New batteries, voltage drop

[sailing_gal]

At the risk of suggesting something that seems really simple, have you made sure that you tightened all the connections down hard on the battery terminals?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

At the risk of suggesting something that seems really simple, have you made sure that you tightened all the connections down hard on the battery terminals?

Always worth checking. To be honest I've done it myself. Also forgotten to put the plug back in the wall, forgot to switch on. So bottom line, check the easy, simple stuff first.

[zstine]

sounds like you may have a dead cell. happened to me on a new 3 battery bank... check by separating the batteries and loading them individually and checking voltage drop. the voltage drop should be close to equal, if one is significantly less, return it to worst marine

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by pas63

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Looks like I am pulling out batteries.

Why? It really sounds like you are simply not listening to the good advice you have been receiving.


I wish you the best of luck, but please, be systematic about this, for your own good. Sorry if I sound like your mom!

[Chawes]

It’s usually the simple things. First step clean all ground connections . Pay special attention to the ground for the fridge. The compressor takes high amps when it first starts and then drops. Without a good ground it can’t accomplish this.
This approach has served me well.
Good luck.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by pas63

I agree, it all worked before and all that changed was batteries and new cables. Copper is copper. I can't see any reason larger cables would be a negative impact. I also had issues before replacing the cables which is what led to the battery replacement in the first place. The new batteries are my suspect but can the batteries max out the SG in a hydrometer and still be bad?

After reading posts, if you where previously having problems, I might look at the charger or the fridg. Put a cheap charger on the batteries from NAPA, Walmart or whoever and see what happens.

[Emouchet]

You may want to double check there is no corrosion in any of the path from the batteries to the fridge.
I did rewire my windlass from the batteries to the windlass and replaced solenoid and all other components in the path to finally find out that the voltage drop was due to corrosion at the main breaker just out of the battery bank.

The breaker was the last thing I checked, while it should have been the first one and would had avoid me a whole season searching and replacing expensive components one after the other...