www.iFourWinns.com

Arrived at our boat last weekend and found our battery charger to not be working. We only leave battery charger and both fridge breakers on when we leave the boat. All DC beakers are off.

Noticed if I turned battery charger beaker on and off no change in DC voltage on the DC volt gage occured. Normally I would always see a change.

Opened engine hatch and noticed no indicator lights where on the charger. Batteries measured mid 12 volts.

Anyone have any experience with the Guest battery charger, model number 2632? I'm thinking the charger is either bitched, or a fuse in the AC line or charger itself blew? Not sure what other fuses exist beyond the AC battery charger breaker?

My marina is busy hauling boats and winterizing as our boating season here is wrapping up.

Any troubleshooting suggestions?

Thanks,
Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Or the manual if you do not have one. Has some troubleshooting info and wiring/fuse locations etc.
http://www.marinco.com/files/support/pr ... 2A-230.pdf

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

Mine crapped out this spring, same thing...no lights, dead batteries. - Replaced it with a 3 bank ProSport.

_________________
Jack
2005 268 Vista - Sold

2001 Silverton 35C 8.1L Crusaders

I would check the 120v input and the 14v output at the terminals. There must be ( model dependent ) fuses/breakers on the charger. You may want to disconnect the charge wires to the battery when you take a reading. The cables could have a short or break in it.

I went with this one because it displays both output voltage and amp.

http://promariner.com/products/dry-moun ... cp-series/

I replaced my Guest 2815 this year with a Guest 2610, or 11...don't remember. Anyway, after I took out the 2815 and brought it home, I opened it up and saw two blown fuses- a 20amp blade- large, and a 250v 5amp slow blow glass fuse mounted to the pc board......you may want to check the inside of yours for blown fuses....

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"For My 50th"
1996 238 Vista
5.7VolvoGL DP
Previous boats; 91 Cobia 19' Cuddy, 87 Starcraft 16' BR,
67 Winner BR, 65 Arrow 14'

I had 3 Guest chargers go out on me over the course of 4 seasons. I switched to a Progressive Dynamics charger and AGM batteries. Never had a problem since. It was expensive, but it was well worth it for the peace of mind. Guest's customer service was abysmal in my experience.

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2006 Vista 258
2007 Yukon Denali

Thanks for the replies.

Here is what Marinco Technical had to say.....
"TO test the charger follow the directions below the replacement would be a 2632a charger

First check the fuses for corrosion or blown fuses. (Fuses can pop right at the top of the fuse)

To test the charger. Remove the leads from the battery and separate them so they are not touching anyone anything or each other. Next plug the charger in. You should get a green light and only the green light on. Anything else red, red and green or no lights at all something is wrong with the charger. If you do get the green lights check the voltage on each output it should be 13.1 -13.7 volts dc. Anything higher something is wrong with the charger anything lower something is wrong."

I followed up with a phone call. The tech guy said even if the fuses where blown the unit should have an indicator light lit on the charger. I have no lights period. He advised to verify that AC is getting to the charger and if AC is present than in all likelyhood the charger is toast. He claimed chargers typically last for 5 - 8 years, I'm on year 12.

My charger is the 2632 model, the newer replacement model is 2632A.

I'm betting I'll be looking for a new charger. Might need to go light on our battery useage at the dock and use engines to charge batteries as our boat will be lifted out for winterizing in about three weeks and I doubt I can work in a battery charger replacement before. Next weekend is changing engine oils and filter for oil and gas.

Any other replacement charger recommendations since I could very well be going the new charger route? I have two group 31 wet cells for house bateries and a starting battery for each engine.

Thanks,
Mike.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Not sure what model number my guest charger is but i had very similar symptoms last year. Ended up being a blown fuse within the battery charger. if you remove the cover you can get to the fuses. the charger is a bitch to reach on my 318