No power to my radio, cabin lights or refridgerator

[drumbo1969]

I have a 1990 Rinker Fiesta vee 250. I recently had some bilge issues where i took on alot of water. Now that the bilge is fixed and everything is dry, Im finding electrical problems. Like when im plugged into shore power the ac/dc devices wont work (radio, cabin light and fridge) but when I turn on batteries those things work. It seems im stuck in dc mode. Perhaps a tranformer or dc buss is tripped? Any ideas how to repair this?
I was told to thoroughly dry out the chrager/inverter (bake it in the sun for a few hours)
Please advise

 

[mr 88]

The items you mentioned are DC powered. The fridge is both and usually has a dedicated off - on switch on the AC and DC side of on the main panel The AC wiring on your boat is basically the main line , from shore power , goes to the back of the main panel where it is attached to the back of the on - off switches and then to the outlet - fridge - charger etc. I can't think of anything 110 ac wired in that would be located low enough that high bilge water would even touch . I'm thinking something got bumped into the off position . Have you used a cheap multi meter to test the 110 power , as in verify that it's at the control panel or any 110 outlets?

 

[mr 88]

In case my post above misses the mark . There is a inverter in the bottom of the fridge , basically a circuit board with spaded terminals attached to it. Usually there are 4 screws holding the fridge to the boat. Pull the fridge back and follow 110 line to box , verify your getting 110 at the box , then unplug shore power. Open the cover and check each terminal connection for corrosion and clean contact .

 

[tpenfield]

Post some pictures of your electrical panel (both the AC and the DC panels), as that will help with further responses.

 

[drumbo1969]

 

[drumbo1969]

@mr88 I did test the outlet. There is 110 there. Before the flood the radio and lights would work on shore power and the refrigerator worked all the time. I should mention we found the alternator is shot (being underwater for days) so I don't know if that factors in to this DC/ac issue

 

[tpenfield]

You posted the instrument panel. Is there an electrical panel in the cabin?

 

[drumbo1969]

Guess I can only upload 1 pic at a time.

 

[Scott Danforth]

you can load many pictures in a post, however yes, only one upload at a time.

 

[mr 88]

I have never seen a smaller boat like yours have AC converted to 12 v DC for lights or radio . Those should work only off the DC . The fridge as mentioned has a inverter on the bottom of it and if you had water in the galley above that then it's time to verify power going in , then see if you have 12 vdc coming out . Start there and report back .

 

[tpenfield]

Radio, cabin lights, navigation lights, etc. all run on DC. Your Shore power should have a charger that can replenish the batteries while on shore power.

It looks like you have a refrigerator, range, cabin outlets that are AC powered. Often when a refrigerator has either AC or DC powered, there are CB switches for the refrig. on both the AC and DC panels.

Is there a battery charger in the engine bay or elsewhere?

Essentially the boat has (should have) 2 electrical systems. . . an AC and a DC.

 

[drumbo1969]

Radio, cabin lights, navigation lights, etc. all run on DC. Your Shore power should have a charger that can replenish the batteries while on shore power.

It looks like you have a refrigerator, range, cabin outlets that are AC powered. Often when a refrigerator has either AC or DC powered, there are CB switches for the refrig. on both the AC and DC panels.

Is there a battery charger in the engine bay or elsewhere?

Essentially the boat has (should have) 2 electrical systems. . . an AC and a DC.

Yes there's a charger/ inverter in engine bay. I'm 99% sure I would have radio and lights on shore power. Leaving the battery switch in off position.

 

[mr 88]

Yes there's a charger/ inverter in engine bay. I'm 99% sure I would have radio and lights on shore power. Leaving the battery switch in off position.

If that's the case the battery switch is not part of the 12 vdc that is powering those items . Radios have to have a live hot wire hard wired into them in order to retain there memory , if you don't have to reset everything each time you turn it on , she's wired into a hot wire somewhere. Have you ever seen a 110 AC " car " radio , which I'll put money on is in your boat . Now pull one of your light bulbs and tell me if the bulb has a pin on each side that slides into the housing where you end up pushing down and turning the bulb at the same time . The 110 ac bulb is screwed in . I'm 99% sure you're wrong . Have you tried doing anything that was suggested or are you going to argue with a couple guys that probably have 100 combined years of owning and repairing boats ? I have 60 years under my belt .

