EIDB question - Clicking sound

[Z1Fan]

hello everyone

not sure if any of you have encountered this issue, when i am charging my batteries, i put the battery switch into the combined position (this also happens when switch is off or on as well), but i have this clicking sound from the boat that corresponds with the pulses that my battery charger is sending to maintain the batteries at their peak charge. is there some type of relay in the back of the boat thats switching back and forth and is this a normal sound?

Boat is a 2013 Tige Z1 w/EIDB

[chpthril]

What type of charger do you have?

Where are you connecting it, in order to charge both banks?

Can you find the source of the click sound? Like finding a cricket in the house, hone in on it as long as its making noise.

[Z1Fan]

I have a Battery Minder Plus 12117 model ( http://www.batteryminders.com/conten...lus_models.pdf ), its connected to the starting/cranking battery, and the switch is on combined, because at 14.4V it switches to pulse/desulfate mode. I am guessing its sending pulses to the battery bank, and i wonder if a relay or something is not liking it.... the Noise is definitly coming from the back near the battery bank... I do have a wiring diagram from Tige, (Harvey is a great guy) and the only thing i see back there is the isolator, nothing else switches back there automatically, could i be causing a back feed issue? where does tige connect their charging option ?

[chpthril]

The Isoplator is a diode type, so no mechanical components. A charger needs to to be connected directly to the battery terminals. I would guess that Tige uses a 2-bank charger with the leads right on the battery.

That charger is not large enough to handle recharging 2 batteries, especially if one is a house bank and used as such. For the house bank, I would suggest a dedicated charger with an amp output in the range of 10% of the batteries Ah. This is best so that each bank can be condition and recharged independently of each other, as they are used and discharged differently. Or, get a dual-bank smart charger that will handle both banks. The switch would be in the OFF position.

In the mean time, I would try to actually put my hand on what clicking.

[Z1Fan]

Interesting because i have tried using two battery chargers, Cause i have also put a NOCO Genius G3500 batt charger on the house bank , and the other charger on the Crank battery, and kept the switch off, and it still makes that clicking sound, but what i might do is just put the Genius G3500 on, and see if it makes the same noise, ( PS the Batt Minder charger has kept up to four battery's topped up, in the past,). Also its not an issue of keeping both battery's charged, is just the constant clicking noise, every 2 mins or so.. very odd....

But i will try and play with it a little tonight and see where exactly its coming from, because if it is a relay of some sort, i don't want it to fail prematurely..

[trent]

Could it be your bilge pump making the noise. I hear they turn on every so often to check for water then go off.

[chpthril]

Interesting because i have tried using two battery chargers, Cause i have also put a NOCO Genius G3500 batt charger on the house bank , and the other charger on the Crank battery, and kept the switch off, and it still makes that clicking sound, but what i might do is just put the Genius G3500 on, and see if it makes the same noise, ( PS the Batt Minder charger has kept up to four battery's topped up, in the past,). Also its not an issue of keeping both battery's charged, is just the constant clicking noise, every 2 mins or so.. very odd....

But i will try and play with it a little tonight and see where exactly its coming from, because if it is a relay of some sort, i don't want it to fail prematurely..

Try plugging one in at a time, with the switch in the off position, to see which bank the offending clicker is tied to.

keeping a battery bank topped off is a simple task, but recharging a depleted house bank is a different story. Think of it as a 3/4 ton truck making easier work towing a load that a half ton would have to work hard at.

[Z1Fan]

Okay this is what I found , it does not matter which battery is charging and the position of the switch does not matter , but it is the isolating box that is clearly clicking , very strange

[chpthril]

Okay this is what I found , it does not matter which battery is charging and the position of the switch does not matter , but it is the isolating box that is clearly clicking , very strange

can you snap a pic and post it? I wanna see it.

[Z1Fan]

I have it on my phone will try a little later after my sons lacrosse game , I even recorded a sound bite as well !!!

[Z1Fan]

Okay this what i found, this isolator is not what you think as a conventional isolator type device, its in-fact a smart switch...which senses alternator current and does its magic, in my opinion this is not a good thing....

here is the link

http://www.charlesindustries.com/main/battcom.html

[chpthril]

Thats an ACR/VSR type combiner/isolator. We use those all the time, although a different brand, and they work well. That is not what Tige has used in the past, so i guess they have made a change or that was dealer installed.

You need to use either 2 chargers or a dual-bank charger and charge with the switch off. If that ACR still clicks with the switch off, then the whole setup is wired incorrectly.

[Z1Fan]

It doesn't matter whether the switch is on or off, and wether i charge with two or one charger , it will click all the time, cause its trigger point is 13.0 Volts. I just talked to the manufacturer and found this out. That unit is what tige has installed, and Harvey has confirmed this as he gave me the link.. i think i might be tossing it out and just use the the disconnect switch. But its wired correctly because if you put the charger right on the battery that isolator thinks its getting alternator power. I could send you the wiring diagram and you'll see what i mean , do you have a e-mail addy?

[chpthril]

I dont need their diagram, but i may send one to Harvey so he can get it corrected That ACR is on the battery side of the switch, where it needs to be on the boat side. Im 99% of this, just knowing how the switch and an ACR work.

mikesliquidaudio (AT) bellsouth(DOT)net

If you decide to ditch the ACR, plan on a new switch to.

[Z1Fan]

i should not have to ditch the switch, but i will need to keep it on combined while underway, or else it will not charge the house bank , and then back to one while i am swaying in the waves..lol