Battery charger

John41

I have a 2004 342 Fiesta Vee. I feel like I’ve been having some battery issues and I think my charger might be Part of the problem. Whenever I go to the boat I look at the charger. The power is on but it’s always reading almost zero. Shouldn’t it be reading something on the meter?

LaRea

Yes, it should say 5-10 amps during normal charging, or 30 amps after a day on the water.  A lot of people have seen chargers have a life span of around 10-12 years, so you're probably due for a new charger.  

Ian

Depends. If the batteries are full and no draw it won’t show a charge current. Flip on some 12v stuff - lights, bilge, drop the fridge AC and then have a look to see if there’s current draw.

PickleRick

Before trying to diagnose charging system issues first unhook and load test batteries.  A dead battery can cause headaches and is the most common failure item in your electric system.

If dead, slow charge with known good charger even if it means pulling from boat.

Then hook your charged batteries back up and check amps with accessories running from that battety/bank with battery charger powered on. 

 

John41

I am having troubles with my batteries. When I’m off shore power and out in the water anchored my stereo starts losing power so I have to turn on the generator to get the stereo back on. I just replaced all four batteries last year

PickleRick

Battery quality isnt what it was 10 or 20 years ago.  We recently switched battery suppliers due to too many new battery failures.  One of my sailboat house batteries didn't make it a year.

Willhound

John41 said:

I am having troubles with my batteries. When I’m off shore power and out in the water anchored my stereo starts losing power so I have to turn on the generator to get the stereo back on. I just replaced all four batteries last year

Check and clean all your cable connections. Makes a huge difference.