Battery paralleling is not working

[gskill]

I have the 2006, 34 Mainship pilot, twin 4 cylinders, which I recently purchased. I am a little confused about the location of my battery parallel device. I see two solenoids in the aft battery compartment. one to the left of my twin on/off switches and one on the right. I have 2-4D batteries and 1 smaller one. Is one of these solenoids the parallel or is it located somewhere else. A picture would help if available. Thanks George

 

[High Wire]

Does your boat have a wiring diagram?

 

[ofer]

A picture would help if available. Thanks George

yes it would

 

[DavidM]

I am not sure what those solenoids are for. Are they part of the engine, in which case they are just starting solenoids. Any combiner would have a label, say from Yandina or Blue Seas indicating what they are. And in general you don't parallel batteries for starting except in an emergency when one battery is dead.

You probably have a 1,2,all switch. Won't that switch parallel the batteries when set to all?

David

 

[OldDan1943]

You probably have a 1,2,all switch. Won't that switch parallel the batteries when set to all?

David

 

[Bmarler]

i wouldn't think you'd have more than one parallel solenoid. could be wrong though. having a remote solenoid is nice though, i like it better than the 1-2-all switch. push a button and start the engine. civilized.

 

[gskill]

Thanks for all the input. I don't have a 1-2-all switch however do have a toggle switch on the helm that rocks both up and down when pressed. I'm sure it feeds the battery parallel device as it is labeled accordingly however it is not working and I am attempting to repair. I did located the two solenoids discussed above and am in the process of replacing both, as they were extremely rusty. I'm not sure they will remedy jumping the batteries, in the case of a non-starting issue.

 

[gskill]

attached are the relays and location. There is a picture of the OEM replacement. the one on the starboard side is one I had laying around. I am replacing both with the model and make of the existing relays. hopefully this address the issue. if not I will continue to research.

Thansk George

 

[ranger58sb]

I don't have a 1-2-all switch however do have a toggle switch on the helm that rocks both up and down when pressed.

FWIW, I've read that two-way "parallel" rockers like that use one bank as primary if you press the UP side, and another bank as primary if you press the DOWN side. I suspect that's about having enough juice in the "primary" to energize the solenoid.

-Chris

 

[gskill]

Makes sense. I’ll install the solenoids and see if the problem is remedied.

 

[fgarriso]

attached are the relays and location. There is a picture of the OEM replacement. the one on the starboard side is one I had laying around. I am replacing both with the model and make of the existing relays. hopefully this address the issue. if not I will continue to research.

Thansk George

What's wrong with the pictures?

Did anyone notice all the electrical switches and breakers down in the bilge?

 

[High Wire]

That’s the smallest crosstie wire I’ve ever seen.

 

[JDCAVE]

In the second photo, there’s a lot of corrosion on those connections. Worthwhile cleaning that up in case there’s a continuity issue going on.

Jim

 

[Bmarler]

What's wrong with the pictures?

Did anyone notice all the electrical switches and breakers down in the bilge?

i did see that. seems a little unusual for switch and panel placement. i know picture angles can be deceiving, but that bilge pump looks like it's just under those battery switches.
i also agree with the post that mentioned the wire size. i've never seen a parallel solenoid use #10 wire for starting an engine with a dead battery. there has to be more going on somewhere. if those are indeed the actual parallel contactors intended to start the engine the wire needs to be upsized, unless it only takes 30 amps to turn the starter. (pretty unlikely)
i almost feel like you have a coil to energize a coil that energizes the actual contactor that's hidden from view.

 

[gskill]

Thanks for all the input. I'll continue to follow up.

 

[gskill]

Finally found the parallel engine solenoid behind the on/off panel that contained the 12V breakers. (see pictures above)
After replacing it, all is well. Thanks for all the suggestions. George

 

[MichaelD]

Whaaaat?

There are so many things wrong in those pictures.

Get an ABYC certified pro to look at it and advise.

 

[C lectric]

There are so many things wrong in those pictures.

Get an ABYC certified pro to look at it and advise.

Good Idea.
Some of them will work with you as an advisor. You do the actual work.

 

[BruceK]

Does Mainship really locate the switchboard in the ER extending in the bilge,with cabling extending deeper? What did any pre-purchase Surveyor say about that, was it ok? And the insurer??