Where to start looking? 2500scr is dead.....

[Bertram]

Hello everyone,

A question from The Netherlands! I am in posession of a 2002 2500scr.
It was imported from the US.

Really happy with the boat, but after charging the batteries, and installing them, if have no power, nothing!
Not even the dashboard is showing signs of life!
Who is so kind to help me out a little bit? I am not a elec/technician.

I have the suspician that the previous owner has put on 220volts on the shorepower-connection. But it is 110vlt.
Could this problem be related? Could it be the batterie-switch? A fuse maybe? (But which one? )

Who can help me bring it back to life?
Greetings,
Bertram

[mcoffey]

Hi Bertram and welcome. The first place I would start would be with the batteries. Forget shore power for now and get the 12v systems working and then move to the 110v/220v power.
Do you by chance have a volt meter to test with? If not, can you borrow one from a friend perhaps?
I believe that the battery power first runs through a main breaker mounted on top of the engine (this is all Mercruiser here though, not specific to Maxum). So I would start testing there to verify you have 12v coming into and out of it. Could be as simple as needing to push the red button to reset it. From this breaker I think it disperses throughout the boat with some power going to starter, some feeding the fuse block, etc... So since nothing at all works, it seems more likely to be the batteries or that main breaker. If it is not those, you are probably looking at multiple issues since the rest is all fed independantly off that main breaker.

[CountryME]

Based on the complete lack of power, I would check the 90 amp fuse on the starter solenoid (Piece 8 on the below diagram). If the fuse is blown, you will have no power.

-JP

[Bertram]

Thank you both for the imput.
Although I have some Optima batteries in the boat. While I charged them at home, one was getting really warm, the other not that much.
I will buy new batteries, but first i will try and test them on a friends boat. Maybe the batteries are still working.
Like mcoffey suggested, i am trying to get the 12v circuit going first. Hope the reset button will do it! I already bought a voltmeter yesterday.
Like JP suggested, it could also be the fuse. Hoping so, so i can fix it easily. Very useful pic, thx!
Could the batterieswitch be broken in any way?
I will report asap!
Thank you both for the support!
Best regards, Bertram
I will check the suggestions made, today!

[mcoffey]

Hi Bertram, it is possible you have a battery switch issue though they do not fail very often. It would be good to test it though since you have a volt meter. You should hav 12V feeding it on either the A side or B side as well as 12V coming back out. If both batteries are good, you should have 12V coming out when set to A, B or Both and nothing coming out when set to Off.

[Bertram]

Hi Mcoffey,
Just got back from the boat.
Both batteries are dead. I tried a car batterie from my volvo. No reaction, nothing. Probably also not suited.
The voltmeter didn't read anything either.
The batterieswitch is something i also suspected from the beginning.
Maybe i should bring in an electrician to take a look at it.
I will go back tomorrow to check again. It is a bigger problem than i expected.
Grt Bertram

[mcoffey]

Hi Bertram, did you test for 12v at the battery posts or are you testing further down the lin somewhere? you should always start are the source (the battery) and test there. Then work your way down the line to the next connection point (either fuse, breaker or battery switch) and test again. Even if you had dead batteries, I would expect you to see a few volts on your meter (maybe 3-4 volts). As far as the Volvo battery, that should have worked assuming it is a 12v system (never worked on a euro car before so not 100% sure). It may not be strong enough to run everything for very long but should have been enough to show signs of life somewhere. So based on this, it does seem your issue is downstream from the battery or a very bad connection at the battery. It could even be as simple as your ground cable. Without it having a good connection between the battery and engine block, you will get no voltage anywhere. So I would check it to see if it is tight and may want to remove it and verify it is fairly clean on both cable and block end.

[Bertram]

Hi Mcoffey,
Tommorow i will get 2 new marine batteries. The volvo batterie was just to see if it would react, or show signs of life. But that didn't help either.
Not even a dashboardlight or bilgepump worked. I will try all the suggestions first thing in the morning (with new batteries.)
Optima Yellow 75ah costs 275€ each. Thats 360$! Would the YTS 4.2 55ah be enough? That one was installed, at 159€ a bargain)
I appreciate all help during this proces very much. thx
Grt Bertram

[ss3964spd]

Bertram,

If I understand what you wrote correctly, you removed the batteries (at the end of last season), then you charged them and re-installed them. Now you have no power to anything.

My very first guess is that you may have connected/wired them incorrectly. If you did then it may have blown the fuse that JP mentioned. The battery from your Volvo would have been more than enough to power almost everything on the boat - it would have absolutely powered the pump and dash lights, and probably even been enough to start the engine.

Disconnect the ALL the wires going to your batteries, every one of them, then use your volt meter - one probe on the negative battery terminal and the other on the positive. Make sure the meter is set to read "VDC" (Volts, Direct Current) and set it to the proper scale (since you know your Volvo battery is good you can measure it to make sure you have the meter set correctly). If you get no reading at all then the batteries are dead.

Dan

[Bertram]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the suggestions, absolutely educational too.
BOTH of my Optima batteries were broken, no juice at all. I had them checked at the Optima-dealer.
So today i bought a new Yellowtop.
After installing it, it didn't respond when my Batteryswitch was set on 1.
On 'Both', the blower started working, bilgepump, dashlights, and radio.
So apperently this is now connected to the switchnumber 2.(mainly cabin-use)
Tommorrow i will pick up a redtop for switchnumber 1, because that would be the main starterbattery. I think...;-)
At least there is light at the end of the ....cabin..lol

I also think my waterboiler/heater(atwood ehm6sm) is broken, forgot to empty it before the winter.
Is Boat&RV accessories a trustworthy supplier/company? Found them on the web.

Greetings Bertram

[shrew]

What really matters is how the starter is wired. Some will connect the starter to the BOTH post on the back of the switch. Some to either the Position 1, or position 2 directly. If connected to Position 1 only, then Batt. 1 is starter and bat. 2 is house. If connected to the BOTH post, then either is both starting and house. At that point YOU decide which is which. I leave my engine connected to the BOTH post, so it can start on either bat.. 1, batt. 2 or BOTH. However, I used Batt 1 as teh starter and batt. 2 as the house. If you have batt. 2 as starter, than is fine. You can either use the switch accordingly, or more the positive starter wire over to the batt. 1 post if that is what you prefer.

[Bertram]

I bought a boiler in the US(not available in Eu), at 267$, postalcosts to Europe= 134$, importduties Belgium= 125$= Total 525$ CRAZY!!!!

[vffb507]

How did you make out on the battery / power, all solved for everything? That is one expensive heater once you got it. Are you able to get boating already? Hope all is well for you and smooth seas ahead.

[Bertram]

It's OK!
We will be boating next week, it is only 8 degrees Celsius overhere.
I am waiting for a bit of Sunshine
The heater will be installed on wednesday.
In 4 weeks i will be in Croatia, Island Rab! That's warmer!
Greats Bertram