Connected to shore power, gauges look good, but no power

[buster53]

you should have two breakers near your battery switch. Salon main and bridge main. Turn them off and back on.
You should also have breakers at your 12v panel, one main and all your individual circuits.
Also a main on the bridge

This and make sure your battery switch is on, preferably in the ALL position

[Midnightsun]

All boats differ but mine has the main rotary on/off switch located under my stairs which disconnects the house bank. In the same location I have 2 flip style main breakers labeled panel 1/2 which I assume are assigned to the DC panel in the cabin and the dc panel on the bridge. The at each panel there is a main flip style breaker also. In my case there are 3 areas to check.

[darylann]

QR_BBPOST Heh there....go down and put a volt tester ( DVM ) on your batteries and see what numbers you get....

Hmmm, it’s looking like maybe the batteries are not charging properly? The aft battery was 3 plus volts and the forward one about half that!

[km1125]

Well, that would certainly explain why the D.C. stuff wasn't operating! You said the battery charger was "humming"... maybe check the voltage on the output side of that while you're down there. Most have some kind of fuse or breaker inside them prior to the outputs, so if you have voltage there then that's good. Then you'd have to track those wires going to each battery (or to the battery switches) and see if there are fuses or breakers in those lines that have tripped or are bad.

If your batteries sat that low for very long, they're likely toast. You might be able to use them for a bit but they're not going to have much capacity.

[darylann]

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I can’t figure out how to get these fuses out to check them. What’s the trick?!? If you push down on them, they pop up just a bit, but then I can’t get them out to actually look at them.

[buster53]

Hate to ask…are you sure it was the charger that was humming? Turn the charger breaker on-off a couple of times to confirm. Even if the batteries are shot, the charger should provide enough power to run 12 v lights, pumps, etc.
How old are your batteries? When was the last time you checked water level…assuming they are flooded batteries.

[tomschauer]

pretty sure they are push button breaker not fuses.
Down is on, popped up is tripped.

[km1125]

Yes, those are "push to reset" breakers. If they pop out just a very little, that's normal. If they pop out about 1/2", then they're tripped. If those breakers have a little lip around the top edge, then you can pull them out to "shut off the circuit". They usually show a white band when they're pulled out or tripped, making it easier to identify that the circuit is disabled. The blower one doesn't have that option so you don't inadvertently leave it disabled. You can only reset that type.

If you've tried that "Accessory" switch in both #1 and #2 positions and don't have any power, then your batteries are likely dead. As Buster says, double-check that it was the charger that was actually making the humming sound. Even though it might be humming, it still might not have any output. Check for voltage right on the output terminals.

[darylann]

UPDATE: OK, yes, the battery charger WAS definitely humming, but it was also getting very hot to the touch, to the point where we turned it off while we weren’t there because it wasn’t charging the batteries anyway. We have since found out that the battery charger itself is toast! A friend stopped in to help, and hooked a portable battery charger up to one of the batteries, and suddenly our lights work and we have power! So we’re shopping for a new 2-bank battery charger for the boat, while also charging up the batteries (hopefully saving them before they are totally discharged and also toast).

[darylann]

QR_BBPOST Yes, those are "push to reset" breakers. If they pop out just a very little, that's normal. If they pop out about 1/2", then they're tripped. If those breakers have a little lip around the top edge, then you can pull them out to "shut off the circuit". They usually show a white band when they're pulled out or tripped, making it easier to identify that the circuit is disabled. The blower one doesn't have that option so you don't inadvertently leave it disabled. You can only reset that type.

If you've tried that "Accessory" switch in both #1 and #2 positions and don't have any power, then your batteries are likely dead. As Buster says, double-check that it was the charger that was actually making the humming sound. Even though it might be humming, it still might not have any output. Check for voltage right on the output terminals.

Thanks so much about the “push to reset“ breakers! It makes so much sense now, but we couldn’t find any info in the manuals about them.

I replied in another message about the charger and batteries. Thanks again!!!