R25 electrical issues

[shawnpb]

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right troubleshooting direction.
The other day my thrusters, bow and aft, would not work, only clicked when i moved the joysticks. Since thrusters and anchor share the same battery, I tried lowering the anchor. It only clicked, zero operation of both thrusters and anchor. I went directly to battery, load test showed failure, pulled battery (West Marine Group27 MCA 1050 same as starter battery) & west marine tested & showed same failure. Starter battery tested ok. I decided to use the new battery for the starter and older battery for thrusters and anchor. I install everything only to find that now nothing works....motor only clicks, wont turn over and all DC voltages go to zero when I engage the starter. Thrusters and anchors only click as well when operated. I swapped batteries for lack of a better idea, but same result. Tried isolating the issue, but no luck. Some strange symptoms: If i turn off my trickle charger at the AC panel, all DC voltages go to zero. If I try disconnecting the trickle charger out of the circuit, all DC voltages go to zero...very scary. All batteries load test perfectly, my DC voltages at the helm meter read 13+VDC.
Somehow, my trickle charger (ProSport20Plus) is my only clue of some bigger issue. I'm lacking ideas.. anybody have any thoughts??? Thx in advance!!

 

[knotflying]

Could be a coincidence that you had a bad battery, but I would check all my connections. Make sure every connection is tight and corrosion free. This would include all grounds as well. Check all busses as well. The fact that you are a classic all the connections should be examined and cleaned if necessary. It may have been a long time since that has been done. The engine battery connects to a terminal bolt down on the hull make sure that is clean and corrosion free as well. And as an aside, did you make sure everything got reconnected properly?

 

[shawnpb]

Yes, I've gone over every connection and switch position many times. The connections are pretty straight forward, but I hear ya!. I've been looking at each buss closely and cleaning connections with a wire brush. I'll continue doing that. It's very possible I disturbed a ground somewhere, but it's such a drastic change from starting perfectly to loading down my entire DC system. Something changed and the fact that disconnecting my trickle charger loads down my entire DC system is not right. Back at it Thanks!

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Seems I recall the ground wire that connects to the engine corrodes and breaks off on occasion, might not be your issue but it’s worth a check if you have not checked.

Jim F

 

[BB marine]

Take a look at the wiring diagram. The 25 classics were the first designs and had some in my opinion sketchy wiring designs. They worked but had some variables. Does your boat have an isolator ? If so check it to make sure it is functioning. As Jim stated check every ground make sure good contact, clean and tight. the same with all Battery Plus leads. The fact that you are seeing 13V+ at the helm is telling you that the house bank is staying charged and getting charged. The charger (ProSport20Plus) has three outputs should charge all banks if it is working properly. It is designed to isolate the other battery banks. The thruster should have no tie in to the engine battery except for the isolator. This is an area I would look at.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=39

 

[shawnpb]

Thank you all! Issue resolved....it was the one of the ground busses, the one far left if looking at the battery bank. The one I hadn't checked prior to my post. Once everything came back to life, I systematically went over each ground, scraped & cleaned each connection & reassembled. All systems are solid. Original issue was the battery, bad cell, but removing & replacing it disturbed the corroded ground bus. Thanks again for the advice.