Dreamboat276 Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 Howdy. I'm in a real quandary. A befuddlement. A puzzle inside a conundrum. I had a repair shop add a second house battery (in parallel with the first house battery) to my 2006 Sig 276 as I use a cpap and wanted extra battery power. On my first outing after installation, my house batteries powered down and would not charge back up. I've run the boat with batt #1 (engine) and batt #2 (house) switches on and my emergency parallel switch off, which is how it's noted in the user's manual, what I've read on this forum, and on the battery switch panel itself. Up until the added house batt, when I lost power in the night, I could run the engine or the generator and the batteries would power up, with the red VSR light showing charging was taking place, and after 30 minutes or so, had enough power to get me through the rest of the night. This time out though, after the second house batt installation, I could never get the red light to come on after I lost power to my cpap in the middle of the night. So back into the shop the boat went. This morning I got the call from the guy who did the original installation. He's told me that, after putting a meter on the batteries, the batteries charge just fine with the engine running WHEN THE PARALLEL SWITCH IS TURNED ON--AND ONLY WHEN THE PARALLEL SWITCH IS TURNED ON. Turn the emergency parallel switch off and there is no charge being sent to the batteries. WTH? I trust him in that he used a meter to make sure of this, checking it three times he said. I'll get it back once my new bimini is finished and be able to confirm this myself (I'm headed to Lake Powell for two and this is kinda important!) with my own meter, but can anyone share their thoughts on this? Have you ever had such a thing happen? Is there a ghost in the machine? Thank you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Iggy Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 It sound like he left a wire off from the VSR. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cyclops2 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Maybe the charger can not accept the current demand of 2 run down batteries. That seems very obvious to me. Forcing the charger to charge so much of a starting load ...........Will destroy the charger much quicker. Contact the charger company. The mechanic is wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phillbo Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 16 hours ago, Iggy said: It sound like he left a wire off from the VSR. This was my thought as well..... Something is not right with the wiring. You should never need to use the emergency parallel switch (if it is what I am thinking it is)... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dreamboat276 Posted June 4, 2020 Author Share Posted June 4, 2020 Iggy, he says he never touched the VSR. He tells me he only added a second house battery by installing the battery and then connecting it in parallel to the existing house batt. That's all he said he did. So more than likely then, this goes back to the charger itself and how it might not be able to charge the two house batts that are in parallel, as Cyclops2 mentions above? But why? If they're in parallel, it's as if there's just one battery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Iggy Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 1 hour ago, Dreamboat276 said: Iggy, he says he never touched the VSR. He tells me he only added a second house battery by installing the battery and then connecting it in parallel to the existing house batt. That's all he said he did. So more than likely then, this goes back to the charger itself and how it might not be able to charge the two house batts that are in parallel, as Cyclops2 mentions above? But why? If they're in parallel, it's as if there's just one battery. I don't think its the charger. The ground or Pos wire from the VSR could have been connected to the existing battery. Have you traced the wired back? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dreamboat276 Posted June 6, 2020 Author Share Posted June 6, 2020 At this point, and thanks to the Chaparral Boat Owners page in FB, it looks like the problem is not having a battery isolator between the two house deep cycle batteries. I've ordered a smart isolator, essentially a VSR that I'll install between the two. I'll report back if this is indeed a solution. Many thanks to all that gave their time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Iggy Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 On 6/6/2020 at 12:12 AM, Dreamboat276 said: At this point, and thanks to the Chaparral Boat Owners page in FB, it looks like the problem is not having a battery isolator between the two house deep cycle batteries. I've ordered a smart isolator, essentially a VSR that I'll install between the two. I'll report back if this is indeed a solution. Many thanks to all that gave their time. In your first post you said that you have a VSR. Why install a 2nd one? You just need to check the connections. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cyclops2 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 There are diode isolators. IF IF your your alternator and VSR are the type that ONLY charge 1 battery at a time. Some VSRs do both at once. Others do the lowest one first. The switch to the other. Then do both at once as a topping charge. Your VSR May be damaged & stuck on BOTH all the time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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