On board charger not charging

[Duffman]

Batteries and charger(ProSport 12) are on their 3rd summer. I hooked it up to charge after a short outing and it didn't indicate that it was charging, thought it was a little strange but blew it off at the time.

Took out the boat last night and pretty much ran the batteries down, forgot to hook up when I got home so I did it this morning, didn't indicate that it was charging once again. The power light functions, the charging light doesn't.

So what's up, charger or the batteries take a dive? Loose connection? All advice and weird responses welcome.

[marine_man]

Wierd responses.. well, where to start

I'm thinking charger. If you have a multimeter you could measure the amp output on the leads when they're not connected to the battery.

The other option would be to put a battery you know is good (starting battery, etc) and see what the charger does with that.

You could try connecting jumper cables to the charging leads and then connect to the starting battery just to see if it's the battery or not - that would save some time in re-connecting another battery.

marine_man

[dan z]

yup use a multimeter and see if their is a full "loop"

[PerchJerker]

I agree, sounds like the charger. I would test the output with a multimeter as the others suggested.

[ChuckN]

My Guest charger had been acting like that on/off for awhile, and this past weekend one bank refused to charge. I got sick of testing this/that to find out one or the other battery insufficiently charged. I didn't feel comfortable it was shutting down properly when the batteries were fully charged...

I bought a new Dual Pro charger from Perchjerker the other day. Anyone looking for electronics, take a peek at what he has to offer. Great prices and selection!

[Fredd]

I had a charger that I had to bump (with a firm object) to get it to start charging. I was needing to bump it harder each time, so I finally took it apart and found a loose connection on the circuit board. I soldered it and have not had a problem at all this year. I would check the output like the others have said and if its charging when the indicator is not showing so, you probably have a battery issue. Otherwise, you will have to start looking in the direction of the charger.

[raymondk]

Make sure that your conections are good each hookup has a fuse in each end they only push togetheri had the same thing happen to me with the samecharger i think I unhooked onew of the leads when i shoved a rain suit in the same compartment mine will not charge if one of the leads is disconnected

[berke99]

I have never had an on board charger. I've heard that the on board chargers usually only last 3 to 5 years. Is this really true? I have 2 battery chargers. Since I now have a 24 volt trolling motor I just use the 2 chargers. The on board chargers seem to be very expensive, especially if they only last a few years.

[harvey lee]

I had a less expensive one on my last boat that was a 3 bank and that one lasted 4 years. I agree that its a short time for a additional charger.

Now, I use a smaller charger and just own two and hook up after every trip. Works well only a little more work.

[PerchJerker]

I think some of the lower price chargers are not as durable.

The first on-board charger I had only lasted 2-3 years and it was one of the cheapest ones you could buy.

My second on-board charger was a middle-of-the-road Guest charger and it was still going strong after 6 years when I sold the boat it was mounted in.

My current charger is a Dual Pro which I think are top of the line. It's in it's 4th year and has been perfect so far. And it's mounted in the very front of my boat where it takes the most pounding.

Speaking for myself, before I had on-board chargers I didn't take as good of care of my batteries ---- didn't charge them soon enough or often enough, didn't get them to full charge, didn't keep them at full charge between uses, etc. Now it's a simple part of my routine in putting the boat away to plug in my on-board charger. I know I've extended the life and performance of my batteries and think that over time the chargers pay for themselves.

[marine_man]

I've heard of dual pro chargers lasting beyond 7-10 years... if they're well built they'll last. You get what you pay for.

marine_man

[Duffman]

Thanks guys, it ended up being a loose/coroded connection. Found it right away, I guess I could've checked first before asking, but what the heck, got some good info out of the thread. Thanks again.

[marine_man]

Those are the best kinds of fixes! No money spent!

marine_man