342 RINKER WITH ONE ENGINE BATTERY AND ONE FOR THE GENNY NEED HELP

SERENDIPITY

I went on a  4 day mooring weekend with friends.my genny would not start.when i went back to my marina  a friend with mechanical background  troubledshooted  .he said the  starter battery located near the stern started the engines and was being charged by the engines/shorepower.the other  starter battery located in front started the genny and was only charged by the genny.i dont use my genny very often  hence it was low from the draw the gennt has  from being in the ready position  . he suggested i close  the genny if im away for  a few days  . any ideas  on how to proceed are they all connected this way . he did make a suggestion to connect both positives with wire  that has a  one way  fuse /diode  tks 

DanD2

The 342 has the 5E generator.....I don't know of any 5E generator that has a built in charger. I suspect he meant that when the genny is running, all the batts are being charged by the onboard marine 110v charger.
On my 342 (2005) I have 2 starting batts....one for the stb engine and the other for the port and genny.

bella-vita

Why is their a fuse on the genny for batt charger I think mine has a built in charger

Youllbefine

Probably to protect the genny or any other components from current surges.

SERENDIPITY

I will have to check with the mechanic who  connected all 4 batteries .i have 2 starter and 2 house which are 6 volts connected .

SERENDIPITY

ON your boats  do you have  both starter batteries  connected on the positive  posts with a diode?

DanD2

I don't

Youllbefine

I don't

LaRea

Don't start adding diodes.  Your boat already has a battery isolator that does that.  It sounds like a previous owner has done something strange with your wiring.  

With all due respect to your friend, you should hire a qualified marine mechanic to inspect the wiring.  It should be like DanD2 said: one starter battery for stbd, one for port + genny.  

Black_Diamond

You have 6v batteries?  Someone made some changes. Must be big batteries. 

My 342 has 2 batteries for starting, as noted by others. No seperate battery for the genny. 

SERENDIPITY

TKS for the info .im the one who had 2x   6 volt batteries installed as house batteries .i was surprised to find out  one starter  battery is for both engines and one  for the genny .i plan to talk to the marine mechanic  for a change

DanD2

6 volt batteries for the house wired + to - and - to + is actually better than one 12v battery, however you really need to look at your starting batts and get those squared away.

Black_Diamond

2 6v will out perform a single 12v, but you pay in weight and size/space.