up ? I'm sure they are not designed to run 100 percent all the time .... Pat

 

[doc g]

None of electrical wizards want to comment ?

 

[Boatsb]

First the fuse between the charger and battery need to be there. Who knows what was original but it should be sized to the wire and charger.

Yes running at 100% will fry things eventually.

 

[34Hatt]

Check battery with a hydrometer case closed.

 

[Boatsb]

No open the caps or the hydrometer is useless.


But using a hydrometer will get you to check the water level too (I hope)