www.iFourWinns.com

New to me, 2002 268 vista....

Took it out once for a test ride, bought it and winterized it. Spending the winter getting to know, clean and upgrading where I see fit....

There is 2 marine starting batteries on the port side (about shot, boat sat 5 years, changing in the spring). Planning on group 31 marine starting batteries there....

On the starboard side, batteries were gone. Previous owner said these were the house batteries and were bad.... so I put 2 new group 31 marine deep cycle batteries in their place....

On the guest charging system, it shows 2 circuits, both ready, only the bottom one is "charging".... this was the same before the battery install.... on the new deep cycles, there was just a pos and neg feed for the batteries, on the starting batteries (port) there is the battery connections plus a fused small cable, not sure where they go.... I do not see where the charging system connects into the batteries....

Any ideas on what to do next? I felt around for any kind of button, nothing that I could stumble my hand for...


As always, thanks in advance!

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Found 3 fuses behind the battery selector switch, 2 had red wire connected to it, one had a black wire. All 3 fuses were good....

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

My boat came with 1 house battery and 1 engine battery. I am guessing yours did too, and someone added the other batteries. Generally 1 engine battery is all you will need. I have read on this site of others that have installed 3 or 4 house batteries (12V group 31 or even 6 volt golf cart batteries in series/parallel). The only issue is that these systems may need a battery charger with a higher charging rate to get the batteries recharged in a reasonable time. You might look at connecting 3 batteries to the House bank and 1 to the engine side.

I understand that both circuits showed "ready" but only 1 showed "charging." Either the battery bank is fully charged or something is not working. The boat has the rotary battery selector switch and the toggle switch for the house battery bank. Does it make any difference if these are both in their normal "ON" positions?

The Guest battery charger has been known to have issues for some. I replaced mine because one side was dead. This is a completely sealed unit and it either works or it doesn't. I had previously installed 2 Group 31s for the house. I installed a NOCO Genius II which is a 2 bank/10 amps per bank charger like the original. I was looking for a charger that would do 10 amps for the engine battery, and maybe 20-30 amps for a larger house battery bank. KISAE may have one. Another choice might be to find a battery charger/inverter. If you do an inverter, I definitely recommend the true sine wave variety.

The battery charger output leads connect to the battery selector switch near the left rear corner of the boat. There is an in-line fuse for each of the 2 banks. You will have to trace and see which battery is charged by which charger circuit.

_________________
Surface Interval: A scuba diving term for that time between dives to relax and prepare for life's next great adventure.

Current boat: '02 FW 268 Vista
Previous boat: '95 FW 190 Horizon

Thanks Gary

I think I will stay original for now, See how the first sommer goes before adding the inverter....

I will switch the fuses tomorrow to see if I get the new batteries charging and go from there.....

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Gary is this the one you bought? Does this price seem similar to what you paid?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOCO-Genius-GEN ... 51&vxp=mtr

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Yes, that is the one I got. I believe I paid the same or $10 more last spring.

With a larger battery bank like 2 or 3 Group 31s (200 to 300+ amp hours) the time needed to recharge from 50% can easily exceed 10 to 15 hours. Its no big deal if you are on shorepower or plugged in at home, but it might be an issue if you are anchoring out for a few nights. You may not be able to get the house bank fully recharged each day unless you are cruising all day and using a generator.

When the weather is warm a couple fans are very worthwhile. I believe you indicated you had air conditioning, but no generator. A Honda 2000 might be worthwhile if you are away from the dock overnight and want to use an electric appliance.

_________________
Surface Interval: A scuba diving term for that time between dives to relax and prepare for life's next great adventure.

Current boat: '02 FW 268 Vista
Previous boat: '95 FW 190 Horizon

We have rented a slip this year. So the plan is to take it out on Saturday morning and stay on the hook 1 night then plug in for the week. Fortunately, I have had a honda 2000 gen since 2007 for tailgating. So my plan is to use that for saturday night air conditioning, if it's needed.

I believe I will add an inverter at some point, just not sure when.....

After your comments on the 2 start battery's, I am thinking of putting a deep cycle there and wiring it to the other bank of 2 deep cycles.... so it would be a house bank of 3, and a start bank of 1.... that's where the offset charger would really come in handy....

Nothing set in stone. I was looking at the inverters, just a little more than I want to do yet, trying to find and fix what's not working right now.....

Thanks again for all you advice and help Gary.

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Sounds like the previous owner did battery overkill on that boat. I have a 298V with three deep cycle 29's and that is enough and my 30A 3 bank Guest charger (GUE2631A) does fine and we stay on our boat at the slip all the time. Larger batteries cost more and like the previous poster stated, you have to have a bigger charger ($$$).

P.S. If you have not already done so, switch your lights to LED because that makes a world of difference.

_________________

Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

Do you have a battery switch with 3 sources, or how did you use a 3 bank charger? I will pull a light out today to order some led lamps, thanks for the info 298vista

Update: switched the outputs for the charger at the battery switch. Other bank is now lit. So, I am guessing the batteries that came with it will not take a charge and this unit DOES work. Thank goodness, that's $200 that can go elsewhere...

so the question for spring, 1 or 2 batteries for the start side? Any opinions are appreciated!

Thanks again!

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Like said above the guest charges have been known to have issues, on top of the inferior Four Winns wiring I would strongly recommend checking everything out thoroughly. I had 2 batteries cooked last summer because of this combination. I believe the wiring was to small and detected a lower voltage on the battery that what it really was and kept charging. One battery actually exploded on me when starting. Quite a fiasco.
I upgraded to Optima batteries and a ProMariner charger recommended by another forum member. What a great charger! Wasn't too expensive for the 20 amp charger which was the size that came out. But these work much better as they can send all 20 amps to an individual battery rather than 10+10.
I just bought a new boat and this is one of the first things I plan on replacing since it freaked out the wife and I don't want another scared summer.

_________________
--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

Thanks for the info on the promariner charger, I hadn't heard of the charger being able to shift the load. That would be useful!

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Chris, I would use just 1 battery for the engine. A group 27 is plenty. If you are anchored and listening to tunes all afternoon, especially with an amp, you might be draining a smaller house battery bank. On the other hand, if you don't need 3 or more group 31 house batteries, save the weight for other things. That is a choice for you to make. It's nice to have lots of electrical power, but 12 volt batteries get drained pretty fast under heavy load. Having the generator along may be worthwhile. A 25 foot shore power cord will let you put the generator almost anywhere on board. Some prefer to beach and put the gen on shore. You will need at least 15 feet to go from the shore power receptacle to the gen on the swim platform.

Most 3 bank chargers recommend not using the 3rd bank if you have just engine and house banks. I guess having 2 charging sources on the same bank doesn't work the best. Kinda defeats the purpose.

_________________
Surface Interval: A scuba diving term for that time between dives to relax and prepare for life's next great adventure.

Current boat: '02 FW 268 Vista
Previous boat: '95 FW 190 Horizon

The current plan is to reduce the 2 start batteries to 1 for a total of 3. Then play it by ear during the summer. Really leaning away from having 3 on the house bank, for various electrical reasons.... with my honda 2000, I plan to run the air when the sun goes down enough to cool the cabin and charge the house batteries a tad..... i think I will just get this baby ready as is with TLC....

I think my "projects" for next summer will be adding the amp and speakers (thinking I want a known point of reference first), maybe seadek (concerned if the teak look gets too hot)

Thanks Gary!

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp

Reducing the weight will also help performance. All those extra batteries are probably equal to another person aboard, maybe more.

_________________
--2002 3880 Regal Flybridge | Twin Merc 8.1HO **Seven**
--2003 AB 13 VST Console Inflatable | Tohatsu 40hp TLDI **Phish'n ski**
--310 Mercury Inflatable | 1982 9.9 Johnson

Sounds good, thank you

I think this would be the charger for me, it has the ability to automatically shift the charging loads as needed. It's also a 2 bank which is what I need

http://www.anchorexpress.com/ProMariner ... oCbsHw_wcB

_________________
Current:
2000 Sea Ray 380 Sundancer "still Livin the Dream"

Past
2002 268 Vista 5.7 GXI "Livin' the Dream"
1996 Rinker 192 Captiva. "The Simple Life"
1999 Yamaha XLL 1200 Waverunner.
1976 Mercury Marquis tri hull 120 hp