House Battery Issue

[Dumbassbass]

- ABSOLUTELY CORRECT - PARALLEL (GREAT CATCH)

Parallel = Amp Hours Increase (Voltage remains constant)
12 vdc x 2 batteries 60 amp rated = 12 vdc 120 amp hours

Series = Increase Voltage (Ampacity remains constant)
12 vdc x 2 batteries 60 amp rated = 24 vdc 60 amp hours

 

[Elliott]

Also, if you isolate your trolling motor batteries, you may not need a jump box. My trolling motor batteries are isolated with their own mounted shore power charger, and I always recharge them before they reach 50% discharge. Since mine are located on the opposite side of the leaning post platform from the crank and house batteries, I have a standard good quality jumper cable set on board. If I even need a jump, I will just use the jumper cables. Although my trolling motor batteries are wired in series to get 24V, each battery has extra exposed posts to use with the jumper cables for 12V.

 

[justamon]

Okay...I had a similar problem, and am embarrassed to find out how simple the solution ended up for me. The dealer recorded a float day for me prior to delivering my boat. After having trouble with draining my house battery every time and not being able to use my lights and accessories I reviewed the video! It ends up I was supposed to turn on all three switches. After doing that, both batteries are max charge every time I run the boat. I feel so stupid! I replaced the battery twice and had the boat in the local dealership for nothing. The local dealer explained that for some reason the manual was not updated. The one time I read directions and ignore a video! I hope this helps.

 

[gkallevig]

Okay...I had a similar problem, and am embarrassed to find out how simple the solution ended up for me. The dealer recorded a float day for me prior to delivering my boat. After having trouble with draining my house battery every time and not being able to use my lights and accessories I reviewed the video! It ends up I was supposed to turn on all three switches. After doing that, both batteries are max charge every time I run the boat. I feel so stupid! I replaced the battery twice and had the boat in the local dealership for nothing. The local dealer explained that for some reason the manual was not updated. The one time I read directions and ignore a video! I hope this helps.

so im just jumping in here after recently installing a lithium house battery, and finding it drained after 1 week of sitting. Doesn't your battery switch say "emergency parallel" like mine (2016 fsh 190)? If its for emergency, you wouldn't have it on all the time. I"m still trying to figure out why mine drained, no idea yet.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@gkallevig Why did you install a lithium House Battery? How are you charging it? It needs its own dedicated lithium charger either shore, or I believe someone else used a convertor, etc. Pretty sure the engine will not charge a lithium battery with its stator's. By chance did you drain it down before it sat for the week, maybe?

 

[HangOutdoors]

@gkallevig Also even with a converter off the stator it will not be able to charge a lithium to full so you will need to plug it in to shore power to charge it off a lithium charger, most regular chargers will not charge lithium.

Personally, I wouldn't use a lithium as a house battery. If you are looking for a solid higher end house battery I would recommend an AGM TPPL, like a Northstar.

 

[Dumbassbass]

so im just jumping in here after recently installing a lithium house battery, and finding it drained after 1 week of sitting. Doesn't your battery switch say "emergency parallel" like mine (2016 fsh 190)? If its for emergency, you wouldn't have it on all the time. I"m still trying to figure out why mine drained, no idea yet.

A Lithium battery would be used on its own with its own charger and most likely has circuitry preventing the high charge rate of the stator thus preventing damage to itself. Only-Only switch on the "Emergency" switch for jumping purposes. Always have both batteries seperate or you may be left stranded one day, a starting battery is just as it states, if a dealer is telling you different find a reputable dealer.

 

[justamon]

All I know is my 2019 according to the dealership is different regarding the parallel switch. The manual was not updated for the 2019 model. Apparently both batteries charge while under way. Maybe I'm supposed to switch the batter usage to the house battery when not under way.

