Any tips for "good" ways to check and/or clear the vent? Preferably ways that don't involve a hazmat suit...
larger waste holding tank?
- Thread starter redbeard1
- Start date
Any tips for "good" ways to check and/or clear the vent? Preferably ways that don't involve a hazmat suit...
If you have a pump-out station handy, the vent should hiss air in when suction is applied. It is pretty obvious with our powerful new pump-outs here.
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Reading all these posts from the more experienced, i think I will double check on the charger. I had done a quick check last fall and seemed to remember that it was a 3 stage charger, but it is worth looking into again. Do any of you remember the model of the ferro charger that you all removed?
Mine is a lewco 1220 acd.
http://www.lewcoelectriccompany.com/Services.html
Thanks for the tip.
On previous pump-outs I've checked for and felt air by the vent. But the only way to know if the vent is partially clogged is to disassemble and clean. It is on our winter to-do list.
Quick aside on battery chargers and apology for thread creep
This is what was on my boat when I got her. The three relatively new Group 31 deep cycle batteries were fried. The electrician blamed the charger, maybe in the absence of any other cause. $1200 later I was convinced.
I don't believe in drowning if I can tread water. Still, in the long run, anything installed in 1983 should be looked upon as, well, old.
This is what was on my boat when I got her. The three relatively new Group 31 deep cycle batteries were fried. The electrician blamed the charger, maybe in the absence of any other cause. $1200 later I was convinced.
I don't believe in drowning if I can tread water. Still, in the long run, anything installed in 1983 should be looked upon as, well, old.
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Rocinante33
Contributing Partner
In my situation I removed the clamshell vent cover and stuck a small flat blade screwdriver inside and twisted about. The blockage was right at the exit from the hull.
I recall, with fading memory, that it was a very heavy Newmar. I was told that it would work if and only if one could keep adding distilled water to the batteries as fast as it was boiling it out.
Rumor #2: That type of charger was best for high continuous dc loads, such as you might use while living aboard at dockside.
The prior owner had put two new 12 volt batteries in the boat just before listing it for sale, and they were losing water continually after we got the boat home.
Those "old technology" chargers were sometimes dismissively called "closet warmers" and "hummers"..... and for a reason. While simple, they would ruin your batteries without a shred of regret.
( If you calculate thread drift and degree of constant steering correction needed, perhaps you still wind up at your destination?
)And, back to the stinky topic, after so many years/decades, perhaps it would be best to just replace the ancient HT vent hose along with the little hull vent fitting.
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Tom Metzger
Sustaining Partner
I took a Lewco charger off of my son's E-32 when he bought it. The owner's manual says that it does taper the charge, but the only way to determine the correct switch position is by trial & error. They say to test with a hydrometer to determine if you are getting a full charge. Not recommended with a sealed battery.
As others have said: ditch it.
BTW, if anyone wants one I think I may still have it in the basement.
As others have said: ditch it.
BTW, if anyone wants one I think I may still have it in the basement.
HerbertFriedman
Member III
The battery charger that came with my 87 E34 is also the Lewco and it did work OK with my old battery setup, i.e. two group 27 wet cell batteries but when I added the third starting battery, I upgraded to the modern three stage charger with an automatic anti sulfation stage. Plus for long term operation at the dock I wanted the third float stage.
Tom do you have an electronic copy of the Lewco owners manual? I keep the old charger in the garage if I need to charge my car battery and the manual would be helpful.
Tom do you have an electronic copy of the Lewco owners manual? I keep the old charger in the garage if I need to charge my car battery and the manual would be helpful.
Thanks for all the posts on the lewco. Probably a good idea to add another item to the to-do list. Any specific brand and model recommendations? We have two AGMs.
Herbert, Here is a link to the old manual.
http://www.lewcoelectriccompany.com/Old_Owners_Manual.html
My boat came with a relatively recent Xantrex. It gave up the ghost last summer (indicated that it was charging, but no actual output). Several calls to Xantrex were...uh... something less than satisfying. Their answer was sort of "that happens", and their proposed solution was to sell me a new one at a "discounted" price that was a fair amount more than it would cost from Fisheries.
