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Battery Charger Wiring

Sea Gypsy

New Member
I need some insight here. My '89 Ericson 32 came with two type 24 batteries connected by a Off/1/All/2 (Perko) battery switch . I have a Newmar ABC 12-15 two bank charger with the output (+/-) for each bank going directly to each battery - bank 1 output to battery 1 etc. When the battery switch is set to 'All' with the charger on, the 'Battery Meter' on my main electric panel shows about 13.4 volts to each battery, however when I switch the batteries to 'Off" my battery meter still shows 13.4 volts for battery '2' but only 12 volts for battery '1'. Does this mean that the charger is not supplying power to battery '1' when the switch is in the 'Off' position,or that the battery meter is not seeing it?

Can I simply measure the voltage at the batteries with a VOM with the charger on/off and the switch set to 'All' and 'Off' to check this out?
Thanks
Sea Gypsy
 

Bill Sanborn

Member III
Batt Charger or Batt

I would first verify the batt meter reading with VOM readings made directly on the battery terminals with the charger both on and off.

You could have either a charger or battery problem. You could reverse the charger connections ie charger output now connected to batt1 to batt2 etc and see if the problem moves to the other battery.

I would trust a VOM over your batt meter.

If you disconnect everything from a fully charged charged battery for an hour+ it should read 12.6 volts, I believe 11.6 indicates a discharged batt.

Hows the water level in the batts?
 

Stu Jackson

C34IA Secretary
It All Depends on How It's Wired

Sea Gypsy: You really need to trace the wires on your boat and make a wiring diagram. That's the only way you'll be able to know how it works, and maybe what you have to change so both of your banks gets charged with the switch in the OFF position.

For some other food-for-thought about how your batteries, alternator and switch are connected to each other, read Replies #11 & 12 here: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4949.0.html about 1-2-B switch wiring and alternator output.
 
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