More electrical issues/question/problems

J

Jfrano

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 12, 2018
Messages
465
Fluid Motion Model
C-30 CB
Vessel Name
June Sea
So a few more electrical questions our new R29CB. Boat is sitting on trailer. I have shore power connected to AC1. The two AC panels for AC1 are powered on and all the breaker lights are green. I’m not able to turn on the TVs, radio, bathroom lights, flush toilet, bedroom center ceiling lights. Additionally, the stove is not working, have gas in propane tanks am not hearing gas at stove when opening values.
Should these items work off AC?

Oh and I still haven’t been able to operate the windlass.

Any help greatly appreciated.
 
All the items that won’t turn on are low voltage (12VDC). That is also probably why the windlass is not working. Is your battery switch on? Does your low voltage panel meter show something over 12V?
 
Tried battery switch to House and yes gauge reading 12.8v I think .
 
Some boats have fresh water flush toilets, and some have raw water flush. If yours is raw water, the boat must be in the water with the seacock open in order to flush.
As for the propane to the stove, there may be a small control panel near the stove with a solenoid switch that you have to turn on to get gas flow. It then takes a few minutes for the gas to get through the line to the stove.
 
Make sure the “battery bank” switch is in position 1 to show house bank voltage (there are 3 positions). Voltage should actually read over 13V if you have been plugged in to shore power for awhile. But everything should work fine at 12.8V. If you show good voltage in position 1, make sure your circuit breakers on the low voltage panel are turned on for all the circuits you want to be “live.” If you show good voltage on the DC panel for the house bank, all the circuit breakers are on, and still none of your low voltage devices are working, that is extremely strange. I’m not sure where your meter is hooked in to the house bank but I would want to manually measure the voltage at the house battery switch, and also to make sure the cable to the DC breaker panel is actually connected to the battery switch.
 
Just noticed the Inverter panel throwing an E01; input battery voltage too low.
 
I am guessing you are not truly plugged in to shore power and that the AC panel meter was showing line voltage because your inverter was on. Your inverter would normally be in “charge mode” if you are plugged in to shore power and you will see the display near the DC breaker panel indicating the battery is being charged. While on shore power the battery meter (especially for the house bank which gets charging voltage first) should read somewhere around 13.4V.

Additional Edit: If the cable that you are using for shore power is live, check your ELCI breaker (it should be very near your plug-in for shore power) to make sure it isn’t tripped. If so, turn it back on.
 
Thanks for good info. I think the issue, is related. The 30 to 15 amp cable I’m using, it is not twist lock, so I wonder if this is the issue affecting incoming voltage. Ordering new/different cable.
 
If your battery voltage is low and they are not charging, it would be good to eliminate any further drain until you can get them charging again, since a battery’s life expectancy is diminished when discharged below 50 or 60 percent or so. In general, the further they are discharged, the greater the impact.
 
Yeah, last night I was thinking about the battery banks. I went to the Marina this morning in the pouring rain , to check. Their all over 13 volts.

So the E01 low input voltage on the inverter I was getting when connected to shore power, was that the shore power voltage that was being measured? The batteries look good (thank goodness)!
 
The inverter low battery voltage should have nothing to do with shore power as I understand it. This is getting to be above my pay grade. Maybe a better mind than mine can chime in here. If it were me, I would want to double check that I was actually measuring house bank voltage (not crank battery or thruster battery) at over 13V. If so, I would want to check the cable connection that goes directly from the battery bank to the inverter. If there were a loose connection, the resistance in the connection could cause a voltage drop across the connection that would cause the battery voltage to appear low. Beyond that I would want to troubleshoot the inverter itself.
 
Maybe a dumb question. Is there a panel with specific labeled DC breakers like the AC panel. I do see all the fuses behind the mirror in the head.

Thanks,
Joe
 
Lots of good suggestions posted here. At any time recently (winter storage) have the battery terminals been disconnected from there posts? If so and this did happen with me, I overlooked reconnecting one of the cables to a house battery. When this happened I had a similar situation, like you described. Because its the simplest resolution to a problem a stray cable not being reconnected is often overlooked as a solution. Just a thought.

