Onboard charger or Wiring?

Okay....I have a 3 bank charger on board. One going to starter battery and the other going to two 12v deep cycles for the trolling motor. The system used to be hooked up for a 12/24v switch off for the trolling motor, but now that I have a strictly 24v trolling motor i had to rewire the batteries into a series instead of different leads going onto each individual battery. My problem is that for some reason the batteries aren't getting a full charge or I'm still operating on one battery somehow. Both batteries are new and the charger's LED light for the two batteries are always red when it should be green when fully charged, but the starter battery goes from red to green like normal.

What would you say it is? Thanks.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

Have you eliminated the 12/24/Run/Charge switch (or bypassed it)? The system should be wired like this: The third output from the charger would go to the starting battery.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

Not sure if its eliminated or not. All I really did was disconnect the 2nd + and - cable from the trolling motor to the batteries. Its was working for a while then all of a sudden it felt like it was running on 12 volts again. And if thats the layout for a dual bank then I only have a dual bank charger.....sucks to now realize that.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

A three bank charger has THREE sets of outputs, not TWO. The RUN/CHARGE switch is what makes the SERIES to PARALLEL connection for the 12/24 system. You need to check the receptacle to see if you have 24 volts there. If you do, the two pins on the troller must connect to the same terminals in the receptacle that show 24 volts. Unless you describe how you wired things that's the best I can do for you.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

Okay, so a series is 24v and parallel is 12/24v correct? I just want to make sure my terminology is correct from here on out. I believe the charger is 24v because there are 2 battery icons above from the leads that go onto the batteries and then there's one battery icon above the one that goes to the starter battery. I'll just have to re-check things when I get home.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

No -- when two batteries are wired as shown in the diagram above they are in SERIES. 12 +12 = 24 volts. when two batteries are wired in parallel they still provide only 12 volts. There is no 12/24. It is one or the other. The switch makes the wiring change between series and parallel. DO NOT butcher the wiring. The next owner will thank you.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

Ok....confirmed that they are wired in a series and is a 3 bank charger. So, what the heck could it be? The fuses are good and show voltage when tested. I guess the only way to find out if its the charger would be to use a portable charger on both batteries and test the trolling motor. Ahhh.....

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

Do you have 24 volts at the plug?? If not, why not? The motor cannot develop full power if it is getting less than 24 volts.

Re: Onboard charger or Wiring?

You know what I haven't even thought of doing that yet....This is why a second person's thoughts work. Thanks.