www.iFourWinns.com

Can't wait to see pictures of this one... I have the rail system on the transom as well, so I was thinking of just using standoffs.

Keep us posted JB!

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Steve,

That makes a lot of sense to me, because from what I understand of the Merc SeaCore system, they went to great lengths to prevent corrosion, using all passivated stainless steel fasteners and Mil Spec hard anodization on all of the drive castings before using a new paint process.

I am glad they just stepped up and replaced them no questions asked! I still say Merc is a easier company to deal with than Volvo, I've had both... Both work well, I prefer Merc.

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Brett DiMichele

Unwrapped and just days away from the splash. New thru-hull for galley sink is in (pix to come), second house battery being added and a new transducer being installed in the next few days...

If you look at the picture carefully you'll see edging tape on the window frames of the boat next to mine. It didn't occur to that Captain that his scraping and painting would send paint dust my boat's way. He'll be cleaning my cockpit cover this week. Some people really just don't think - or just don't care.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Well, if anyone recalls last year we had generator problems. We would run on battery power and then fire up the genrator when the batteries got low. We didn't do this on purpose but sometimes we forgot to fire up Gennie before we went off to someone esles boat or to shore or wherever and we would trip the house breaker in the panel box by the cockpit entrance in that panel with the battery switches.

We thought the problem was a faulty breaker and replaced it. We still have the same issue. Does anyone else, Sierra? have this issue with a 2008 358?

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

I haven't experienced any Gennie problems or breakers tripping but I'm not sure I understand exactly what problem you're experiencing... can you take another pass at the explanation?

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

LEt's say we are out for the day. We are running the fridges, the stereo, and the VHF radio, maybe even have the GPS on. As the day progresses, the low battery warning system activates. That would be the CO detectors. I then jump into action and turn on the generator, it comes on and then what happens is that I see the cabin lights start dimming and brightening like there is some surge in the system. I have observed at this time that the needle on the battery charger is spiking back and forth. Then the little white breaker that has a "50" on it in the compartment where the battery switches are located, with a label under it that says "House" POPS! When this happens, the batteries are no longer charging and basically the generator is running for nothing if you didn't need it for anything else. When you go to push the breaker back in, sometimes it will reset, sometimes it may take a few minutes and then it will let you reset it. Then, the battery will begin to charge, sometimes. Sometimes you have to repeat the process. Quite annoying.

They have changed out the breaker last season but the problem persists as of yesterday. Gotta make the call tomorrow!

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

It might be a shot in the dark but it sounds like you are overtaxing the house battery - as there's only one. I think you are putting a drawl on it when it's essentially dead and the battery charger doesn't like it. I might be wrong but I wouldn't deplete that battery to the point that the CO detectors sing - at least continually. BL - you might want to add another house battery as Bill did. I think I'll be doing the same. Only one house battery is nuts on these boats!

I think you're correct Brenden,the battery charger doesn't like it. I am just not sure why I hadn't had this issue previously with other boats. Does anyone have pics on where they stuck the battery? Bill did you make this Mod? Who else? Sierra?

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

As I've mentioned before, my boat was delivered with a 'cranking' rather than 'deep cycle' house battery. It discharged on me several times - setting off the CO2 detectors and all. Not once did I have a breaker pop. I don't know much about theses things, but these systems should be isolated and just because you are attempting to charge a totally dead battery, the breaker should not pop. Maybe it's an issue with the charger.

If you do a search through this thread, Bill has made several posts about his addition of golf cart batteries which has served him well. My cranking battery is being replaced with a proper deep cycle battery courtesy of Four Winns and I am adding a second, matching house battery - pix to come. A single house battery is indeed insufficient for these boats if you want to spend any appreciable time on the hook without running your generator. The stereo amp alone is a massive drain, let alone two fridges and your chartplotter if you're maintaining an anchor alarm.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

I have inboards and there's a 'shelf' back under the swim platform area. There's enough room for the two 6V batteries I added (they're in series for 12v). I've never had any 12v problems since.