Jim F
 
I had the dealer replace all the batteries, under warranty as the model was a 2 year left over.
 
I think Jim’s suggestion to check the battery cables is an excellent idea. And as to a separate DC panel, apparently the R-29 does not have one as such, so you can disregard my reference to a low voltage breaker panel. I believe you have fuse panels that control your low voltage circuits. Of course your 3-position switched battery meter is incorporated into your AC panel. I’m not sure what other differences there may be in the electrical system from my R-31. Maybe someone with an R-29 can give further help here.
 
Hi Joe, I have the same model boat. Did you download the manual? It's now on this site.

There's two sets of DC breakers. The ones you found behind the mirror and another set behind the door in the cubby to the left of the AC panels.

As noted "TVs, radio, bathroom lights, flush toilet, bedroom center ceiling lights" all run off DC. Do you have anything that does come on? It does seem unusual that so many things aren't coming on. Regardless of what's happening with the inverter these things should come on if the batteries have power - and of course the breakers are good. Have you switched the House Battery on? This is under the round cover on the port side of the cockpit.

Eric
 
Have WO in for electrician to resolve. In talking with Fluid Motion and salesman, The Battery Bank switch were redesigned after 2017, as they suffered high failure rates from weight of heavy battery cables. Were redesigned to use stronger SS components. This or reconnecting the batteries incorrectly, when replacing, are the leading suspects. Will know in the next few days. Will post cause as soon as I hear.
Thanks much,
 
Anyone know if this is true...from my salesman

“I had a chance to talk with our shop foreman this morning about your boat; he seems to feel there may be “Main Circuit Breaker” on a DC breaker panel on the aft wall of the small bedroom in the aft starboard side of the main cabin that is likely off.

Does this breaker exist in the back of the cave is what I’m reading above. If so I’d take a ride out to the marina after work
And crawl into the back of the cave, which is actually forward.
Thanks,
Joe
 
The breaker panel he is referring to is aft, just as you step down into the cave. Our boat is a 2012, and a lot has changed, but we don't have a DC MAIN breaker. Just several individual breakers. There is an AC MAIN breaker, but that would not affect the DC circuits.
 
The only actual DC breakers I am aware of (I also checked the boat's wiring diagram in the owners manual) are:

1. Windlass breaker behind dash, accessible through the panel in the head.
2. Individual, push to reset, breakers over each of the DC panel switches at the helm(s) and in the cockpit
3. 2-50A and 1-150A breakers that isolate: (1) the CB fuse block from the house batteries, (2) the Cave fuse block from the house batteries and (3) the Helm fuse blocks and Windlass from the house batteries. On my boat, these breakers are located in the port lazarette along with house batteries and ACRs.

The rest of the DC isolations are fuses and switches associated with panels, sub panels or individual loads.

My boat does not have any breakers in the Cave.

Assuming all of the battery cables were properly reinstalled during the battery replacement process and, based on what you are seeing, I would definitely check the isolation breakers in the lazarette (item 3 above). If no DC loads are powering up and the house batteries are good/properly connected, the only components common to all are the house battery switch and the breakers discussed in item 3 above. If some DC loads are powering up, then the issue is not the battery switch but may be one or more of the breakers in item 3 above or fuses at the panel/sub panel level.

The inverter error code E01 indicates the inverter is not getting DC voltage to invert to AC but I think it is a separate issue than what's causing you to not get DC power to the loads you mentioned. There is an inverter isolation switch in the port lazarette, as well, which may be off and it is in line with the 300A fuse right next to it. The only thing between the inverter and your house batteries are this fuse and switch, so the breakers/switches in item 3 above don't affect power to the inverter. If you have SP connected, AC power will still be supplied by the inverter (the outlet on the inverter will work) but it will not charge the batteries with the low DC voltage condition, so if no DC voltage is present in the inverter circuitry, you will get E01 whether you have SP connected or not.

Good luck!
 
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