 

[HangOutdoors]

@justamon I guess it would all depend on how it is wired. Both batteries typically charge while underway via an ACR or some sort of regulating mechanism.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

All I know is my 2019 according to the dealership is different regarding the parallel switch. The manual was not updated for the 2019 model. Apparently both batteries charge while under way. Maybe I'm supposed to switch the batter usage to the house battery when not under way.

@justamon, firstly this wouldn’t be the first time a dealer gave a boat owner bad info regarding the battery switch. Your manual shows that you have the same BEP battery switch as my 2020 FSH, as such this switch has a DVSR (digital voltage sensing relay) that automatically parallels the batteries for charging once the start battery is fully charged by the engines while underway, and also isolates these batteries when the engines are off to keep your start battery full so you won’t get stranded. Running your batteries with the emergency parallel switch on is a prescription for a bad day on the water.

Under normal operation with the house and start batteries turned on and the emergency parallel switch OFF, when the engines are started the start and house batteries are separated until the start battery reaches 13.2 volts, at that time the DVSR switch closes paralleling the house and start batteries, at which time the house battery begins charging, this can be verified by the little red light on the DVSR module being on. When you are floating with the engines off, as the batteries drain down from accessory use and the voltage reaches 12.7 V the DVSR then opens isolating the start and house battery, This can be verified by the little red light on the DVSR module being off. You will also see this little red light turn on when you have your start battery on a charger and is above 13.2 V.

It sounds like the DVSR is not functioning properly. There is a small black wire that comes off of the DVSR / battery switch that needs to be landed on the ground terminal for the DVSR switch to operate properly (this was not connected on a members new boat recently). Make sure this small / thin black wire is not broken and or attached to the negative terminal of the start battery. Once this is done, check the Red light on the DVSR module, if the light is off check the voltage on the start battery, if it is below 13.2 V place a charger on the start battery, as the voltage reaches to 13.2 V you will hear the DVSR switch close and the red light will turn on. It is normal for this red light to be on as long as the voltage on the start battery is between 13.2 and 12.7 V.





another advantage of this type of battery switch is that it automatically isolates the house accessory loads from the starter battery when the engines are started, thereby providing a level of protection from low voltage transients to sensitive electronics like fishfinder’s etc.

 

[gkallevig]

@gkallevig Also even with a converter off the stator it will not be able to charge a lithium to full so you will need to plug it in to shore power to charge it off a lithium charger, most regular chargers will not charge lithium.

Personally, I wouldn't use a lithium as a house battery. If you are looking for a solid higher end house battery I would recommend an AGM TPPL, like a Northstar.

I live in MN so my boat is on and off the water frequently, I have a lithium charger.
I installed the lithium so i had longer run time and better performance for my 12v trolling motor. I know ppl say not to use house battery for trolling motor, i'm doing it anyway.
i realize the stator won't charge my lithium very much, i was just curious why i had it drain over the course of a week. the battery does have a management system to prevent over discharge, so i'm not worried about running it to zero with my equipment.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I live in MN so my boat is on and off the water frequently, I have a lithium charger.
I installed the lithium so i had longer run time and better performance for my 12v trolling motor. I know ppl say not to use house battery for trolling motor, i'm doing it anyway.
i realize the stator won't charge my lithium very much, i was just curious why i had it drain over the course of a week. the battery does have a management system to prevent over discharge, so i'm not worried about running it to zero with my equipment.

One simple answer to the battery draining over a one week period, there is a load on it some where. To eliminate any battery problem, charge it and then disconnect the ground and see how it fares over a week period. Assuming the battery isn’t the problem it’s time to start hunting for a drain, put a multimeter in between the the ground on the battery and the ground lead to determine how big the load / drain is, then start unplugging things to see where it’s at. The first two things that come to my mind are the trolling motor and the bilge pump. Unplug the trolling if you have it plugged in. As I under It, the older style bilge pumps will cycle on every two minutes to check for water.