 

[drumbo1969]

If that's the case the battery switch is not part of the 12 vdc that is powering those items . Radios have to have a live hot wire hard wired into them in order to retain there memory , if you don't have to reset everything each time you turn it on , she's wired into a hot wire somewhere. Have you ever seen a 110 AC " car " radio , which I'll put money on is in your boat . Now pull one of your light bulbs and tell me if the bulb has a pin on each side that slides into the housing where you end up pushing down and turning the bulb at the same time . The 110 ac bulb is screwed in . I'm 99% sure you're wrong . Have you tried doing anything that was suggested or are you going to argue with a couple guys that probably have 100 combined years of owning and repairing boats ? I have 60 years under my belt .

I apologize. I wasn't trying to argue. I respect your opinions. I'm just trying to give you my observations. So my radio does not retain any settings. I don't believe it's hard wired.

 

[tpenfield]

Yes there's a charger/ inverter in engine bay. I'm 99% sure I would have radio and lights on shore power. Leaving the battery switch in off position.

Yes, if the charger was connected AFTER the battery switch, the charger (when AC is available) would be putting 12+ volts to the DC circuitry. However, the switch would need to be on in order for the charger to be able to charge the batteries.

It sounds like the wiring of your boat might be a nightmare. Is this boat new-2-you ? Does the wiring look like it has been modified/tampered/altered/etc.?

 

[drumbo1969]

I apologize. I wasn't trying to argue. I respect your opinions. I'm just trying to give you my observations. So my radio does not retain any settings. I don't believe it's hard wired.

It is a screw in. Only 1/4 turn

 

[drumbo1969]

Yes, if the charger was connected AFTER the battery switch, the charger (when AC is available) would be putting 12+ volts to the DC circuitry. However, the switch would need to be on in order for the charger to be able to charge the batteries.

It sounds like the wiring of your boat might be a nightmare. Is this boat new-2-you ? Does the wiring look like it has been modified/tampered/altered/etc.?

The charger is before the switch. Power leaves charger goes jnto a rectifier (I believe) then to the switch then batteries. There's also a lead from the alternator to the rectifier.
Boating in general is new to me. Only owned this boat for 2 years. Wiring does not appear to have been modified.
I just really can't recall me opening engine hatch to turn on batteries to listen to music. I could be wrong though

 

[drumbo1969]

It is a screw in. Only 1/4 turn

I removed the fridge and it's plugged into a 110 outlet that has power at the outlet.
I also have 1 battery that's got 6 volts in it. I'm putting it on a slow cooker now to charge it because the onboard charger is not charing it

 

[mr 88]

Two separate issues . The inverter that has 110 going in , is it putting out 12 volts DC ? . You can verify that by checking the voltage from one of the two wires going to the fridge ( + - wires ) . Your " 6 " volt battery is no doubt cooked . How old is it ? Did you check the water level in it ? I would at least have it tested at a repair shop , don't need the headache of a cruddy battery on a boat .And that can be part of your lighting,radio issues . If those batteries are run in parallel the bad battery will draw from the good battery until they are even in volts ,so now you possibly have two crappy batteries to deal with .
Also good to see you taking this on with apparently little experience !

 

[mr 88]

If the circuit board is cooked $$$ , the easiest,cheapest way to " fix " it is ; ebay- amazon ,search for a 110 AV to 12 volts DC converter. I bought one a few years ago when I had the same issue, cleaning my circuit board terminals and jump wire connectors took care of it 3 seasons ago , running strong ever since . They go for about 30-50 $ and I was able to dial the DC voltage in as it has a range of 1 to 32 volts . In my inventory now , but that is what I was going to use before I cleaned it up . The fridge is a big draw on the batteries and I only use 12 volts while I'm running the engines . The more you put in the fridge the longer it stays cold when it's off . Think beer store when filling it up !