410: Engine Wiring to house batteries

[ozsailer]

Hello all,
We had a major issue when the new motors were installed in that the mechanic disconnected the old wiring loom and did not record what was connected to the loom or how it was connected. I have an electrical background but it is impossible to follow the majority of the wiring as it is hidden behind bulkheads or cable tied to other wiring looms.
No cables are marked by Lagoon and I have not been able to source any wiring diagrams to assist in trying to work out what goes where. There is a solenoid that connects the house batteries to the starter battery which appears to be factory installed but I cannot follow the circuit that activates this solenoid coil. Would I be correct in saying that the coil is activated by the ignition/accessory circuit. Since the engine changeover we have found that the blower fans in each engine bay do not work, the anchor winch did not work ( have since rewired to get it going) a number of 12 volt outlets no longer work.
If anyone has a schematic diagrams of the elections for these items I would be most appreciative. Trying to get a marine electrician to sort the mess out but they will take weeks to get to us which may see us cancel our cruising season.


Greg and Sue
SV Sunshine
Lagoon 410 S2

[gspeak]

Greg,
If your setup was like ours, then I believe that the relay/solenoid/combiner is activated by the ignition switch. So when they replaced your panels they obviously didn't re-connect the wires. Also our blower fans are wired behind the same Yanmar panel with a dumb/stupid inline fuse off the ignition switch. I know this because I had to replace the inline fuses to get my blowers working.

On our L380 we originally had two of the isolation relays (solenoids) fitted under our port aft berth where the house batteries are. It appears they combined the port & starboard alternators to the house bank only when the ignition was turned on. I disliked these as they meant that the 3 battery banks (house, port starter, starboard starter) were only combined when the ignition was on. Also I found them to be very hot when the engines were running & they were combined.

I wanted to have the batteries automatically combined at all times there was a charging source present, especially after I installed solar on Seabreeze. I discussed this with Anne-Marie Foster from Yandina Marine Electronics after reading about there combiners here on CF. Especially the glowing recommendations from Maine Sail.

I fitted two of their Combiner 160 in place of the two isolation relays (solenoids) & they have performed exactly as I wanted.

Below are the existing & proposed wiring diagrams that I sent her. They are as best as I could work out from following the wiring in the boat.

Also her reply to my proposed wiring.






"Hi David.

Yes your proposed schematic will work fine and do as you intended.

I strongly suspect that the two solenoids you have are already connected the same way (if they are working).
You can verify the wiring by checking the voltage on the solenoid power terminals and removing the 3 battery positive connections one at a time with the solenoids OFF.
When you remove the positive from starting battery 1, one of the 4 solenoid terminals should go to zero volts.
When you remove the positive from starting battery 2, another of the 4 terminals should go to zero volts.
When you remove the positive from the House battery the remaining 2 terminals on the solenoids should go to zero volts.
If this confirms the wiring, the Combiner160s can be connected across the existing solenoids (4 terminals to 4 terminals) and I would leave the solenoids in place even though they are not in use. If not, then abandoning the solenoids may be easier that troubleshooting and rewiring.

I'm not sure how the solenoids are being activated, either a manual switch or sometimes connected to the ignition. If it is on a manual switch, just label the switch "Emergency Starting" and leave it normally turned off. If it is on the ignition switch(es), I would add a new manual switch for emergency starting.

If the wiring from the batteries to the solenoids already meets the 6 gauge or lighter and the minimum length requirements, the C160s can be mounted right beside the solenoids with short cables for a much neater installation.

Regards,

Ann-Marie Foster,
tech@yandina.com"
........................

Hope this helps

Dave

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by ozsailer

There is a solenoid that connects the house batteries to the starter battery which appears to be factory installed but I cannot follow the circuit that activates this solenoid coil. Would I be correct in saying that the coil is activated by the ignition/accessory circuit. Since the engine changeover we have found that the blower fans in each engine bay do not work, the anchor winch did not work ( have since rewired to get it going) a number of 12 volt outlets no longer work.

Our 1999 Lagoon 410 with Yanmar 3gm30 had the blower fans connected to the yanmar panel, activated by the ignition switch.
The windlass was activated by a solenoid that was wired to the port alternator's D+ signal, so that it worked only when that engine was running.

Ours did not have battery solenoids but had a combiner instead (2x IN from the alternators, 3x out to the batteries).

Good luck!