What does my recharger look like and where is it?

[DaveC426913]

Batteries are dead. Did not properly shut it off over winter.

Plugged it into shore power, but I couldn't tell if it was on so I verified that it's putting out 125V @ 30A.
I checked across the terminals of one battery and got 2.8V.

So I wanted to be sure that the batteries are actually being charged, and apparently - according to my marine electrical-savvy buddy - that means there's a device I did not know about.

I know I have an inverter It's forward under the settee. But where is this recharger? Up behind the electrical panel?

[Jimmyt]

Batteries are dead. Did not properly shut it off over winter.

Plugged it into shore power, but I couldn't tell if it was on so I verified that it's putting out 125V @ 30A.
I checked across the terminals of one battery and got 2.8V.

So I wanted to be sure that the batteries are actually being charged, and apparently - according to my marine electrical-savvy buddy - that means there's a device I did not know about.

I know I have an inverter It's forward under the settee. But where is this recharger? Up behind the electrical panel?

What did you verify was putting out 30 amps at 125v?

Your inverter turns battery power into 125v ac. Your charger takes 125v ac and puts out around 14v D.C. (Varies), at varying current rates. So, as your buddy says, two entirely different animals.

It didn't come with a battery charger from the factory. If you have one, it would be dealer or owner installed. So, the best bet is to call the previous owner. Or, you can go on a treasure hunt in the boat. It would make sense to put it near the batteries, or near the A/C power source. But, if it was done by an owner, who knows?

If it's got some decent output, it will be big enough to find easily. If it's a trickle charger (or battery maintainer), it might be fairly small.

Good luck.

[Starscream]

Agree with Jimmy.

You may not have a charger, they are fairly obvious and have to be wired to your batteries, and to shore power. a charger wouldn't fit behind the electrical panel, it would be in a bilge somewhere accessible, like the inverter.

The motor alternator can keep batteries charged with regular usage, and if all electrical loads are disconnected during storage a good-condition battery could make it thru several storage cycles.

Ima kinda surprised that u never had an issue before? What is your shore power wired to, if it isn't a charger?

[Be Free]

The charger may be part of the inverter. What make/model is it?

There is a high probability that your batteries are toast. Sorry.

[Jimmyt]

The charger may be part of the inverter. What make/model is it?

There is a high probability that your batteries are toast. Sorry.

Thanks for posting that, Bill. I was not aware that these were being produced. But, low and behold, there is such an animal... Not sure how long they've been around, but you can get one now.

[DaveC426913]

What did you verify was putting out 30 amps at 125v?

Shore power. Checked across the leads. Verified 123V. Didn't bother verifying amperage, just wanted to make sure docks had power.

Your inverter turns battery power into 125v ac. Your charger takes 125v ac and puts out around 14v D.C. (Varies), at varying current rates. So, as your buddy says, two entirely different animals.

Yeah, I'm just trying to find out what's feeding in to my batteries.

2.8V and 2.2V across the terminals. Not good.

It didn't come with a battery charger from the factory. If you have one, it would be dealer or owner installed. So, the best bet is to call the previous owner. Or, you can go on a treasure hunt in the boat. It would make sense to put it near the batteries, or near the A/C power source. But, if it was done by an owner, who knows?
There's two on/off toggles under the elec panel. Probably behind there.

If it's got some decent output, it will be big enough to find easily. If it's a trickle charger (or battery maintainer), it might be fairly small.

I have one of those for my car, and a portable emergency power pack. I guess I'll look tomorrow.

I topped up the batteries with distilled water, in case that was the problem, but I suspect I'm headed for the battery store tomorrow.

I want one regular and one deep cycle, right?

[Be Free]

Follow the wires connected to to your batteries back. If the lead to something that has a 120v plug as well find the name, make, model... anything that will help us id it.

While you are at it, get the brand, cranking amps, cold cranking amps, marine cranking amp, or amp hour rating. Some batteries have more than one rating, all should have at least one.

Next look for the date code on the batteries. It will be a month and year. It may be missing. It is usually on a sticker.

Topping off the batteries was a good idea. How dry were they?

[Russ]

If your boat is wired for shore power, I would expect the battery charger to have its own circuit breaker and switch.
Is there such a thing? That might be a clue.

[Herschel]

I have a partial pic of my dual battery Minn Kota battery charger. I have it installed under the small seat aft of the galley area on my 26X. It is a metal box about 10x6x3 inches. If it is just a one battery charger there should just be one set of lights showing the state of charging.

[Jimmyt]

What did you verify was putting out 30 amps at 125v?

Shore power. Checked across the leads. Verified 123V. Didn't bother verifying amperage, just wanted to make sure docks had power.

Your inverter turns battery power into 125v ac. Your charger takes 125v ac and puts out around 14v D.C. (Varies), at varying current rates. So, as your buddy says, two entirely different animals.

Yeah, I'm just trying to find out what's feeding in to my batteries.

2.8V and 2.2V across the terminals. Not good.

I want one regular and one deep cycle, right?

If you have the shore power on, and you're getting 2.8v and 2.2v on your batteries, you don't have a charger (or its toast).

I have one regular starting battery and one deep cycle battery. That's probably right for you.

[Be Free]

If he's in the 2v range on both batteries either there was a resistive load on each or he has them both tied together. The alternative would be five of six cells failing on each battery. Very unlikely.

I accidentally left my house batteries on for a couple of weeks one time with a small light drawing from them. When I came back one would not charge at all, the other would charge but had lost most of it's capacity. Fortunately they were old and slated for replacement soon anyway. I used the "opportunity" to redesign my batteries around a bank of 6v golf cart batteries and I put that #%^% gauge with the always-on backlight on a switched circuit.

This may be an opportunity for him to start with a clean slate and rethink his electrical design from the ground up.

[DaveC426913]

Well, 2 new batteries (one starter and one deep cycle), and I'm all good.

Now I can finally see if my motor will start, even though I did nothing to winterize it. (Seriously, I didn't so much as disconnect the fuel line, never mind fog it. Six month old gas should be fine, right?)


Squeeze, squeeze. Crank, crank. Vroom!

Love my Honda BigFoot!

[Be Free]

Did you ever find out if you have a battery charger?

Six month old ethanol free with stabilizer - no problem. Without stabilizer, still probably ok. E10 with or without stabilizer.... I'd throw it out if it had been sitting for six months. I REALLY hate dealing with the aftermath of bad fuel in an outboard.