Newmar charger problem

[seacolt]

I launched the boat today. All went well except I had slight burning smell when I fired up the battery charger.
This is how far I got before I had to leave. From the charger there are two red wires that go to buss fuses and one white wire goes to ground. From each Buss fuse the wire goes to each side of the selenoid and then to a battery switch and then to battery
The starboard side buss fuse was real hot, I moved the fuse a little and the needle on the charger jumped around. Also the starboard side batteries were dead and port was fine.
Wondering what to look for next ??

 

[REBrueckner]

First pull the buss fuses and clean them...or replace them and the fuse holder as well...some 220 sandpaper or emory paper.....sounds like you may have surface corrosion between the fuse and the holder which itself can cause overheating and fuses to blow(melt) from the heat when all else is ok...
the cheap approach: rotate each fuse two or three revolutions in it's holder to scrape both clean of surface corrosion....

 

[RyanN]

Could also be an internally shorted battery. They drain themselves, and also pull a lot of amperes while charging.

I burned out my $80 "Smart" charger when I put it on our internally shorted trolling motor battery for our 15' Whaler. Burnt a lot of stuff out on the inside and could have caused a fire. It was charged to begin with, but the charger was supposed to keep a float charge on it until the battery decided to go medieval on my charger and cause it to let out the magic smoke.

But yea, check the fuse first, that's easy and cheap to fix/replace, then go on to replacing batteries.

 

[seacolt]

You guys are a great source of information. Saved me time and agrivation.
Yup, it was the fuse holder !

Thanks