STB engine not starting despite charged batteries

[KirkHatt]

Good morning,

I very recently purchased a vintage classic Hatteras with my aging father as he always wanted to own & cruise one of these beauties. The boat was well maintained. Hoping to go cruising with him when we still have time.

The boat had been in storage, plugged in 50amp power. First week out of storage, all was fine. Then STB engine started but seemed to act like the batteries are low. Now, it only starts when batteries are in parallel. Batteries are 2 years old. The STB bank batteries show 35.4V, Port bank shows 34.8V with the multimeter. Interestingly, the PO mentioned that the port bank powers the windlass and to keep an eye on it if we do frequent anchoring in the same outing. The 32V Sterling charger is operating normally.. when it’s charging I see 4-5amp going to STB and 8-9 amps going to Port, on testing using the clamp on the multimeter.

I cleaned all the terminals, tightened the connections and even right after 5 hrs of charging, the STB engine still wont start without the parallel. I tried starting from the 3 possible locations (PH, FB, ER) with the same outcome. Next, I connected 2 stand alone 32V 20Amp chargers (one for each bank) to boost the charging and noticed something interesting. The port bank stand alone charger keeps charging for as long as it is connected. The STB bank stand alone charger works fine for 5-10’ then it just stops charging. Not sure what that means. That happens either with or without the Sterling 32V charger being activated.

I must be missing something, could there be a short somewhere relating to the STB bank? The fact that the engine was starting slowly a week ago and now it does not start at all (without the parallel), makes me think it’s a battery issue but that should have resolved after hours of charging on consecutive days.

Thought?

Kevin

 

[pmacFL]

Have you checked all the series jumpers connections? Have you measured the voltage at each battery? One bad battery or one bad cell will cause the entire bank to underperform? Have you tested the battery of voltage under starting load?

Since you said the vessel has been in storage, is it possible the batteries were allowed to discharge all the way to zero. A couple of deep discharges can ruin the batteries.

Finally, have you checked the water in the batteries if that is something you can check?

Good luck

 

[KirkHatt]

Thank you pmacFL. I have not checked voltage under starting load but I will do that today.. great idea. I did check jumper connections between batteries, checked voltage of each battery, batteries are AGM so no water (probably go to something different if needing to replace the bank). All checked out fine.

The storage angle worried me as I did not have a monitor initially, as the power may have cutoff on occasions. When in storage, I had the engine breakers Off & all 32V breakers Off. For what its worth.. the Sterling charger ran solid for 2 weeks (I was checking it everyday & had a monitor placed) before going in the water and it seemed to have reached float.

 

[Pascal]

Since you ve checked pretty much everything else It really sounds like bad battery to me. Two years old isn’t much but if they ve been allowed to fully discharge a couple of times, who knows.

Is the charger set for AGM? It should not kill the batteries in just two years… but again… who knows

The only other thing I would check would be the battery switch. They rarely fail but it happens.

 

[rustybucket]

What pmacfl said, check each batteries voltages. Also check the water levels in each battery. Those older chargers are really tough on batteries. Also, check the entire bank voltage without the charger on, and then check again with it on. This will tell you in the charger is actually putting voltage to the bank.

 

[Briankinley2004]

You need to load test the batteries. Voltage doesn't mean anything if you don't have the amps behind it. I just replaced a 20 month one 8D 12 volt battery under "warranty" as it went bad. Your port bank is your house bank which runs almost all of the 12 volt accessories on the boat. I ALWAYS make sure I crank my main engines before I use my windlass. They will pull a battery bank down quickly and I have had to wait on the onboard charger via generator to charge things up before I could start the port main because I ran the windlass without the engine started. Since it is your starboard engine you either have a bad battery/cell or onboard charger is not working. You could try swapping the leads to the banks on the charger to see if the issue follows to the port but my money is on a bad cell

 

[carolinacoast]

X2. ALWAYS have the mains running when using the windlass.

 

[KirkHatt]

Much appreciate the comments. I checked each battery and the voltage is between 8.59v (one battery) and 8.67v for the other 3 batteries. Overall voltage is around 35.45v, voltage goes up with the charger ON to 36.85v. Tested the voltage when trying to start the engine.. it went down to 33.5 to 17.8 to 12.5 .. mind you all that happened in less than a second.

I did put a stand alone charger on it today. It ran for 30’ pushing about 8amps at 38.04v then it stopped. Then I turned on the Sterling dual charger that goes to both banks for 2.5 hrs. It started at 20.7 amps to both banks and at the end pf the 2.5hrs it was pushing 11.6amps.