As far as the motor in your boat charging the lithium battery, I would think it would charge just fine, it will just take a while as there isn’t a lot of charging current available. Lithium batteries can take a charge much faster than a lead acid battery, this can be problematic on a traditional alternator system as the draw is very high, leading to a fried alternator. Some of the newer lithium batteries are pretty smart in both discharge and charging that will prevent this. The charging system in your boat is much better suited to charging a lithium battery as the magnetic field on your rotor is fixed, as such the alternator on your boat is always putting out the maximum it can, and the regulator is shunting the excess voltage to ground.

That’s my two cents worth…hope it helps.

 

[gkallevig]

One simple answer to the battery draining over a one week period, there is a load on it some where. To eliminate any battery problem, charge it and then disconnect the ground and see how it fares over a week period. Assuming the battery isn’t the problem it’s time to start hunting for a drain, put a multimeter in between the the ground on the battery and the ground lead to determine how big the load / drain is, then start unplugging things to see where it’s at. The first two things that come to my mind are the trolling motor and the bilge pump. Unplug the trolling if you have it plugged in. As I under It, the older style bilge pumps will cycle on every two minutes to check for water.

As far as the motor in your boat charging the lithium battery, I would think it would charge just fine, it will just take a while as there isn’t a lot of charging current available. Lithium batteries can take a charge much faster than a lead acid battery, this can be problematic on a traditional alternator system as the draw is very high, leading to a fried alternator. Some of the newer lithium batteries are pretty smart in both discharge and charging that will prevent this. The charging system in your boat is much better suited to charging a lithium battery as the magnetic field on your rotor is fixed, as such the alternator on your boat is always putting out the maximum it can, and the regulator is shunting the excess voltage to ground.

That’s my two cents worth…hope it helps.

Currently no trolling motor is on it and wasn't when it drained, so i'll maybe look into the bilge. Is the bilge wired directly to the battery?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Currently no trolling motor is on it and wasn't when it drained, so i'll maybe look into the bilge. Is the bilge wired directly to the battery?

On my boat it is. There is a fuse holder in the battery compartment for the bilge, this way the bilge pump will work if the battery switches are off.

 

[gkallevig]

On my boat it is. There is a fuse holder in the battery compartment for the bilge, this way the bilge pump will work if the battery switches are off.

Interesting. Assuming mine is rigged the same way, if i were to switch the battery 'off' and it still drained out, the bilge would be left as the only culprit. Seems easy to ID that one the.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Interesting. Assuming mine is rigged the same way, if i were to switch the battery 'off' and it still drained out, the bilge would be left as the only culprit. Seems easy to ID that one the.

Not the only culprit, just the most likely. That’s why you need to put a multimeter in series to make sure it is not something else.

Do you have a 12 volt trolling motor?

 

[HangOutdoors]

Lithium's plateau and then drop off sharply, not a slow decline like other chemistry's. What I believe is that it wasn't being charged up fully off the stator so it was being slowly depleted and not bouncing back up. Short runs and then depletion would do it. Unless you had it on your shore charger after each trip. Then it would only take a little bit of draw, perhaps from your bilge to finish it off.

 

[gkallevig]

Lithium's plateau and then drop off sharply, not a slow decline like other chemistry's. What I believe is that it wasn't being charged up fully off the stator so it was being slowly depleted and not bouncing back up. Short runs and then depletion would do it. Unless you had it on your shore charger after each trip. Then it would only take a little bit of draw, perhaps from your bilge to finish it off.

we're not quite on the same page....i don't rely on my stator to charge my lithium battery; its hooked up, but i charge it separately. when the battery drained, it was fully charged.

 

[gkallevig]

Not the only culprit, just the most likely. That’s why you need to put a multimeter in series to make sure it is not something else.

Do you have a 12 volt trolling motor?

The 12v TM hasn't been installed yet, i just got the lithium in preparation of it.

 

[HangOutdoors]

we're not quite on the same page....i don't rely on my stator to charge my lithium battery; its hooked up, but i charge it separately. when the battery drained, it was fully charged.

Ok, yes then there is was a disconnect somewhere in what I was reading.