2017 242X Solar panels not working

[Glen]

Just to 'complete the loop' on my solar issue-
Changed the connection on the port side tower connection-
Changed the 5A fuse (again)-
Checked batteries early Sun AM (pre-sun) and had 12.96, on both-
6 hours later, when home from church, and sunny, batteries were reading 13.4 (Charging!; these are Sears AGM batteries)

MOST IMPORTANTLY, found a new wear point for those with towers. Wires appear to be reinforced from the manufacturer, with covers and electric tape, but mine in the 4th season was wearing through.
Added another layer of electric tape-

 

[Westtodd]

Does anyone have a picture of the BACK of the 'Battery Switch' # 9 in the diagram above. The wires on mine go to slightly different locations than the diagram shows and I am wondering if this is contributing to my battery drain issue.
Thank!

 

[ToddW850]

So checked the battery after work today.

View attachment 63363

So YES it is charging now!

Went up top and pulled the cover

View attachment 63364

So I swapped the positive and negative lead and hooked everything back up. When the starter battery wasn't hooked up the red light was blinking indicating it was charging the house battery and when I hooked up the starter battery it went off indicating it was charging the starter battery. All is right in the world again and I can get some sleep now.

Hey @jcyamaharider what red blinking light were you referring to? I want to make sure mine is charging. I've only assumed it was. Recently blew the fuse for the solar panel and I don't know why.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Hey @jcyamaharider what red blinking light were you referring to? I want to make sure mine is charging. I've only assumed it was. Recently blew the fuse for the solar panel and I don't know why.

The red light on the dsvr. It may not have been blinking, just on.

 

[ToddW850]

The red light on the dsvr. It may not have been blinking, just on.

Found it. Had to lean in to see the actual light on it. Mine is a steady red. So if the light is red, then it's charging my batteries right?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Found it. Had to lean in to see the actual light on it. Mine is a steady red. So if the light is red, then it's charging my batteries right?

It is charging I believe the house side. If the light is off it should be charging the start side. Could be opposite but I think it is the way I typed.

 

[ToddW850]

@jcyamaharider is this the light we are talking about? Because I went out at 9pm last night (dark) and the red light was still on. Reason I'm trying to figure all this out is because 2 days this week I've gone out and my battery almost died while anchored.

 

[jcyamaharider]

@jcyamaharider is this the light we are talking about? Because I went out at 9pm last night (dark) and the red light was still on. Reason I'm trying to figure all this out is because 2 days this week I've gone out and my battery almost died while anchored.

View attachment 119379View attachment 119380

That is the light

 

[ToddW850]

That is the light

Cool. But it should not be on at night, right? I didn't have it hooked up to anything (external power).

 

[jcyamaharider]

Cool. But it should not be on at night, right? I didn't have it hooked up to anything (external power).

That is correct.......seems like you have a draw somewhere.

 

[ToddW850]

That is correct.......seems like you have a draw somewhere.

I knew it! Haha. Okay thank you for the info and allowing me to better you.

 

[jcyamaharider]

With that light on I would put a DMM on your house battery and see what it is doing.

 

[JimL]

I checked voltage on the tower connector and it was around 16.5V closer to 6pm (still sunny but fairly close to sunset). Interesting observation is that there is a red and a black wires coming from the panel and polarity looks good because I had positive 16.5V. The bottom connector going to battery compartment had red and white wires. What I noticed is that the red wire of the bottom connector connects to the black wire of the top connector. Strange that the other wire of the bottom connector is white and not black but guessing this is where they messed up polarity. It's hard to see in the battery compartment where connections go. That said, my solar panels must be wired from the battery side because with all battery switches off and fully drained start battery I saw negative voltage from the solar panels and could remove it by covering panels. This is also what the dealer had told me.

My numbers are not too far from those. It is a bit frustrating to see that drastic change.
With that said, have never had an issue while on the water, nor with the solar recharging for the next adventure.
Frankly, in Bimini for 9 days and never plugged the boat in. Didn't bring a charger. And never had an issue. Now we did more moving than sitting in Bimini and charging sun was near ideal, but the engine and solar charging took care of everything.

Until this season (solar not working), I have not been compelled to resolve this non-issue. I would like more accurate readings of each of my batteries and certainly, there has been a lot written on Yamaha flaws in design/execution, but my utilization model barely gets me towards the yellow zone of concern (battery consumption), so will invest time when return is worthy (or @swatski or @Julian figure it out and I'll do what they recommend ;-).

Vlad/JCYamaha/Glen/Todd - I’m having similar charge issues with my ‘20 242XE.
I’ve read the entire thread and it seems you found some workarounds (e.g. red to black connection on the panel, etc.). What is the correct final wiring configuration?

Specifically, I’m interested in knowing for the mass of leads to the batteries. Do you have what leads go to what batteries (e.g. SP+ to House+, round 1 to Start-, Lead A to ??, etc.)

 

[JimL]

Just to 'complete the loop' on my solar issue-
Changed the connection on the port side tower connection-
Changed the 5A fuse (again)-
Checked batteries early Sun AM (pre-sun) and had 12.96, on both-
6 hours later, when home from church, and sunny, batteries were reading 13.4 (Charging!; these are Sears AGM batteries)

MOST IMPORTANTLY, found a new wear point for those with towers. Wires appear to be reinforced from the manufacturer, with covers and electric tape, but mine in the 4th season was wearing through.
Added another layer of electric tape-

View attachment 101410

I’m having similar charge issues with my ‘20 242XE. I’ve read the entire thread and it seems you found some workarounds (e.g. red to black connection on the panel, etc.). What is the correct final wiring configuration?

Specifically, I’m interested in knowing for the mass of leads to the batteries. Do you have what leads go to what batteries (e.g. SP+ to House+, round 1 to Start-, Lead A to ??, etc.)

 

[ToddW850]

@JimL I'm still trying to figure mine out. My boat is currently at the dealer getting looked at.

 

[Lmrowen]

The 17V readings others have taken directly from the solar panels may be the open circuit voltage when no current is bring drawn. Could be when charging under load the voltage from the solar could fall to the 13-14V range. Only way to tell is to measure volts with all wiring connected. If so it may not need a charge controller.

 

[Cambo]

There is fuse that is part of the circuit to the solar panels . Its very easy to blow the fuse if the batteries are out of the boat and any of the terminals touch while the sun is shining it will burn out the fuse. I was checking to see what battery bank it charges and I had no voltage at the battery terminals . I probed the connector on the port side of the tower and had 17v in sunlight but nothing at the battery until the fuse was replaced unfortunately there is no charge controller

 

[Lmrowen]

There is fuse that is part of the circuit to the solar panels . Its very easy to blow the fuse if the batteries are out of the boat and any of the terminals touch while the sun is shining it will burn out the fuse. I was checking to see what battery bank it charges and I had no voltage at the battery terminals . I probed the connector on the port side of the tower and had 17v in sunlight but nothing at the battery until the fuse was replaced unfortunately there is no charge controller

Can you say where the fuse was?

 

[Cambo]

In post #90 of this thread @Vlad posted a picture of the fuse holder next to the battery switches . You can look closely at the picture and see solar labeled on the outside of the fuse box

 

[NewBoater]

Today in our 2018 242X sitting listening to music at the cove house battery dropped to 12.3 and went back to 12.4 stayed in that area for an hour or so. Does that mean my panel is working or not working? What’s a fair house number to see after 30 min to an hour sitting listening to music with the boat off? They went right back up to higher numbers as soon as I fired off the engines.