Hi, I have followed this thread with interest. Given the state of the electrical connections in the photos how far does this type of mess extend through the rest if the boat and engine controls? With rusty and corroded connections in the circuit you will be fighting an uphill battle to identify and repair the culprit. Something as simple as a loose connection could be causing your charger to go berserk by it being unable to sense what is actually happening to the batteries and just doing what it was designed and built to do - provide a charge current to a demand for it.
Ha Ha.. No, actually that is the WORST thing on the boat.. My bilges are white and you can practically eat off them.. LOL..had my crew wash and wax both engines last week..
I agree with K1W1 on this. Any one of the crimped wires could have resistance on it from corrosion. This in itself could be messing up this system. It will be interesting to see how this is resolved.
rust How long was the boat under water for. I have seen less corrosion on a boat being sold from a certain marina up the New River that reportedly had a little water in it but had sand and crabs inside the tower station. Try cleaning the things that matter and stop polishing the bilges.
Hi, The blue and white wire looks like it could be attached to a diode, better view of the end of it in the first photo in the lower right hand corner.
this thing belongs in a trash bin! disconnect it now before it starts a fire and the insurers decline the claim.
I agree, get a new battery charger or a new owner. I've thrown away working battery chargers that were 20 years old that looked much much better than that thing.......Put your foot down and tell the owner "we NEED a new battery charger" It sounds to me like you fried a DDEC circuit board as well......
LOL... Tying to do just that.... Had a DEEC electronic Tech here this weekend and he went thru the systems w/ me and says the same thing.... Change out the charger, get some clean voltage... Get the software and patch cords to use the computer to see what is actually going on with them, and in the meantime swap ECM's to see if the sensors ref follows etc. He says my 1st. and foremost problem is the voltage and grounds etc.
Ha... There is a water-maker above and to stdb of the constavolt... Evidently a year or so ago sprang a leek and blew water all over both chargers.... It was all cleaned up and some resistors changed and the owner says they have been working fine ever since.... Well not anymore.. Too far gone... (FYI I have my crewman polish the engines and bilge...)
I am looking for a constavolt 24volt and at least 75 amps as that was / is the output of my old one.. I don't think I can put a smaller one in.. Though am seriously thinking about a Charles series 5000 60 amp one... They don't make a 75 amp, and their 80 amp is 3 times the price because it goes up to there next level of chargers.. LOL.. I like the 9000 series but they don't make one at the amps I need.. Can anyone point me in the direction of a supplier at a decent price?? I have found them on eBay, but if I try to go to a retailer, they double + the price...
Your in the corner of the CHECK BOOK ZONE. Rod Serling could of not done better here. Who is cheaper, the captain, the charger or anybody who can patch it to run another day? You may be worth your sweat in gold, But I think you have been abused enough. The owners investment, the underwriters premium, your salary, cost of maintenance done rite, comes down to "ebay battery chargers"? Other than the pilot for another reality show (humm) it's time for somebody to put out some properly pointed bux.. Or, are you the owner? Then shame on you. Put out some correctly pointed bux and go fishing. It's a boat (bust out another thou$and)..
Nope... Not the owner.. Just a frustrated Captain who wants to get underway.... I have enough projects on the boat w/o this DDEC hanging over my head.. But, I am happy to be on a ex-famous 68 custom sportfish boat in the Caribbean.. and the intention of going south when we get a solution to my DDEC problems...
I must appoligize as the engines are 16V92 Ta's... NOT 12's.. I didn't catch it till it was too late to edit...
And your engines were marinized by Stewart and Stevens which you rarely see in the DD world. I've seen 1 set marinized by them in my life.....also ddec's but 8v92's......you can tell by the Westerbeke red paint color they used....... Trust me on this......just get the proper charger.......spend the money and don't get some old used Constavolt of unknown origion on Craigs list......either that......or install 2 chargers and have one do the engine bank and the other the house depending on what loads you are seeing......such as the 60amp for the house and a 30 amp for the engine bank, depending on how your battery banks are allocated.....etc etc...........You're running a yacht and sometimes you just have to spend the money to repair things that are broken.
Love these engines too.. Balanced blueprinted, and numbered by Penski.. Friend of Ben Gannett, who had this boat custom built... SO, they tell me.... My house and 12 volt engine DDEC batteries are charged by the 12 volt constavolt.. 4 batts in 3 banks of 2,(actueal house).. and 1 port engine. and 1 stdb engine.. My 24v charges the 2 8D banks of 2ea in series..(total 4). And each side is connected to the battery load equalizers for the DDEC system along w/ the 12v engine batteries.......
2 8D's are borderline for starting 16v92's when you look at the cranking power you need to start them. However, if the only thing the 24 volt Constavolt is charging are 2 banks of 2 8D's, I don't see why you cannot install a 60amp charger to charge them. Especially if you have a battery parallel. The only time you'd have an issue is if they will not start and you have to attempt to start them multiple times. However, a 75amp charger is not going to recover them that much faster than a 60amp in the real thick of things.
AHh... The engines both have (2 ea) starters that draw off both sets of 24 volt batts they tell me in the DDEC manual... Also I can hear it draw the engine down (usually Port) when I try to start the stdb, unless I have a full, and I mean FULL charge to the stdb batts.. EVEN though the main ING box has port and stbd selector switches.... My problem, is the constavolt now charges the heck out of each of the 2ea/12 series in a short amount of time , running my digital displays up to 32 volts in about 1 minute... I turn it off and it drops down to 25 volts.. Still usually does not crank the stdb engine unless I let it charge for about 3-4 minutes and crank it w/ the constavolt powered up...
Are you certain your 12v supply to the DDEC comes off your house batteries? On my 12v92 DDECs I have 24v starting batteries and alternators and the DDECs get 12v by pulling off of one of the 8d batteries tht are in series for starting. The problem with this set up is it draws one battery down and overcharges the other. I get voltage spikes of over 32 volts when this happens due to unbalanced batteries and weird loads on the alternators. In my system I sometimes get a low voltage alarm on my DDEC and put a meter on the two 8ds and find one at 11v and the other at 16v. I'm in the process of installing dedicated 12v batteries for the DDECs to get them off the 24v bank. I've ordered a 24 input, 12v output battery to battery charger so I can stil charge all the batteries from my 24v alternators. This will allow my 24v banks to stay balanced and equalized. Your problem sounds similiar to what I've experienced. And if you are getting your 12v supply from the house bank I would change that. The DDEcs use a lot of power as the injectors are 12v. My 12v92s use upwards of 35 amps, so your 16s are gonna use even more.