No power from batteries and AC

[zeehag]

ofun we get to play caja de pandora..lol will be fun to watch.. i am still looking for a system i like fro that situation--i have only solar charging and a car charger for in case...lol...even in marina i use solar. invertors i have are each fro different load..a few small ones for puters and such...one 1000 wtt one,err 2,as the switch to one broke so i bought second one..i didnt wanna spend lots either--so is a holding pattern with ac capability only at dock,and 12 v for regular use.no fridge, so it works...air cond is 110 only and not inverted....but i am refitting my boat while underway....

[The Garbone]

+1 on the solar. I only use shore power when traveling and I want to top off the batteries after a week of use. I am just a weekend warrior for now and a 15watt panel and controller that cost less than $100 is all that is required for my 300ah bank.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by SeaSloth

I didn't like the power set up on this boat from day one. I planned to reconfigure it next year sometime. I just didn't plan on spending as much as soon. I'm going to start a new thread about what I'd like to do and get some advice from the experts here.

Are you sure the inverter/charger is fried? What brand/model is it? Some of them have reset buttons, fuses and such that aren't obvious.

[SeaSloth]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Are you sure the inverter/charger is fried? What brand/model is it? Some of them have reset buttons, fuses and such that aren't obvious.

I'm not sure at all actually. The only thing I can definitely say is that it was the link in the chain preventing AC from getting to the panel and the boat and that the batteries are completely dead.

Now I'm trying to figure out why the batteries are dead and why the inverter (which I thought would provide separation between the batteries and AC unless it was turned on) broke the circuit between the shore power and the panel.

I don't know if the inverter was accidentally switched on when I left the boat 3 weeks ago (I'm 99.9% sure it was not) or something caused it to power on.

Or perhaps one of the batteries died and drug down the other three. Or perhaps there was enough water in the bilge that the bilge pump ran long enough to drain the batteries. In both of these cases I don't understand why the AC wouldn't work if the inverter is supposed to provide separation of those circuits except when in use.

The inverter seems to be the common point of both failures.

It is a Trace inverter. Not sure of the model. I can't get to that info at the moment.

[JusDreaming]

has there been any lightning storms, of late? It could take out the batteries and make them bulge? And then lose all power, also could have fried the inverter

[btrayfors]

There is very likely a 30A 120VAC transfer switch in the inverter/charger. The unit senses the presence of AC from shore power or an onboard generator and, if it likes the current waveform and voltages, it will automatically trip and feed the 120VAC current thru to the panel.

Transfer switches can and do go bad. This may or may not be your problem.

Bill

[The Garbone]

You batteries probably went into thermal runaway, drew a ton of amps and burnt out your charger, popping and burning breakers and switches. Or one cell got a short due to sedimentation between the plates causing the other to discharge and cook since they are in parallel.

Also, your charger may be fine. It depends on the model but my marine charger will not power up if it senses a fault towards the battery. Short or open.



I had my bilge pump stick on a few months back. All that happened was a few extra inches of water after the batteries died. It killed my 4 year old battery as it would not take a charge any longer and I had to replace it. Once I put a good battery back in things were fine.

[chrisjs]

Unless I missed something, nowhere does the original post indicate that there is any power coming to the boat from the dock power pedestal. Could be as simple as "somebody" switched the outlet off!! I would start by checking power at the pedestal outlet. In terms of dead batteries, there may be several uses of power (eg frig) when the boat is connected to shore power that will drain batteries very quickly if shore power is disconnected. If it turns out that the sump pumps were running that much then I guess I would try to find where/how water came in, but that would be my last concern.

[btrayfors]

From the OP's post #13, "The voltmeter read 120 where the wire goes into the inverter. It leads from the inverter to the panel. There was no reading at the panel."

Ergo, one problem -- at least -- is with the inverter/charger not passing thru AC to the panel.

Bill

[chrisjs]

oops!!!

[SeaSloth]

Thanks all for the advice on this. You've given me enough info to know that I can't fix this today and that I could fix this myself if I had time. Since Im not going to be able to get back to the boat for a while, and I need DC power to run bilge pump, I'm having to call in an expert to get it done.

[nigel1]

You may want to consider a voltage sensing switch between batteries and bilge pump, one that will isolate power to pump at say 11.8V, and reconnect at 12.5V.
If the charging system fails at some future date, at least the batteries will be saved (unless the boat sinks)

[smac999]

Originally Posted by SeaSloth

Now I'm trying to figure out why the batteries are dead and why the inverter (which I thought would provide separation between the batteries and AC unless it was turned on) broke the circuit between the shore power and the panel. .

because if the inverter / charger failed, stoping ac onto the boat. stopping your other charger you use to not charge. = draining batteries.