Chargers that work only with a charge
Issue 103 : Jul/Aug 2015
We turn the key to try to start the engine and . . . nothing. This might not have been so bad, but our Pacific Seacraft Dana 24, Sockdolager, was bashing around, partially in the water, still in her cradle, hanging from a giant crane off the side of a container ship in Oakland harbor. Both of our 100-amp-hour batteries were flat dead.
After two years spent cruising from Port Townsend, Washington, to New Zealand, we had shipped our boat across the Pacific to San Francisco Bay. We would sail home from there. The batteries were dead because the boat had been stowed in the hold rather than on deck where the solar panel would have worked. All the little LED lights and displays on the various electronic devices used enough power in 19 days to drain the batteries to less than 5 volts.
The plan for retrieving the boat from the container ship was for friends with another Dana 24 to deliver us to our boat as she was lowered into the water. We would go aboard, start the engine, and motor to our temporary berth 6 miles up the estuary in Alameda.
The first part of that plan went fine. The rest was a fire drill of getting lines attached, signaling the crane operator to drop the cradle out from under us, being pulled from in between the two big cables on each side, waving goodbye to the ship’s crew and the stevedores, and being towed away by our long-suffering friends.
At least it was a sunny day, so I immediately checked the battery monitor to see how many volts were flowing in from the solar panel. I was hoping for 14-plus. But the number was zero. Actually, not even zero since the display was blank. That was curious, as it had been working just fine before Sockdolager went on the ship. But I had hope that, after a little while in the bright sun, charging would commence.
A couple of hours later we were at our berth and the display was still blank. No problem! We’d borrow a power cord and charge with the Magnum inverter/charger.
I plugged it in, switched on the breaker, and went below with high hopes only to find the display still blank. This was even more curious. Could both chargers have broken at the same time?
A puzzling discovery
Time to read the manuals. First, a complete read-through of the Morningstar SunSaver MPPT Solar Controller manual revealed nothing helpful; it should be working. Now it was time to call Morningstar’s tech support. A helpful and knowledgeable person there seemed surprised that I didn’t know that my batteries would first need a charge in order for the charge controller to work.
“No sir,” he said, “that controller is not designed to charge a dead battery.”
On to plan B. I read the manual for the Magnum inverter/ charger. Again, nothing seemed obviously wrong. Time to call their tech support. You guessed it: same story.
“No sir, that charger is not designed to charge a dead battery.”
I was flabbergasted. Both of our battery chargers need the batteries to have a charge in order for them to be able to charge the batteries.
So as things stood, we had two dead batteries and two chargers that were working as designed and would not charge them. What next?
We needed to get some voltage into the system so the chargers would wake up and do their jobs. At an auto parts store, I bought one of those batteries used to jump-start a car engine. It didn’t have enough juice to start the boat’s engine, but it did provide enough voltage to get both chargers to come alive. After 15 minutes with the Magnum charger running, I could remove the jumper battery and all was well. Both chargers worked fine thereafter.
I’m puzzled as to why neither charger could use incoming power to allow it to charge when the batteries were dead. Whatever the reasons, I just wish that both companies had clarified their products’ capabilities in their marketing materials and user manuals.
Next I’m going to make sure the fridge doesn’t need to be cold before I turn it on.
Jim Heumann, a Dana 24 sailor, met Karen Sullivan, also a Dana 24 sailor. They joined forces, sold one Dana 24, and sailed their Dana 24, Sockdolager, from Port Townsend, Washington, to New Zealand from 2011 to 2013. Read about their travels at: http://karenandjimsexcellentadventure.blogspot.com.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
