Catalina 350 International Association

Good morning forum,

I am having an electrical/charging issue. My landline circuit breaker keeps tripping which is preventing my charger from charging the batteries. I did notice that one of my 4D batteries was very low on water and wondering if that could be the problem? I have already switched the 30amp cord from the boat to the on-deck 30amp outlet. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

As a follow-up: my nav station is showing a green light that I have power to the boat via shore power, however, the charging gauge is showing little to no charge. PLUS, I don't hear the Charles Charger making any noise. Have I fried my charger?

2005/ 350

Thanks
Ed

Ed,

May not be a single issue.

Your converter, even on highest output will not come close to tripping a 30 amp breaker in the dock outlet.

Is the dock outlet tripping the BREAKER or is there a GFI that is tripping?

Once you figure this out and get the converter working OR use an alternate charger to bring the batteries up to full charge, have them load tested OR better yet, buy a battery hydrometer (certainly under $20) and check the individual cells. Yes, the battery hydrometer only works no wet call batteries, not Gel or AGM, but you did mention that the battery was low on water, so I assume it is a wet cell.

I personally do NOT like wet cell batteries in the location they are in the Catalina 350. If (actually when) they outgas and give off sulfuric acid vapor it is under the nav seat in the boat's interior. And if a battery has a bad cell, there will be significant outgassing and sulfuric acid vapor. That is because the charger is now trying to charge a 10 VDC battery (a 12 VDC battery with one bad cell) at 13.5 or so.

As an update: it turned out that my 30amp breaker at the dock sub-box was bad so that has been replaced. HOWEVER, this morning I noticed that the breaker at the main box in my garage was tripped. So I am back to where I started wondering if I fried my battery and that is causing the Charles charger to trip the circuit? I have not tested the water in my batteries but I would assume that to be my next move?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Ed

The Charles charger can NOT pull enough amps (while in working order) to trip a 30 amp breaker.

Could the Charles unit be defective/shorted and cause this-- sure.

Basic math:

30 amps @ 120 VAC= 3600 watts

3600 watts divided by 14 VDC= 257 amps

Figure line loss to be conservative-- to trip the 30 amp 120 VAC breaker with the Charles charger would be charging at 240 plus amps!!! Ain't goin to happen.

So what do you suspect? I also just noticed that the battery that was dangerously low on water does NOT seem to be charging and is very warm. I now have the charger unplugged until I figure this out. So back to my original question; is it possible that have fried the battery and that is causing all the issues?

I have an external battery charger on the starter battery and once that is charged I will attempt to start batter #2, which is NOT getting hot.

Thoughts? and thanks
Ed

Please, if these are wet cell batteries, buy a BATTERY HYDROMETER and check the each cell.

[urlhttps://www.google.com/search?q=BATTERY+HYDROME ... s-wiz-serp][/url]

Beats the heck out of guessing!

Again, battery condition could have absolutely nothing to do with enough amp draw to trip you 120 VAC 30 amp outlet, but still needs to be checked.

You really don't want a bad battery to but enough sulfuric acid vapor into the air to degrade cushions, wiring, etc.

Brett, yes I just purchased the battery tester from AutoZone. But seeing how the battery is still warm, I am waiting for it to cool down before testing. At that time I will test the starter battery which is on an external charger to make sure it is ok.

But my question remains: is it possible that I have fried and ruined #1 battery as it is not charging and is warm? And if it is fried will that prevent the Charles from charging the other batteries?

I am trying to eliminate the possible causes one by one and appreciate you help and knowledge.

Ed

Ed,

A great question.

Sorry, I don't know the charge protocol for the Charles charger.

I don't know if one battery that is below charger voltage for being rechargeable will cause other batteries in the circuit to be charged or if it will shut down the charger completely.

Were it me, I would start by verifying that all batteries were at least 12.0 VDC.

Said another way, I would not attempt to evaluate the Charles charger until I have verified that all batteries were 12.0 VDC or higher. I would use a "stupid"/automotive charger to bring them to full charge. Test them (cells with hydrometer) and only when they are at 12.0 VDC or higher try to evaluate the Charles charger.

Perfect, that is my plan as well. I will keep you in the loop. BTW, I do hear the Charles running when the battery charge switch on the nav station is turned on. So at the very least I know it is running.

Ed

Hello all that have given advice on this issue. It has been resolved I am happy to say. My 2 house batteries were fried. One ran dry (my fault) and not sure what happened to the other. But after a quick drive to Chesapeake VA to pick up 2 new 4D batteries I am up and running and all seems good. My plan moving forward will be to unplug the shore power line for a few weeks or a month at a time this winter. All that is currently running on my boat is a de-humidifier and the bilge pump. I would think I can run those on the batteries for at least a month before the lose power.

Thanks to everyone who offered advice, everyone was right in their own assessment and I now have a much greater knowledge of the charging system.

Ed