HELP!!! WITH HEART INTERFACE

[nelsonsmoody]

Hello all and a happy new year.

This pass weekend I checked on my boat since it is wintered in the water. My batteries were dead. Some how the electric cord came loose from the main at the dock. I had a couple of Air Dryer Dehumidifiers from WESTMARINE and they ran the batteries down. My Heart Interface 1800 shows that the charge rate is red (led light) charging over 30 amps for more than 6 days. Batteries are maintaining power not over heating but I know that under normal conditions this is not supposed to happen. Am I damaging my batteries? Or is there something that I could do to bring the Heart Interface to normal working condition.

[Pblais]

My batteries were dead. Some how the electric cord came loose from the main at the dock.

You can't run these dehumidifiers from just batteries. You drained the batteries totally dead. They may have been damaged before you winterized. You need to check out the batteries then check out the Heart unit with a multimeter to make sure everything is in a good state before you leave it running again.

I would consider not using batteries to power this setup. A direct wired approach on a timer might be much safer and more reliable.

[scotte]

Are the dehumidifiers 12VDC or 120VAC? Not that it really helps you right now, but assuming the latter (and indeed as standard practice in any case), I would never leave the boat with the inverter ON - so if I lose shore power I don't drain the batteries due to any AC loads.

[nelsonsmoody]

The dehumidifiers are 120 volts. Up to this point I never have any problems. The problem is that the inverter is setup to engage automatic once no A/C from outside source. The batteries are holding power. The red (led lights should be off by now)

[David M]

The Heart has a reset switch. Reset the unit by turning it off for one minute and then turn it back on. You will hear the fans turn on. On the remote control module you can set the maximum charge rate as well as the maximum number of amps it can draw from your shorepower. Lower your settings so this does not happen. Your owners manual has all this info and their tech support is pretty good as well. I would go ahead and call tech support to let them know what happened and how to set up your inverter/charger for your situation.

[hellosailor]

If the batteries were left dead for any length of time, especially if they are wet cells, they will never be the same. By all means charge them--but then let them stand overnight and try to test them or cycle them, they may be a shadow of their former selves.