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basscat247.
I have the same set up as you, but never a problem. Since this has carried over to the second charger, it sounds like you have a wiring issue with your jumper. Swap charger leads around and see if it really is associated with the jumper wire. Let us know what you find out.
It has got me confused. Last time I charged Batterys one of the batterys never took a charge on the 36V part. I put a meter to it and it showed that the charger was not charging on that battery. The other 3 had a little more voltage than this one did. I disconnected the 36V jumper and it started charging. I went fishing yesterday and hooked up the charger again this morning and 3 of them charged very fast. Faster than I think they should have and the other one shows it is not charging. I disconnected the jumper and it still is not charging. Think maybe you are right and I have some cabeling issues but am not sure where. This thing looks like all the cabeling was done at the factory. Very neat and very tidy. I followed all the cabeling when I hooked up the new one so I am assuming everything is correct but will have to do some investigating. Thanks and if anybody else has ever experienced this please let me know what you found out. Will post again when I figure out what is going on. Thanks
Think I have this figured out. I have another bad charger.
Looking from the back of the boat and reading left to right. The charger is numbered 1 thru 4. Numbers 1 and 2 are wired to that side of the boat and those 2 batteries are part of the 36V trolling motor. Number 3 is wired to the other side of the boat and to the 3rd battery for the 36V trolling motor. Number 4 is to the cranking battery.
When I first bought this boat it was number 4 on the cranking battery that was giving me trouble. The red light would never go out and would have to charge it with a manuel charger. Called Cull-M-Rite and they ran me through a couple test and then replaced it for me.
I installed the new one and it worked great the first time I used the boat and charged the battery’s. A couple weeks ago I went and tried to charge the battery’s and on number 2 the red light stayed on. I measured all the voltages and for whatever reason the voltage on that one was lower than the other 3. Know this sounds crazy but I disconnected the 36V jumper wire, turned the charger back on and number 2 had the same voltage as the other 3 banks on the charger. Something happened to make it kick in and start charging. At the time though I thought I had a wiring issue.
Anyway, went fishing yesterday and hooked up charger this morning. Banks 1,3 and 4 charged pretty quickly and number 2 would not charge. Hooked meter to it again and that one was a little lower than the other 3. Tried disconnecting the jumper wire and hooked meter to it again. The voltage was still a little lower.
I hooked a manuel charger to it and let it charge. Once it was charged I turned on the on-board charger again and the voltage on # 2 was still a little lower. I finially disconnected # 1 and # 2 and turned them around. My problem was still there but on a different battery.
Like I said, BAD CHARGER AGAIN. Not sure Cull-M-Rite is going to believe this. I am going to try this one more time and give this the benefit of doubt. Happens again think I am going to give Minn-Kota a call. Can get one from them as I am sponsored by them.
Thanks
We suggest you swap out the leads and then reverse them again once you have charged if you prefer. Or you can leave them.
It sounds like you have an incompatible charging level on one line and battery matching. Swapping the leads around has repaired the issue many times in the past.
Also try unplugging your trolling motor.
The Cull-M-Rite charger is a fairly dependable charger from our experiences.
BCB
BCB, please explain further what you mean by imcompatible charging level and or battery matching. I can plug in the charger and put a meter on the leads that is giving me trouble. It is a volt and half less on those 2 leads than it is on the other leads coming from the charger. I swapped the leads yesterday and it still had the same problem on another battery. Also, if the trolling motor is not turned on, what is unplugging it going to help.
Believe me, I would much rather keep this one in there than swap it out again if there is something wrong on my end. Not that it is hard to swap, but is a little bit of a pain and a lot of tie wraps to make this job look as good as it does from the factory.
Thanks Again
basscat247,
We have seen a trace of resistance inside the front bow panel plug, which is there in both scenarios, with the TM plugged in and without. You are eliminating the front plug into the receptacle to see if this is a quick fix, which could point to the trace voltage coming through the system or a resistance in the panel area being the issue. The next step would be to eliminate the front panel which is basically what you are doing when you undo the jumper wires.
Also you doubtfully have the meter to check the input voltage properly, though if you do, then great! You are one up on us because we don’t have that set up here! All we have here are some sophisticated voltmeters to check amperage, voltage and milliamps.
Understand that the battery charger is monitoring the battery gravity and pulse of charge as well as charge in the battery. Just finiding the voltage feed must be done on the battery without the backfeed from the battery. You obviously are above average in electrical ability, so some of this may be within your capability and equipment.
We are not trying to duck a bullet here, we are trying to diagnoseit, and we doubt that two chargers are faulty. That would be below the odds level.
So try flopping the wires over, then disconnect the troller, which should be done always when charging.
Then if the set up fails to perform, yes we suggest you get with Cull-M-Rite for another swap out and in the mean time put them on notice as to what you are trying for their info. Then they understand it is possibly another faulty charger and will be prepared.
BCB
Thanks for the quick response. I understand now what you are saying. Yes, I do have a little bit of an electrical backround. I have an Associates Degree in electronics although it is not the field I now work in. Kind of weird to me also to have 2 of them bad like this but even stranger to have them both doing the same thing but on different outputs. I am just checking the output voltage of the charger when I plug this thing in. The other 3 jump up a little bit when I plug it in and this one is never jumping up. Even after I charge it manuially and know for sure this battery is charged I can plug the battery charger back on and the light will stay red. Maybe there is a little bit of a drain coming the front of the boat and am going to use this thing again over the holidays and then will try what you are suggesting. Hopefully I can figure this thing out before I go swapping it.
Thanks again and will let you know what I come up with.
Joey Watts
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