Hard start C30

[Tmarkus]

Hey guys,
We have noticed that our C30 has some effort starting if we have been off of shore power for a night. This is particularly concerning since we generally do not draw down on the power when off shore power. We do continue to direct power to the fridge/ice box, but we use a small bluetooth speaker for music, and portable solar lights when on the hook and off SP. We shut down the main switches to the engine and thrusters. We notice adequate amperage (around 13), but definitely notice a major change in effort to start. Any suggestions? We are hoping to take a longer trip into Canadian waters, but are reluctant given this issue.

Thanks,
Troy Markus
Bellingham

 

[Red Raven]

Please clarify "hard to start". Is the starter running slowly or is the engine just taking a longer time to fire up?
Also, is the parallel switch off? It should normally be off. Unless the parallel switch is "on" the power you use from the house battery overnight should not affect the power available to start the engine. They are separate batteries and systems. If your start battery is weak you can test this by turning the parallel switch to "on" (connecting the house battery to the start battery) and then try to start the engine. If it starts up more quickly then you may have a bad start battery.

Curt

 

[10PoundHammer]

I can't speak to the issue of the hard start but it is not the case with my C30 that they are wholly separate battery systems. As a matter of course every night we are on the hook I turn off the engine and thruster batteries and make sure parallel is off. Over the winter when we used the Webasto more often as you would expect, it ran down the house battery more than usual but what was surprising is that it also ran down the engine battery. Not sure why it started to draw on the engine but I'm guessing it has something to do with emergency systems.

Parallel solved the problem - but just. (Talk about a hard start - it fired fine but it was a sloowwww turnover) I had the batteries tested in case they are past their prime and they are fine.

Also unlike my old Ranger 27 there is no low-battery alarm (which I've since installed).

And I've learned to remember that if I've used the thrusters a lot to position the boat in a big wind or current they are fairly depleted when shutting down for the day. Not much use in parallel.

Re the fridge one trick we've adopted is to put a couple of small blocks of artificial ice in the freezer section during the day and move to the main fridge at night. Helps it run less.

Good luck re the battery - be interested to learn what you find.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

I had this after last winter. eventually got to the point where I had to start with parallel switch to house.
batteries were getting close to end of life. swapping out for a new battery fixed the problem.

symptoms were slow cranking with an eventual start. to just a crank and no start.
after you do this a few times you are basically drawing down the voltage and the battery is getting damaged. just making the problem worse.

 

[TBates]

Hi Troy, it sounds to me like possibly an engine battery in need of replacement, how old is the engine battery on your boat? As stated above, the house and the engine banks are completely separate, so having a few devices on using your house bank wouldn't affect the engine battery. When you turn on the engine to house parallel switch (crossover switch) does it start easier? Under normal operation this switch should be in the off position. I would also monitor your engine bank voltmeter to ensure the engine battery holds a charge as it should. The voltage should stay pretty consistent around 12.7-12.8 volts when not connected to shore.

-Tim

 

[Justa Numba]

Once a year I remove each Battery cable, thoroughly clean each post and clamp, put a light coat of dielectric grease, and reconnect and tighten. I think this removes and delays normal oxidation which can build up resistance to current flow both when charging and cranking. (Just a suggestion, but I also remove each fuse, clean the contacts, apply a light film of the dielectric grease and reinsert the fuse. I also do this at each connection on the bonding wire loop - vibration and corrosion are relentless!)

 

[macnmm]

My C30 also has this issue. Andrew looked at it and found that there was a 1 amp draw on the engine battery when the propane was on (to power the solenoid), and that this draw is not switched off with the battery switch (since it has the propane leak alarm as well). So, remember to switch your propane off overnight when on anchor!
That said, even with careful management of the propane switch I still needed to combine with the house bank to start after one night out lately. Engine battery is 3 years old, but otherwise seems healthy. I am curious to hear others' findings, and I will be trying to figure out if other things are drawing it down this weekend.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

1 amp for the solenoid!!? ignorantly this seems like a lot! and thusly why wouldnt that be on the house battery for this reason!?

 

[Tmarkus]

So boat is 2015. Currently she has 326 hours on her. Still smells like a new boat ;-). Switching to parallel definitely helps.
-T