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Old 17-09-2014, 22:17   #1
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Alternator not charging

Hi,

My boat has a battery charging system that consists of a Xantrex TrueCharge20 charger, a Xantrex PathMaker battery combiner and a dual solar system with one ProStar-15 controller charging the starter battery and a Blue Sky Solar Boost 2000E charging the house and aux battery bank. There are 5 AGM batteries 2 house, 2 aux and one starter.

Normally the boat is connected to shore power when not being used (I sail mostly on weekends) but In August I sailed to Captiola CA and left the boat on a mooring for 4 weeks. During this time the solar was maintaining the battery charge adequately (mainly powering the refrigerator) and she was not connected to shore power.

However when I sailed home (back to SF bay) mostly under power, I discovered that the batteries were not charging from the alternator (a 100A Balmar).

All of the equipment is around 5-6 years old (I've had the boat for 2). It has all worked well until now.

I have two questions. First, is there a device that switches the charging current to the house batteries, or are all supposed to be contributing to charging at once? Second, is this likely to be a problem in the alternator or in some device that switches the source of charge (if so, what device and how to test?)

I would appreciate any advice, as I am obviously not an expert, but would prefer to learn than to just call my mechanic.

Any advice?
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Old 18-09-2014, 04:27   #2
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Re: Alternator not charging

Most likely the voltage regulator. If you look at the manual for your balm at regulator it will a troubleshooting guide .


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Old 18-09-2014, 04:35   #3
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Re: Alternator not charging

When the same thing happened on my boat earlier this year -- charging worked from the battery charger but not the alternator -- the failure was ultimately traced to the charge combiner (Mastervolt, in my case).
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Old 18-09-2014, 04:57   #4
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Re: Alternator not charging

Adjust your Balmar regulator .2V higher than the solar controllers. Your solar system is likely shutting down the alt reg, when the batts are full, because their regulation point is slightly higher then where the Balmar is set. Easy way to test is to discharge the banks to the bulk range then start the engine... If the alt does not kick in then the reg, alt or wiring has issues..

Beyond that no need for HOUSE and AUX banks, combining them into one large bank will result in longer cycle life. You really only need one solar controller with a Pathmaker. Feed solar and alt to the house bank and all your banks will get charged.
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Old 18-09-2014, 20:55   #5
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Re: Alternator not charging

you'd have to know where the alt is wired too. maybe it's wired to the start battery. and working. but the path finder failed so the house bank doesn't charge. or maybe the alt isn't working. tough to know without knowing how it's wired. this takes on boat trouble shooting. with wire tracing and a volt meter.

as above. don't know what an "aux" bank is...
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Old 20-09-2014, 08:16   #6
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Re: Alternator not charging

Agree with solar issue. Need to turn of solar panels otherwise you regulator thinks there's 13.8v at the batts from the panels. Turn them off, alternator should be fine.
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Old 20-09-2014, 08:47   #7
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Re: Alternator not charging

"is there a device that switches "
If you are asking that, it probably will be best to call a marine electrician and have them go over the entire system to check it out. Then explain it to you. And at that time, you should be taking notes on how it all works, and keeping them with the ship's papers and manuals.

Otherwise, you may be futzing around with cables and testing for weeks.
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Old 20-09-2014, 09:17   #8
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Re: Alternator not charging

Quote:
Originally Posted by hellosailor View Post
"is there a device that switches "
If you are asking that, it probably will be best to call a marine electrician and have them go over the entire system to check it out. Then explain it to you. And at that time, you should be taking notes on how it all works, and keeping them with the ship's papers and manuals.

Otherwise, you may be futzing around with cables and testing for weeks.
Yeah, you will need to get in there and understand your whole system. That will make life much easier. You may have charge combiners or who knows what in there.
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