|
|
Post by heatherina on May 18, 2018 1:40:08 GMT
Hello guys,
I have a problem and I need some advice.
Our SO 41DS is less than a year old. We have been having a few issues with the house batteries loosing power. I am pretty sure this didn't happen early on but it has got worse.
House batteries are 4 x 110 amp hr, so taking them down to 50% we should have about 220 amp hr available.
So running the fridge, auto pilot, lighting, TV etc, my guess is we have two days before needing to charge up again. We are not getting 24hrs.
On our last trip I observed (and photographed), an fluctuating load of 30+ amps on the panel. At the time the fridge was running and I turned it off and the amps dropped to 1 amp. Tried this several times with the same results. I tried again when back at the Marina but could not repeat the observed amp draw. I thought I had found our problem but the fridge has been checked over by the Penguin Agent and all is OK.
What next? I am open to suggestions.
I suspect either a bad battery/batteries or a bad connection somewhere. My plan now is to load test the batteries, confirm they are 100%, then start checking terminations and connections for tightness. I am at work at the moment and will only be able to do this when I get back to the UK in July.
The boat is still under warranty and the Jeanneau Agent who sold it to us has been great. They were covering the Fridge technicians bill.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Ian and Heather
|
|
|
|
Post by Trevor on May 18, 2018 2:16:15 GMT
Hi Ian and Heather, Battery capacity can really be an interesting subject and the only way to really approach it is in a very methodical manner. First a couple of things to remember when dealing with the problems you have outlined. The fridge will not draw 30 amps under any circumstances because the breaker feeding the fridge is much lower than that. The fridge will draw as a guess about 5 amps. The breaker/fuse feeding it will be about 10 amps, at least that is what it is on our boat so if it ever tried to draw 30 amps the breaker would blow. It seems if when switching the fridge on you see 30 amps drawn apparently by the fridge, the current meter is not reading accurately. Perhaps you should establish a battery current "budget" to know exactly what capacity you do use when at anchor or under way. In our case we need about 140amp hours when anchored and about 280 amp hours when under way. Simply establish the current drawn for each device in amperes, multi by how many hours it is used each day, add them all up and see what the result is. You may be surprised at the result. If the result is within he capacity of your house battery bank, get the batteries tested for capacity. I suggest they be tested with a "carbon pile" load tester rather than a small hand held electronic battery tester. While these may provide some indication, some of the time, the only real way to test a battery is to seriously load it up and see if it can sustain heavy load. it may also handy to check the battery charger on the yacht has the correct battery profile selected as the chemistry of the battery does need to be matched by the charging profile of whatever charges the battery bank. For instance AGM, Gel, Flooded lead acid etc. If this is wrong then perhaps the batteries are not optimally charged when you leave the dock. A good way to check the current being drawn is with an inexpensive multimeter capable of reading DC current. These can simply clamp around the cable carrying the current and show the current being drawn. If you doubt the accuracy of the panel meter this would be a good standby to check the actual current being drawn. Simply clamp around the main feeder cable to the distribution board and that will let you now exactly what is going on. Something like this is what I mean. www.ebay.com.au/itm/MS2108A-Digital-Clamp-Meter-Multimeter-Voltmeter-AC-DC-Current-Volt-Tester-Aoz/152844343997?hash=item23963b9abd:g:BUwAAOSwvfZaRKNg. I am not suggesting you buy this one but something like this would help isolate any current being drawn. I doubt this problem is a loose terminal but always worth checking the simple things first. Regards, Trevor |
|
|
|
Post by so36idavid on May 18, 2018 4:29:46 GMT
So running the fridge, auto pilot, lighting, TV etc, my guess is we have two days before needing to charge up again. Don't guess. This can be measured and/or calculated. Install a battery monitor, they're inexpensive and pretty easy to install. It will tell you the voltage and current in/out of your battery. You'll be glad to have it long after this problem is dealt with. Once it's installed, turn everything off and then on/off again one-by-one. In about 10 minutes you'll know what every single piece of equipment is drawing. It may be that all of your stuff adds up to about 10A continuous or 240Ah/day. I can see a fridge pulling 5 or 6, similarly if you have a freezer. Autopilot 3ish, radar 2-3, instruments 1, lights 1 (if you have LEDs everywhere), pumps intermittently draw 5+ etc. I don't think that you have a loose connection, and that's going to be tough to track down. Get the boat into the "heavy draw" condition that you had. Figure out which circuit is drawing big currents by opening the breakers one by one. Once you've figured out where the current is going, turn the appliances on that circuit off one by one and you should know which appliance is causing the problem. 30A doesn't seem reasonable for a fridge but if it's indeed drawing that then there's a real problem. Possibly there's something else on the same circuit? I suppose a loose connection might cause additional current draw in a fridge circuit but not 30A worth. The only thing I can think of that would draw 30A would be an AC load through an inverter. Do you have one? David |
|
|
|
Post by NZL50505 on May 18, 2018 20:26:32 GMT
Surely if it’s still under warranty and you’re away the agent should be taking the lead on arranging this staged diagnosis by a professional marine electrician - and paying for the diagnosis and fix, whatever that turns out to be.
That’s what you’ve paid for in buying a new boat!
Going on forums asking for DIY advice is for those of us who have older boats out of support and we’re paying the bills ourselves - by all means get advice here but you should not have to be doing the diagnosis and fix yourself?
|
|
|
|
Post by Mistroma on May 21, 2018 22:33:07 GMT
I bought this little monitor for under £20 and it works quite well. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100A-wireless-Bluetooth-DC-ammeter-voltmeter-power-Timer-battery-Monitor-tester/152473084160Came with no instructions but supplier did provide electronic documents in Chinese when asked. Mine came with 4 wires, not 2. This allows a 2nd battery to power the unit whilst getting V reading from another. I just wired in pairs to get +/- supply from domestic bank and also measure Voltage. Bluetooth works well but shuts off if not being used. I put a switch in supply line to allow a reset if Bluetooth stops. Readings aren't lost so it isn't a big deal. Supplier provided files for a simple Android app, but you do need to ask. I just wired it to one battery switch (via fuse) on cable from Domestic. I made a short bridging piece as current sensor was too small to fit over end connector. Just a piece of 22mm copper pipe, flattened and folded again in a vice. Hole either end and shrink wrap in the middle. |
|
|
|
Post by whiteswan on May 7, 2019 17:58:28 GMT
Ian,
l also have a 41 DS and have had a similar problem with my batteries, did you get to the manage to resolve your issue.
Tony
|
|
|
|
Post by cpetku on May 18, 2019 12:02:19 GMT
|
|
