Electric problem battery only pontoon, batteries charge but no radio or lights

First time boat owner not sure how to go about troubleshooting electrical problem. I bought a used pontoon (electric motor only) that had some bad batteries and replaced them (8 bank 48v) and now runs great but before I did that I lost all power to radio and lights.

My thoughts were when checking the batteries a wire or connection came loose but I can not see any bad connections. I'm clueless in trying to troubleshoot an electrical problem.

A) are there a few basic things to look for when the boat runs great but no other power (radio & lights)
B) if I need to have service to find the problem what is the cheapest/best route to take? Marine service or general electrician?

Re: Electric problem battery only pontoon, batteries charge but no radio or lights

You should be able to conduct some trouble shooting yourself. You say that you lost power to the radio and lights prior to replacing the battery. I'm assumig the electric motor required the battery to be charged by a 120v system prior to going out on the water. If noone messed with any wiring prior to the lights and radio quiting then this sound like a fuse problem or an broken/corroded wire. Both of the system could be on the same power supply and use the same fuse. the fue is mostlikely under the dash/instrument panel. check all the inline fuses by opening and inspecting each one. Use an electric light tester to test all the fuses on the fuse block. (electric testing 101 - this is done with the power/key turned on, ensuring the tester is secure to a good ground and testing both the top and bottom of each and every fuse on the block - no offense intened for the 101 instructions). good luck hope this helps

Re: Electric problem battery only pontoon, batteries charge but no radio or lights

Captain Losten Confuzed said:

You should be able to conduct some trouble shooting yourself. You say that you lost power to the radio and lights prior to replacing the battery. I'm assumig the electric motor required the battery to be charged by a 120v system prior to going out on the water. If noone messed with any wiring prior to the lights and radio quiting then this sound like a fuse problem or an broken/corroded wire. Both of the system could be on the same power supply and use the same fuse. the fue is mostlikely under the dash/instrument panel. check all the inline fuses by opening and inspecting each one. Use an electric light tester to test all the fuses on the fuse block. (electric testing 101 - this is done with the power/key turned on, ensuring the tester is secure to a good ground and testing both the top and bottom of each and every fuse on the block - no offense intened for the 101 instructions). good luck hope this helps

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Yes the batteries are charged with a Lester 120v battery charger.

I did pull each fuse and inspected them, they all "looked" like they were still good by me just looking at them. No offense on the electric testing 101 as this is where I'm at. I will look into a light tester to further test the fuses.

Would it be better to hire a marine service tech or a local auto tech that specializes in electrical?

Re: Electric problem battery only pontoon, batteries charge but no radio or lights

You have a 48 volt system which means there are four batteries connected in SERIES. To operate the lights, radio and other accessories, they need a 12 volt source which means only ONE of those four batteries is used to power those accessories. Look in the area of the batteries for the positive (red)and negative (black) wires that feed the fuse panel. Those were probably not connected when the batteries were replaced. Without power to the fuse panel nothing connected there will work. There will likely be fuse in the positive wire (red) close to the battery so check that fuse as well. WARNING: When you connect those wires, connect them to the battery that has the GROUND (black) wire from the electric motor connected to it. You can use any battery for this but there is an accidental grounding issue that I won't go into that can occur if using any of the other three.

Re: Electric problem battery only pontoon, batteries charge but no radio or lights

I checked the red and black wires leading to each set of four batteries and they are connected but there are a few wires throughout the boat that are taped or not connected. I inspected these but can not find a problem.

I do not have a meter or the experience in using one so I think it is best to call a service tech.

Is it better to call a general electrician or a marine specialist for this application? Trying to keep cost low.

Re: Electric problem battery only pontoon, batteries charge but no radio or lights

A general electrician is probably more at home with residential and commercial AC wiring and doesn't have a clue how a boat is wired (which is low voltage DC). You missed my point regarding disconnected wires so I will make this a step by step list. You don't need any tools for this but you need to apply some deductive reasoning and follow instructions.

1) Locate the fuse panel
2) The fuse panel usually has a red wire (larger than most of the other wires you so connected to that panel). That wire feeds 12 volts INTO the panel from JUST ONE of the four batteries. A black wire of the same size is the ground wire for the 12 volt system and also needs to connect to the same battery as the red wire.
3) Follow those two bigger wires (or at least the red one) from the fuse panel back to where it connects to one of the batteries. If you find it disconnected that's why none of the 12 volt accessories work.
4) Follow the larger black wire from the fuse panel ground buss or a separate ground buss back to where it connects to one of the batteries. If it is disconnected that's also why none of the 12 volt accessories work.
5) If either or both of those wires are disconnected, they need to be connected to ONE of the batteries. The best one to use is the one that has the black wire from the electric motor.
6) If you find that one of the larger wires you traced from the fuse panel was connected to a battery other than the one I mentioned in step 5, then attach the disconnected wire to that battery.
7) The red wire that feeds the fuse panel should have a fuse or circuit breaker in it within six inches of the battery. That's another clue for you. See if you can find that wire. If you find it, and the wire is connected, check that fuse or circuit breaker. If it is open then replace it or if a circuit breaker is used, press the reset button if it has one.
8) Here is a summary of the above:
The red and black wires feeding the fuse panel need to be connected to one battery.
There should be a fuse or breaker in the red wire within six inches or so of the positive post on the battery to which the red wire
feeding the fuse panel is attached.
The fuse or circuit breaker must be good
The ground lead from the ground buss must be connected to one battery via the larger black wire.
If these checks and corrective actions are done correctly the 12 volt accessories should work.