Battery Charger Quit - How to find the problem

[Vincentc]

I discovered a dead house battery bank Sunday. It looked like the problem was corrosion on the negative terminal. I used an automotive charger to restore the batteries (they had 7% charge) while I was cleaning all the terminals and connections. The fwd 8d would not hold a charge so I went to the auto parts store and bought a new one. The aft battery appears OK, and R/R one 130 lb battery took about all the strength I had.

I thought I had the problem fixed, but now I found out that the boat charger is not working.

The PO replaced the OEM charger with a Charles SA 2000 40 amp charger which has worked fine for 4 years with me. However, now it is not doing anything. The amp meter reads zero even though the breaker switch on the electrical panel and the charger light there are on and lit.

Any thoughts on how to find the problem?

Thanks

 

[bigbill]

vincent, did you check the output at the charger? there is a fuse between the charger and the battery switch on my boat that blew last time my batteries went bad (i guess it was trying to hard to charge the bad batteries) after i put new batteries and they went dead after 2 days, i located the fuse and replaced it---all is well now

 

[Vincentc]

Bill,
I've studied at the charger, located below deck under the dinette, just forward of the ER bulkhead. I found 2 red and one yellow cables leading back into the ER and the red cables lead to the battery switches for each engine. The only fuses I found were large cylinder fuses mounted just below the switches. They had continuity, but I question that they control the charger since I had one blow and the engine would not start till I replaced it.

Thanks for the advice, I will look again.

 

[Canuck Dennis]

My 43dc has a fuse in the line to the battery from the charger which is in the same locale as yours, but is original old old one.

 

[TROUBLE]

Vincent,

On my original charger, the on off switch, mounted on the charger is also a 50 amp breaker. Could that be bad. make sure you have voltage coming out of both sides

Art

 

[Vincentc]

I telephoned Charles Industries, the charger manufacturer. The tech was very helpful and explained there are 2 fuses for dc and one AC fuse inside the charger which may be the cause. Hope to check it tonight.

 

[Sailor John]

Hi,
Had a similar problem. I found out that the 'in line' 50amp barr fuse had blown on one bank. A simple fix.
On the other bank, the fuse holder had simply become so dirty that no contact was being made. A little rub with emery cloth fixed that problem.
BTW, The only place I was able to get a replacement 50 amp fuse was at audio supply house.
Good luck!
Sailor John

 

[Vincentc]

I found the answer to my question. A voltmeter applied to the charger output indicated 12v confirming connection to the battery and applied to the input showed power to the charger. Both the AC and dc fuses inside the charger are good.

Fortunately Charles Industries has a $143 flat rate repair plan for the well out of warranty charger. A US made product with good customer service.

Regards