house battery not getting charged

[gman911]

hi i have a new to me 2010 rz2 and the house battery is not receiving a charge. starting battery seems to be no problem. batteries are new as i thought an old battery was my issue. tt shows 14.3 volts with motor running. we have motor running while pumping ballast running stereo etc. switch is on/off only. batteries have a ground between them. there is 4 grounds on the house including the one that connects both batteries. 2 pos with fuses for the amps plus one more pos on the house plus the bilge pump. 2 pos 2 grounds on the cranking battery. We love this boat but i'm frustrated big time. cheers Graham

[chpthril]

Graham,

What leads you to believe the house battery is not receiving a charge from the alternator? Are you experiencing electrical symptoms? Have you checked the voltage ont he house battery with a volt meter while the engine is running?

It will be easier to start where there is a problem and work back toward the source. In the meantime, you need to dig behind the batteries and look for any possible overlooked battery cable. There are so many and its a jumbled mess back there. Its very easy to miss a cable when servicing the batteries. 14.3V on the TT tells us the alternator is at least charging one battery, but we need to know for sure, if there is or is not alternator voltage on the both batteries. You will also need to locate the isolator. It will likely be an aluminum block with cooling fins and 3 posts and cables. Middle post is connected to the alternator and the two outer posts go to each battery POS post.

[Big Ned]

Hey Gman,

I recently went through a similar problem. After tracing all the cables I noticed that the lead from the isolator to the house battery was not connected.

[gman911]

thanks guys, i located the isolator yesterday ill check the cabling there. chpthril everything works great for a while then the stereo cuts out, taps stops working, horn stops working etc. boat still starts fine. after i pulled the battery and charged everything works as normal again. i'll get a volt meter on there today. thanks again Graham

[gman911]

you guy's are awesome i traced the cabling from the isolator and bingo, missing cable on house battery found. chpthril how best to get a hold of you to order a ballast bag for stbd rear locker? email from website bounced back. thanks everyone for the help. cheers

[talltex360]

I just want to thank you chpthril ! You recently helped me fix my charging problem ( 3a fuse blown on isolator) ! I was having this issue and logged on , ran through some similar posts and was about to buy new batteries and after reading through a bit, I checked my fuse and sure enough I had to replace it. All issues were fixed , thanks to you. How valuable is this forum! It's nice to save a dime here and there on such an expensive hobby.

[chpthril]

Glad to hear it was a simple and inexpensive fix.