A number of EYO'ers PMd me offline to indicate similar experiences - a Xantrex that just "stopped working", and a somewhat lukewarm customer-service response from the company.
I installed a ProMariner "ProNautic", and have been very happy with it so far. Plus... great service from them when I've called with questions.
http://www.promariner.com/en/63130
I have two Group-27 105a flooded batteries.
$.02
Bruce
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Tom Metzger
Sustaining Partner
Bruce - Was the Xantrex charger one of the older models or a newer "TrueCharge2"?
I don't know anyone who has a newer one, but did 18 years on my old "refurbished" black Truecharge 20 (Statpower?). They did laugh when I called about parts, but I wasn't surprised.
I also bought the Pronautic charger and have been very happy with it.
I don't know anyone who has a newer one, but did 18 years on my old "refurbished" black Truecharge 20 (Statpower?). They did laugh when I called about parts, but I wasn't surprised.
I also bought the Pronautic charger and have been very happy with it.
It was a TrueCharge 2, 40a, roughly 7 years old at the time of the failure so well outside the warranty window.
The perplexing thing was that it just "stopped working". No fault codes, no blown fuse, no... nothing. It just stopped delivering electrons to the batteries.
Xantrex had me do a bunch of tests (and system resets) to determine what it was doing, and then said "well, it's gone bad... that happens sometimes..."
HerbertFriedman
Member III
Redbeard, many thanks.
FWIW, my replacement charger is a MasterVolt 20A, recommended by the boat electrician who installed it.
I chose 20A (instead of 40A) since the boat is on the charger all the time and no need for more rapid charging.
I chose 20A (instead of 40A) since the boat is on the charger all the time and no need for more rapid charging.
Tom Metzger
Sustaining Partner
That sounds a little like my dear old sister. She never had a sick day in her life, and then one day... BANG! ... she was pregnant.
It wasn't that long ago that seven years was considered a good life for electronics. Today we expect electronics to outlive it's technology.
I have to admit to being a bottom-feeding scavenger that makes a living with obsolete lab equipment. Some of that stuff runs 24/7/365, but eventually everything stops working. Cooling fan bearings wear out and seize. The electrolyte in capacitors evaporates and they take longer and longer to charge up or they just pop. ROMS and EPROMS eventually fade. I am just a biology nerd, but sometimes with a high school electronics book and a little luck I can find the bad component. It feels like magic! A ten cent bit of plastic from RadioSchmuck resurrects a dead toy that would cost thousands to replace! Well, that's actually how I come to own these things in the first place. Island of Misfit Toys, maybe. Of course as circuit boards give way to IC's, this becomes harder and harder, but heck, you can usually swap out those ICs for a few bucks too. Or at last resort, the whole board. The power supplies usually still have good old-fashioned components that are the most likely bits to fail. I got one very expensive bit of kit that someone had discarded because a 6-inch piece of vinyl tubing inside it had cracked. "It just stopped working!" And in this day and age, if your item is common enough, you can find a group on-line that knows the most vulnerable component in the gadget and can tell you exactly how to fix it. (e.g. The weak capacitor on the HVAC control board in the 97 BMW 328i!)
The point being that sometimes it's worth cracking open the case and poking around a bit before discarding an expensive unit. Or give it to your neighborhood electronics student/retired TV repairman to play with.
The point being that sometimes it's worth cracking open the case and poking around a bit before discarding an expensive unit. Or give it to your neighborhood electronics student/retired TV repairman to play with.
(laughing) I had about a dozen tempting responses but couldn't decide which was the least inappropriate, so... I'll leave it alone...
Good point, and I actually hung onto it in case someone (?) wanted to mess with it and/or scavenge it for parts. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
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I might want to pick up that blown charger from you. I'll do some research and get back to you via PM in a couple days? Thanks.
Thanks for all the suggestions on the charger. Too bad Santa already came by. A charger and new holding tank would have fit nicely under the tree.
Still, much appreciate the thread drift. The price of a new set of batteries is even worse.