Charging Problem...2014 R31

[Happy Place]

Just reconnected all batteries, plugged in shore power and switched to charge and....nothing.

I am switched to shore power on the AC panel and I get a green light showing power available. The AC breaker is on. I checked the breakers behind the back cockpit seat and it's set.

But ....when I switch the ProMariner to Charge....nothing.

There are no lights lit on the ProMariner unless I switch to inverter and then I get a green light....otherwise nothing.

I toggled the switch next to the ProMariner and it lights up momentarily but then goes dark.

What am I missing?

 

[dbsea]

This happened to me a few months ago. It was a bad connection on the back side of the shore power inlet plug. I changed mine out to a marinco plug and re-stripped the connectors. Solved the issue immediately.

 

[Happy Place]

Thanks Dave! My only thought on that is I'm seeing a green light on the shore power switch so it seems that power is making it that far...if it was a bad connection at the plug, I wouldn't think the green light would be in at the AC panel.

On the upside, the sun just broke through the clouds here in New Hampshire and the solar panels are putting power into the system

 

[dbsea]

My elci breaker was also lit up in my situation. For some reason it was enough juice to power that but not trigger the charger to turn on. You should be able to take it apart pretty easily and check.

 

[knotflying]

I will assume you have your main breaker on at the panel. The Promariner has been known to have an automatic transfer switch failure that cannot be replaced. There is a reset button, try that. To rule out shore power input failure I would check that power is coming into the unit by accessing the connection at the unit. I would also check to see that your charger is working. If the charger works and there is power coming in then I would bet on a bad transfer switch. If you need to replace the unit I recommend Xantrex. It functions the same and connections similar. The best part is you can program it to not have the transfer switch engage if you lose shore power.

 

[BB marine]

This is the AC power distribution schematic
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10617

The power comes into the panel and then to the inverter /charger. An easy check to confirm that the power is getting to the charger is to see if the outlets are working while on shore power. Look at the schematic and follow the path. When on shore power the charger is available to charge the batteries. When shore power is not available the charge is now inverting powering the outlets and the Microwave. If there is a fault with the transfer switch the shore power will not pass through the charger to energize the outlet and microwave circuits. Or if the shore power is not available at the charger because of a faulty wire or shore power plug you will not have 120V at the outlets and the charger will not work. If you find that you have no power to the outlets when the shore power is on. Use a VOA meter set to AC auto and check the input connection at the inverter /charger. If you do not read 120V . Check the voltage at the panel where the inverter/charger connection is. Power there but not at the charger/inverter ( bad connection or wire). If you have power at the input connection at the inverter /charger, next check the output voltage at the inverter charger. If no voltage is registered you most likely have the issue that Mike posted a bad transfer switch. If you have output power but the charger is not coming on then you have a bad charger. In both cases you probably need a new inverter /charger. Using the diagram I posted will help you through a process of elimination find the issue with the no charge.

 

[Gin]

In case it helps to run some of the voltage checks that Brian recommends . . .

On my 2019 R31, I can get to the back of the shorepower plug by pulling the rear seat forward and slightly peeling back the insulation on the port wall behind the plug. There is a large cut out behind the insulation that will give you access to the ship side plug connections. That may let you test the incoming AC at the plug, depending on the type of connectors it has (mine is a Smartplug, and the connections are not exposed, so it doesn’t easily work as a testing point).

The next spot to check would be at the ELCI/AC breaker panel behind the seat. You can access those connections from underneath and behind the panel (the area there is open, but tight on my boat). Or remove the screws from the panel and pull it out far enough to get access to the connections to the breaker.

You have a different charger/inverter than I have (ProMariner vs. Kisae) and I’ve never opened mine up to access the connections into and out of it. So I can’t offer advice on that, except that the Kisae manual shows how to get to them and your ProMariner manual likely does as well.

Finally, in the mid-berth, behind the AC panel, you should find a removable access door. On mine, the access door is about a foot long and maybe 8 inches or so wide, with a screw in each of the four corners. Removing that will give you good access to the AC connections on the back of the AC breaker panel, although you will first have to take the protective backs off the modular panels. On mine, there are four of those. You likely only need to remove the top one, which should get you to the connections for the hot and neutral wires coming in through the triplex shorepower cable. Testing there will tell you if you are getting 120 volts from shorepower to the panel.

Before I go near those connections to get access, I turn off all AC at the panel, disconnect the charger/inverter from the house bank, and disconnect the shorepower. Once I have the access opened up, I reconnect only as necessary to test anything. Then, before I close up everything, I go through the same process of making sure that all 120 volt power is first disconnected.

Hope that helps!

Gini