Guest Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Checked batteries late yesterday afternoon, no sign of leaks, bulging etc, only smell seemed to from the heads! Both batteries were showing 12.5 volts. The start battery (the oldest) did have loose battery connections though, cant check water level as they are sealed, batteries do have a sight glass , both were showing green, I think I got confused with the charger though all I have is a convertor. Perhaps the regulator acted funny because of the tempature on the day. I will talk to Marine sparky and get his thoughts though Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Have an electrician coming out on Thursday, he reckons there is something wrong wrong with the altenator/regulator and that there is no way I should have seen 16volts going into the batteries, prob I have cooked a couple of cells and the battery vented, ala rotten egg smell Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Pales, does the battery voltage sense wire for your smart charger use the same connections that were loose? If this is the case, the smart charger could have ramped up to max output if the sense wire was high resistance or disconnected. Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 Depending on the smart regulator there should be a batt temp sensor as well. Mine does - I know it as I disconnected it when the sensor crapped out. Must get it replaced... Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Q1: Out of interest, which do you think is more likely to result in sparks flying: the fact that you disconnected the wire, or that you posted the fact here? Q2. Please tell me your work does not involve any kind of service like elevator repair etc. Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 A1. The fact that I posted it here. No risk of sparks flying on the boat. I was told to do it by the marine sparky to find out why my charging would suddenly drop back to zero. He said it might be the temp sensor and if it proved to be that then all he has to do is replace it. So that is what he's gonna do! A2. No not an elevator repairman. I am a flight systems software designer for Boeing. Nothing to worry about... Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 My favourite joke. http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikcharlton/348280630/ Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Top effort, both posts very entertaining. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Any chance you were blown off course towards Rotorua???? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Ok I have replaced the regulator, not a Bosch one but a equivalent, ran the motor for an hour in gear. Voltage meter still showing 16 volts. House battery (new purchased 4 months ago) has a slight bulge on one side. Today a rotten egg smell was coming from that battery (its now of the boat) hopefully Repco will replace it.The replacement regulator ( external assembled in Pourto Rico has an adjustment for Voltage but I was advised that it should not need adjustment. The old regulator was shorting out. I dont understand whats going on? Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 First off, have you got a multimeter you can valadate the boat meters accuracy. It is possible it is reading incorrectly. Second step, it is possible the old battery is not holding back the Regulator output. So a new battery would solve the problem. Once again, having a multimeter to validate the charge voltage is helpful. Did the person supplying the Alt say what the output voltage was set to? It should be 13.8V. You can adjust it for when splitters are in circuit, but should not need touching otherwise. A shorted reg would certainly cause the issues you had and would most likely have cooked that battery and now it is not holding the voltage down. That ability to hold down the Voltage is called it's resistance. The current is being pumped in is a sum of the Voltage and resistance. If the resistance goes to low( not enough) then the voltage will start to climb. Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Pales, I would be a little concerned if your battery voltage is still showing 16V. You want to verify that reading using an external multimeter. I would also want to understand the reason the regulator failed. It is still possible that you have a faulty smart charger (or a broken sense wire) that is making the regulator run hard on. If this is the case then you would expect the new regulator to fail over time and any new battery to get cooked again. Be careful. What did the marine electrician say when he took a look? I'm no electrician but I am reasonably handy with a multimeter. If you want a hand to have a look around give me a PM. I have a spare battery in the garage that we can try if need be. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Ferrari, you may have mised an earlier post where Pales confirmed there was NO smart charge regulator afterall. A broken sense wire will mean no charge. Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Ferrari, you may have mised an earlier post where Pales confirmed there was NO smart charge regulator afterall. Oops I must have missed that one, sorry. I would still question how you can get 16V at the battery when the regulator should only put out 13.8V max without a smart charger. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Sorry I dont have a multimrter so i cant confirm voltage while charging. Are you suggesting wheels that I replace both batteries? Thanks for suggestion/help Ferrari Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 What I would do, is grab a known good battery. Any battery will do. In fact, a small one would be ideal, because you can drain it a bit and then charge it quick and monitor the Volt meter and the Battery temp through out the process, without waiting around too long. If all is happy, then you will need to replace the original batteries. And yes, it would most likely be both of them. Because they are in parrellel, both would be cooked. Even though you have cooked the batteries and saw 16V, you are very lucky they stayed at 16V. Any higher and you could have fried the brains of all your electronics. Eventually the batteries would have crept higher and higher and then gone OC completely and it would be all over rover for all the electrical gear. Link to post Share on other sites
w44vi 17 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Sorry I don't have a multimrter so I cant confirm voltage while charging. Are you suggesting wheels that I replace both batteries? Go to super cheap auto, repco or warehouse you can get a multimetre for under $10 they are well worth having you will be surprised how much you use it. Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Agree. A simple and important thing to have in your tool box. Very handy for a range of uses. Link to post Share on other sites
Atom Ant 0 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Doesn't everyone have a multimeter in their boat toolbox? Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Only those who have previously been tormented by an electrical issue. The other category of boat owner is "those who are unaware that they are about to be tormented by an electrical issue." Our good mate Pales is in the process of making the transition from one category into the other. I am very impressed by Fineline's emergency fuel system in the RNI thread, think the parts and knowledge to set up that kind of system will be the next addition to my tool kit. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.