New Boat Owner

[w4283185]

Hello everyone! I am a brand new owner of a 1989 25' Carver Montego. It's a little bit old but in very good shape. My wife surprised me with it. This is my first boat and it is quite overwhelming. I have it in the marina and am hooked to ship to shore power but my cabin battery died. I can't figure out why it isn't charging. The battery was new last year and so was the charger. I think it is something simple on my part. If anyone out there has the same boat I would appreciate any help and suggestions I can get.

[km1125]

First, welcome to CYO and congrats on the new boat!!

Hard to say on the issue because they are all wiring a bit differently.

I would first check to see if the battery charger shows any signs of "life" when plugged in. Are there any lights or gauges on it? A pic of the charger would help.

If the charger is working, it could be as simple as a fuse between the charger and the cabin battery (normally called "house" battery).

Do you have two batteries? The charger may only be directly connected to the engine start battery, and you may have to switch a "1-both-2-off" switch to "both" to get the 'house' battery charged... all depends on how they wired the charger.

[waybomb]

Welcome aboard!
Are you sure you have 120vac in the boat? Check the breaker at the powerhouse on land.
Then your main breaker.
And everything km had to say.

[w4283185]

Thank you for the responses. I do have 120vac to the boat. When I flip the breaker on for the refrigerator on the main box the refrigerator turns on. I will go to the boat this evening and follow how the charger is wired.
I wanted a smaller boat to start my boating experience, but my wife, bless her heart, thought bigger would be better.

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum and Carver.....Wife is right, better keep her happy....

[RGrew176]

Welcome Aboard. This is the right place to be for any information when it comes to Carver boats. As to the charger hopefully it is something simple. If you can see the charger and depending on the type when you flip on the switch for the battery charger in your electrical panel on is there any action of any type with the charger. Some have gauges, mine does. Some might have lights, red to show it's charging and then green when fully charged.

Hope it ends up being simple since the charger is for all intents new.

[Viper]

Welcome aboard. Congrats on your new acquisition.

[buster53]

OK, on your electrical panel, you will have 2 sides. One side has all the 12 volt breakers and the other side has 120 volt breakers. You say when you turn on the breaker for the refrigerator, it turns on. Your refrig may be a 12 volt only or it could be one that will run on either 12 volt or 120 volt.
What I'm getting at, is you may be turning on the 12 volt breaker for the refrig and it is turning on.

The 12 volt side will have breakers for cabin lights, electronics, water pump, etc.
the 120 volt side will have breakers for battery charger, electric outlets, air conditioning (if you have one)

You may have a breaker on both sides for the refrigerator if it is a combination 12volt/120volt unit.

[w4283185]

Everything is working! The battery charger was not connected to the batteries. After talking to the owner he didn’t fully finish installing new charger.
Time to take out on the lake! Wish me luck!

[km1125]

Glad you found it!! Thanks for coming back and updating us too!

Where in "Upper Michigan" are you boating?