As some have mentioned, I probably have a bad cell.. I will try to identify which battery is the culprit & replace it. Or I may try to replace all 4 batteries, if I can source them.

 

[Boatsb]

All batteries in a bank should be replaced at the same time. My tester can work on 8 volt batteries and tests electronicly. It will be a good idea to find a good.tester not just a load tester and or volt meter.

Find someone with one of these.

Loading...

b2b.snapon.com

 

[KirkHatt]

Good Sunday morning,

Thank you for the excellent ideas that I will definitely put to use. Now, here is an update on the battery bank issue. Both banks have been charging for several hours now. Still the STB engine does not start unless the banks are pralleled. But here is a wrinkle, when I toggle the parralel switch to STB.. the engine starts perfectly. This should not happen, correct? You normally toggle toward the good battery bank to start the engine with the bad batteries. So why is the STB engine starting with the toggle toward STB.
Then when I toggle the switch to Port.. the STB engine also starts perfectly.
I cannot explain it, unless the toggle switch simply combines the banks, like they have them on motorhomes.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

A cheap way to test lead acid batteries is to buy a hydrometer for a few bucks and test each cell. No doubt you have a bad cell or two which will test much lower than the rest. As Scott said, replace the whole bank if one tests bad. Don't make this more complicated than it has to be. Do the easy stuff first. If you own lead acid batteries, you should always have a hydrometer in your tool box.

And also make sure all of your short cables connecting each battery to the next are of the same size as the main cables. I see them downsized frequently and that is not right. You need the same size cable throughout the circuit.

 

[KirkHatt]

Great comment Sky, the boat came with sealed AGMs but I will replace both banks with FLA.. that way I can program the Sterling charger for FLA for the 2 banks. By the way, any idea as to why when I toggle the parallel switch to STB (the side where the engine does not start)… the STB engine starts fine? Not what you would expect from my understanding..

 

[Boatsb]

Remember technology has left you behind. The newest AGM batteries are superior to the flooded batteries but not made in all sizes and voltage.

Also there's no way to measure AGM batteries with a hydrometer so you need a good tester. 8 volt is an orphan voltage in start batteries and finding the 819 or 8v95 is tough. Use the rolls and get longer life.

I dont know what charger you have but I stock the analytic 1500 series 32 volt 42 amp units. Sterling has never seemed to be anything but low cost in my world.

 

[rsmith]

Put a volt meter on the battery bank with long test leads. Cranking should not drop under 30 at the batteries. It’s most likely the batteries. Your parallel switch could be wired backwards. When you put in new batteries make sure they are all the same voltage. I had one set that they didn’t top off charge one battery in 3 weeks they were all cooked. Shocking they sent out a tech who admitted the problem and gave me new batteries

 

[carolinacoast]

I bought one of these for $85 at walmart, after losing an AGM in a vehicle with no warning. tests the 8v golf cart batteries too.

BT760 Automotive Battery Tester

Say goodbye to guesswork! Say goodbye to guesswork! The AUTOOL BT760 12V 24V battery load tester accurate diagnostics for battery health, cranking power, and charging systems.

www.autooltech.com

 

[Boatsb]

Mal, thats not for 8 volt batteries and for sure is a DIY version of a real tool. I wouldn't put a lot of confidence in its diagnosis.

 

[drewread]

thats not for 8 volt batteries

 

[KirkHatt]

Thanks very much. It seems that a new set of batteries are needed. And a type of battery tester beyond simply a multimeter. I have a 20A Sterling charger that does the 2 banks and 2 x 32V stand alone chargers. Probably updating the Sterling with an Analytic or simply adding another Sterling would be a reasonable step.

After further research, it seems that the PH parallel switch is wired to the Port bank on both sides of the switch which fooled me… the FB parallel switch is wired correctly.

Thank you all for the great help!

 

[Boatsb]

Drew its not for 8 volt batteries. They test well below 8 volts if a bad cell. I looked at any 8 volt options before I bought the snap on but for real customers its a necessity as it handles pure lead and lithium too. Ive seen it show bad batteries when other meters dont catch it.

Dont believe ####### is ever giving you a fair chance.

 

[carolinacoast]

The information that bt760 provides is worth the $ to me. Between golf carts, vehicles and boats, I was in search of more battery life information. Its not close to your snap on Pro tool, and not intended to be.