Batteries

[tatoweb]

On a 2016 Cutwater 28, does the engine alternator charges all 3 battery banks or just the engine?

What about the solar panel?

Thanks.


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[knotflying]

Solar should be charging house and engine. Depending on dip switch settings it can be 50/50 or 10/90 for the charging distribution. At any time all the batteries will get a charge from the alternator. There are automatic relays that open and close during charge that allow each back to receive a charge depending on battery condition.

 

[BB marine]

What Mike has stated is correct. If you are inquiring about this for general knowledge of the charging system disregard the rest of this post. If you are asking because you suspect the engine is not charging the thruster and house batteries here is a very simple check to do before going thru the troubleshoot check list.

We have a C26 2016 and one of the Relays was not wired properly and was not charging the thruster battery from the engine alternator. I was not aware of the issue. I was talking with another Cutwater owner 28 2016. He asked about my alternator charging system " does the engine charge the house and thruster batteries?" I responded with a yes knowing my house stays charged while running and using the inverter. His didn't. The discussion ended with he must have a bad isolation relay. He troubleshot his and found the factory had attached the ground wire to the LED light terminal and not the ground terminal of both relay's, house and thruster . When he moved the ground lead to the proper terminal the engine charged all batteries. When he told me about this I checked my installation and found house relay correct but thruster wired incorrectly. There is a 3 spade terminal connectors on the relay at the bottom, Ground, start isolation (for twin engine ) and a LED light connection . Inspect and determine the ground wire is attached to the ground spade connector of the relay. Also inspect to see if there is a 1 amp in-line fuse attached to the ground lead. This fuse protects the relay from fault currents traveling in the ground wire which could damage the relay. There was not a fuse installed to either relay. Easy fix and no damage done!

 

[koedding@comcast.net]

We have a 2016 C-26. We had to replace the Thruster battery #3 last October 2018, because it wouldn't hold a charge. The House and Engine batteries hold a charge. We dry-stack, so we asked the dealership to check to see if something was draining the #3 battery. They found nothing. We had the engine serviced in October 2018 and winterized the boat in November 2018. We just did our Spring launch, only to find battery #3 was at less than 5 volts. Both the House and Engine batteries held their charge from October 2018. Per the Operators Manual, both bilge pumps and alarm and CO2 monitor are connected to battery #3. Also, the Mase 2.7KW generator uses battery #3 to start. Since both the House and Engine batteries held a charge for 5 months in the dry-stack, it seems that something has to be draining the Thruster battery. The dealer recharged the Thruster battery. Any suggestions to eliminate this issue?

 

[Pilotnavigator]

Sounds like you are not disconnecting the negative, yellow, cables from you batteries when you store your boat.

 

[BB marine]

The best way to eliminate battery draw from batteries during storage is to have a positive disconnect. As all ready stated remove ground terminals from each battery. Another less effective but easier is to remove fuses from circuits that are powered all the time. Radio, CO2 detector, bilge pump monitors and what ever else has been installed (always powered)

I also have a C26 2016 and found one of my factory installed house batteries not holding a charge (defective) last fall. I put the boat in storage and disconnected the one battery from the circuit for the winter( I work on the boat during the winter so I wanted house 12V using one battery) I plan on replacing all batteries this spring. The house batteries cycle more then the engine or thruster batteries. The thruster/generator would be next in line and then the engine. This is my opinion, 4 yr old batteries and one fails the other are in line. 2016 C26 was most likely built in 2015 the batteries most likely manufactured in 2014/2015. It is expensive to do but in the long run worth it. Three of the four batteries still hold a charge but are getting changed because of age.