I recall seeing that a stern drive engine room doesn't have the same space. But there was a lot more room up near the forward bulkhead. If I were setting it up I'd probably go with making a shelf for the batteries that sat across the stringers for an engine. Seeing as how batteries are REALLY heavy you'd want to make it a pretty thick shelf, at least 3/4" marine plywood. And then make sure the batteries were as close to the stringers as possible. You wouldn't want the weight of the batteries in the middle of the shelf causing it to sag (and flex under heavy wave action). That and I'd probably look into one of the marine battery sizes that fit into larger battery boxes. The larger box would also serve to support the battery weight along with holding them securely. The 4D and 8D batteries come to mind. There was barely enough room to fit regular cells onto the 348 shelf, so I couldn't use these. That and they're heavy. But they offer great long-drain performance.

Were I to do it again I'd probably just use 12v batteries instead of 6V in series as it's easier to properly set up a charging circuit. Right now mine are just paralleled to the existing house battery and this is not ideal. As batteries age they charge differently and need to be isolated from each other correctly (otherwise a low battery would drain the working ones). It's one of those "to do" things.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

As I think I mentioned earlier, it seems FW taakes a step backwards occaisionally when designing new boats. While the 378 may be a couple of feet longer, the systems (and thus the electrical load) on it and the V358 are basically the same. When I took delivery, the dealer had installed four run of the mill 12 volt marine batteries. Luckily, the FW brochure had a picture of (and specified by name in the caption) Optima Blue Top batteries as being standard in FW boats. After a bit of phone tag, the mechanic from Riverside Marine showed up with four new Optima D34 batteries and life has been good ever since.

The boat is wired with a dedicated battery for each engine and two batteries in parallel as the house battery. One unique feature is that the 378 came equipped with something called a "Smart charger". It does a lot of neat things. If no activity is detected for several days, it bumps the charge rate to 14 volts for a few minutes to stir up the fluid for a few minutes to keep the plates clean. It can be programmed for various charging rates for different battery types, (lead acid, gel cell, or AGM). The neatest feature is that when it has 120 VAC coming in, it acts as a converter (not inverter) and supplies 12 volts to all the boat systems, essentially bypassing the batteries. I've looked at Better Lucks situation and was surprised to see just a standard charger installed instead of the smart charger.

It's quite possible, Steven, that you have both a bad charger and a bad battery, but I wouldn't start swapping things until you can be sure. We took a lightning strike to the marina last year tha wiped out several battery chargers, engine computers, and a lot of electonics. Maybe that affected you and you didn't know it.

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Jerry
2004 378 Vista "Escapade", T-Mercruiser 8.1 SHO
2003 Maxum 3300SE
1987 Wellcraft San Tropez
1991 Chaparral 2550SX
1987 Bayliner 2150
!967 Caravelle 1751

I'm surprised he doesn't have the smart charger /converter in the new 358! My 338 has it. pretty nice with that
digital display.

I do not have any digital display. I called my standing mechanic that handles my warranty work for FW and let them know my issues still persist from last season. I understand how to avoid the problem by not letting the battery drain that far down. I understand that my batteries may be inadequate. And I also undestand that FW needs to make this right whichever way they can.

Personally, I think the issue is with the battery charger not being adequate. I think it is on the borderline as to whether or not it is sufficient for my boat. I will double check to find out what size it is but when you run the very powerful stereo, GPS, and refridgerators, the batteries drain to the point that the charger can't keep up so it goes haywire and pops the circuit breaker.

Sierra, what charger do you have in your boat? Can you check that out for me. My boat was produced in 07 as an o8 so yours may be a different type and size.

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

And that's the thing, with this converter feature
which is sweet, on the genny your not even pulling power
from the battery at all. I believe they installed the
incorrect charger.

Which is entirely possible. Before we took delivery of our 348 I noticed a nasty sulphur smell inside the cockpit. Turned out the charger had cooked the batteries. They replaced the charger (with a different brand) and all three batteries. I don't know that the original charger was an 'incorrect' one or if it was just defective. I'm guessing the latter. I believe the unit in there now is a Charles brand, but don't hold me to that.

There is just not enough capacity for a single battery to operate all the house systems for more than around 10 hours. And if you continuously run a battery down it will deteriorate and hold even less of a charge the next time. Do this repeatedly and it will wear out the battery much sooner. And it takes a lot longer to recharge a battery than it does to run it down.

Frankly I think it's a design defect to have only one ship system battery on any boat with the number of accessories present like those on a 348 (or similarly equipped).

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista