www.iFourWinns.com

I am a relatively new 2005 Vista 268 owner and have had my share of issues with this boat. The most recent is when I am plugged into shore power, all the 110v things work like the A/C, microwave etc. but everything else slowly loses power. No cockpit or cabin lights, no stereo, horn, spotlight etc. when I start the engine, all of those items work again. Is the charger not working and the house battery slowly runs out? How do I check that? And where the heck is it? (I am no mechanic!) thanks in advance for any help.

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain


[img][IMG]http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t554/bgaskill11/2005Vista268_zps31196126.jpg[/img][/img]

I would take the house battery to an auto store or battery specialist and have it load tested. If it's old just buy a new one.
You need a multimeter to make any progress with electrical fault finding, cheap $10 ones are fine. Set to DC voltage to check the output of the charger and battery voltage under various conditions.
The charger will not be far from the batteries. It gets power from a switch on the 110 volt panel so it is somewhere along a line from the panel to the batteries or the main battery switch.
If you measure battery voltage, engine off, and you turn the battery charger on and off the voltage will change if the charger is connected and working.
The boat looks great!

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John
2006 Four Winns Vista 278 (sold)

Thanks so much. I will get started!

_________________
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain


[img][IMG]http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t554/bgaskill11/2005Vista268_zps31196126.jpg[/img][/img]

Turned out the charger was bad. Pulled it out and bench tested it and there is nothing coming out of the 12 V side. Thanks for the help!

_________________
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain


[img][IMG]http://i1313.photobucket.com/albums/t554/bgaskill11/2005Vista268_zps31196126.jpg[/img][/img]