No Ignition and Helm Power

T

Toot541

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 7, 2017
Messages
49
Fluid Motion Model
C-288 C
Vessel Name
Tooter's Tug
There is no power to my 2011 R 29 helm unless the inverter switch is ON. No Garmin or Yanmar dislay and no power to ignition with inverter switch OFF. Inverter switch ON and the Garmin and the Yanmar panel powerup and engine starts.

Is there something I need to fix or is this the way the boat is wired?

Thanks
 
Let's think this through. Your Garmin is powered by the house batteries. The engine start is powered by the engine batteries. Your inverter is powered by the house batteries. with everything off is your engine battery showing fully charged? Why are you turning on your inverter? That should only be used to get 110V to outlets off of your House bank. Or in the up position it is turning on your charger.
There is a switch (most likely on a 2011) that isolates the inverter from the house bank. Do you have the Promarina Combi? This has the charger and inverter together and that is why there is a switch in the battery box to isolate the inverter from the house bank. Are you plugged into shore power? If so and your engine battery is dead then you may be surface charging the engine battery with the inverter switch in the up position and hence that is why the engine is starting.

Take a look at things and report back.
 
Hello,

It sounds like low battery voltage to me. When turning on the inverter/charger combo unit are you flipping the switch up or down? In the up position the unit is in charging mode, and down is the inverter mode. If it were a voltage issue this would explain why everything would turn on as soon as you started charging. As knotflying stated the house and engine batteries are separate banks, so the engine display shouldn't have anything to do with the inverter.

Please feel free to shoot us a call in the office at (253)839-5213 anytime.

-Tim
 
Yes, when I flipped inverter switch to charging I got power to the instruments and could start the engine. I have now changed all the of 4 year old batteries per suggestions and now have power to the instruments except the Yanmar panel and engine dead . Tech jiggled the wires at engine battery and the Yanmar display lit up and engine would start. Battery voltage indication on the Garmin was 11.5V and but 12.6 V on the breaker panel for all banks so we ran the genset for awhile. Finally engine would start consistently but "check engine" warning comes up on the Garmin and the Yanmar panels. Warning can be acknowledged (cleared) and does not reappear and engine continues to run. Tech is bringing his computer today to find out the reason for the check engine warning. Maybe low voltage due to a wire connections.
Thank for the responses everyone!
 
As you mentioned giggling the wires I thought you may want to disconnect each battery cable, clean each post and cable connector as well as check the negative engine block cable for tightness, cleanliness and to make sure it is still in a viable condition. This may or may not be your problem but at least it would rule something out if it does not correct the situation.

Keep us posted as to the final conclusion.

Jim
 
You should be able to read the error code from the display by pushing a sequence of buttons. I do not have my manual with me to look up what sequence. Anyway, as Jim suggested and from the symptoms it sounds like a bad connection. Not only clean things up, but make sure your terminal connections at the wires are also secure and not corroded.
 
Problem solved.... Replaced batteries and cleaned battery connections. Power to helm and engine started but still Check Engine alarm. Copper braided ground strap on engine was removed and corroded connections cleaned. Engine starts and display momentarily flashes check engine but fault immediately clears itself. Thanks again for all of your help!
Tooter's Tug
Ponce Inlet, FL
 
As an aside, I ran a dedicated ground 2/0 straight from the engine battery to the engine block. There were just to many connections from the ground buss by the time it got to the engine. Every connection is a potential of a poor ground.
 
To top your job off you might, unless you did already, pick up some dielectric spray to spray on all of these electric cable connections. This will help prevent future corrosion and help maintain proper electric continuity flow.

Jim
 
OK I spoke to soon! Changed the batteries and helm power and engine starts fine. The check engine alarm went away when I cleaned up the engine ground strap but started up today and the check engine alarm comes on. I could not clear it. My mechanic at the marina said lets go for a ride and see if we get another alarm other than check engine. Of course no alarm as soon as soon as he got on the boat. Fortunately (or not) the check engine alarm sounded as we left the marina. Then quit and cleared when we gave it throttle. This seemed to be the case for an hour. He thinks it may be the fuel filter which my other mechanic has been waiting to get from Yanmar. I should note my boat has been for sale for severaI years and fuel and filter may be an issue. I will let you know what happens with fuel filter but grounding issues are duly noted and next on the list.
Thank You All
Tooter
 
Garmin powered up but no starter ignition when key turned to start. Kept trying and did get a low system voltage indication momentarily on the Garmin. After checking the new batteries and fiddling with the switch the engine did start. More slight fiddling with the key switch collar and the engine sputtered. Hands off and engine kept running.
The key switch seems to be temperamental or sloppy... should I replace the switch or is there a way to repair this?
 
When starting the engine it won't be unusual to get a low voltage alarm on the Garmin because of the large draw. Before replacing the switch I would check all the connections. If the connections look good and you are ambitious you may want to take the switch out and fiddle with it on the bench using an ohm meter or continuity tested and see if you can replicate your problem and determine it is the switch. It could be your starter also, most likely the solenoid.
 
Bad grounding straps can cause a lot of problems like this. I would completely replace it if you haven't. I replaced mine with 1/0 gauge battery wire, since I've found that sufficient length grounding straps with the right sized connectors are difficult to find.
 
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