Service battery charging

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   Hi, hope you’re all having some fun sailing? Electrical things have always been a mystery to me it’s like “white mans magic” (not to offend anyone) to me. My 385 batteries are; Engine starter, Bow thruster and service (house). On shore power all read 13.3 - 13.9v however after cruising on the engine (6hrs) they read Bow 13+ Engine 13+ House 11.8 - 12.2v. I’m only running fridge, water and nav instruments. For those who are more knowledgable in the magic of electricity, do you think I have a problem with the charger charging the house batteries via the engine and if so how can I check this. Any advice appreciated. Cheers 

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Ian2019 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Captain Joined: 04 November 2019 Location: Montenegro Status: Offline Points: 191	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ian2019 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Service battery charging Posted: 10 July 2024 at 11:05
	Hi, hope you’re all having some fun sailing? Electrical things have always been a mystery to me it’s like “white mans magic” (not to offend anyone) to me. My 385 batteries are; Engine starter, Bow thruster and service (house). On shore power all read 13.3 - 13.9v however after cruising on the engine (6hrs) they read Bow 13+ Engine 13+ House 11.8 - 12.2v. I’m only running fridge, water and nav instruments. For those who are more knowledgable in the magic of electricity, do you think I have a problem with the charger charging the house batteries via the engine and if so how can I check this. Any advice appreciated. Cheers
	H385 #317 2014 Tivat Montenegro

S&J Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 30 August 2014 Location: Perth WA / Med Status: Offline Points: 1371	Post Options Post Reply Quote S&J Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 July 2024 at 11:41
	How are you taking the voltage readings? Do you have any power winches / windlass that might have taken power from the house bank? My initial thoughts are that you do have a problem charging the house batteries from the alternator. Voltage below 12V is definitely not good and will shorten the battery life significantly. In theory the alternator should charge the engine battery first. As this only uses a tiny amount of power (high current but very brief) this should very quickly read a stage where a battery combiner opens to charge the house bank (page 6 of the circuit diagram). At this point both engine and house battery voltage should be the same. My guess is that this may not be working. The thruster works in a similar way and is charged from a B2B charger (p10 of circuit diagram) from the house bank once it is fully charged. I'm a bit surprised that you get voltage as high as 13V on the thruster battery without any charge input to it as it should fall to a resting voltage below 13V. It might be worth using shore power to get everything charged and then disconnect the shorepower and check all three battery voltage after an hour or so to check how the house bank holds charge.
	H458 #159 Primal Mediterranean cruising

marsella Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Rear Admiral Joined: 21 June 2022 Location: Antigua Jolly H Status: Offline Points: 592	Post Options Post Reply Quote marsella Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 July 2024 at 14:59
	Looks like battery combiner is not doing it's job. Google WBL160 to see how it looks, it should be somewhere close to your house bank and positive bus bar. Check all red cables connected to the + bar, (there are not that many) one has to end at WBL 160.

FrankS Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Joined: 06 March 2016 Location: The Netherlands Status: Offline Points: 42	Post Options Post Reply Quote FrankS Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 July 2024 at 16:18
	I had the same problem after changing the batteries. It appeared to be like marseille said above : the wire to the battery combiner had not been connected properly. Look at post "unidentified wire" in the 345/348 forum for a photo. There is also a fuse in that wire, check that too..
	Hanse 345 2016 "STYX"

FrankS Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Lieutenant Joined: 06 March 2016 Location: The Netherlands Status: Offline Points: 42	Post Options Post Reply Quote FrankS Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 July 2024 at 16:19
	In my case , service batterie was only charged when attached to wall power and not by the engine.
	Hanse 345 2016 "STYX"

Captain Cook Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admiral Joined: 23 May 2006 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 1245	Post Options Post Reply Quote Captain Cook Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 10 July 2024 at 21:00
	This link may give you inspiration to solve the mystery of why the house battery is not charged. https://www.myhanse.com/alternator-not-charging-house-battery_topic12400_post102200.html?KW=Calira+Stromat+SV1#102200 Your 385 has a slightly more modern current distributor than the SV1 mentioned in the link, (maybe with diodes instead of relays), but in general the function is like this: 12V is delivered from engine or shorepower/charger to the distributor. As you can read in the link, the engine battery is charged first (because it may be a life-saving thing), and when the engine battery is topped up, the distributor starts to feed the other batteries. My guess is that either the fuse between the distributor and the house battery is blown, or the distributor itself is faulty.
	Freya H400 #27 (2006),2-cabin, 40HP 3JH4E, 3-blade Flexofold, Aries LiftUp Windvane, Exturn 300, Jefa DD1,Simrad NX40,Icom M603(VHF)+M802(SSB)

Ian2019 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Captain Joined: 04 November 2019 Location: Montenegro Status: Offline Points: 191	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ian2019 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 July 2024 at 12:22
	Thank you all for your great responses and sharing your knowledge. I did a battery check as suggested and readings were; after shore power charge (12hrs) and shore power disconnected Service 13.4, Eng 13.3 and Bow 13.9 after 2hrs with nothing running Service 13.3 Eng 13.3 and Bow 13.6. So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about the batteries holding their charge. Then following your advice I found the fuse named “bus bar fuse” had blown 2nd from the top. Top is labelled “service fuse” fuses 3 & 4 I don’t know as I can’t read the labels. Do you have any “safety” advice on changing this fuse. And what size would it be? Also fuse #4 looks little corroded so maybe I will change this at the same time. Again thanks for your advice.
	H385 #317 2014 Tivat Montenegro

marsella Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Rear Admiral Joined: 21 June 2022 Location: Antigua Jolly H Status: Offline Points: 592	Post Options Post Reply Quote marsella Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 July 2024 at 13:17
	When you remove the plastic cover to access the fuse you should see its amperage printed on it so you can replace it with identical one. Check the Hanse box that usually comes with new boats if you have one (I got quite a few) otherwise it's an easy buy on Amazon, etc. To be completely safe to swap the fuses you can disconnect the positive cable terminal from the battery, but since it's a 12V system, I wouldn't bother, just undo two nuts that hold the fuse and swap with the new one, as long as you don't drop the wrench that will shorten positive and negative busbars, nothing should happen during the replacement. Cheers! Edited by marsella - 12 July 2024 at 13:27



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