On Board Battery Charger help

[bgtruk21]

I just bought a 2004 Bay Craft flats boat. I came with a west marine wall mount battery charger that plugs into the side of the console using an extension plug. it seems to be only running up to the front trolling motor battery and this is where I'm confused. .... under the console the plug has 2 red wires and 1 black wire. The two red wires go into the transformer looking thing which I still haven't figured out what that's for but one goes to the front of it and the other to the side which then go to the battery (the two red wires are the two main terminals on the plug) Now the black wire (in bottom ground position on the plug) goes up towards the battery and is just hanging there. It seems to me it should be connected to the battery and the guy I bought it from has no idea. but when I connect it I can hook up my multimeter and get 12 volts at the plug on the console. Ive taken the boat out twice and had the charger hooked up and it seemed to charge because the little green light said its ready. but I'm not so sure whats happening with that ground wire not on the battery.

I would love any kind of help so thank you in advance
Jason

 

[cribber]

Re: On Board Battery Charger help

A picture would go a long way to helping you out. For a charger to put juice back into a battery it needs a positive and negative connection. Just not getting how your's is being routed back to the trolling motor battery from your description.

 

[bgtruk21]

Re: On Board Battery Charger help

okay check this out. after doing an ohms check I messed up the black wire from the plug goes to the fuse block and the black wire that isn't connected comes from the back battery. good news I guess cuz it looks like both batteries are getting charged but I still think the wire needs to be connected.
-next question would the rear switch need to be turned on for it to charge the rear battery? here's the picture
Thanks again
View attachment 122943

 

[fucawi]

Re: On Board Battery Charger help

The attachment did not work ..you need to follow the proceedure under advanced and have the photo loaded into your computer where you can find it .

To check if its charged the best is a hydrometer but if its over 12.5v 24hrs after "the charge" then its OK

 

[Silvertip]

Re: On Board Battery Charger help

A Model number off the charger would go a long way to determining what you have and how it is supposed to be connected. It would also help if you described what this "rear switch" is, what its wiring looks like, and again a Manufacturer name and model number helps. Remember -- we can't see your boat so pictures and detailed descriptions speed this process.

 

[bgtruk21]

Re: On Board Battery Charger help

okay Let me try this again.
I looked all over the charger and there is no model number. I did connect the hanging wire and volt checked it on both batteries getting 14. volts. but what I'm afraid of is if I will be pulling power from my back battery while running my trolling motor and drain both batteries. When I hooked it up I turned on the ignition key with the rear switch off and it was getting power to the ignition. so now I'm really confused. The boat came with this solenoid on it but I don't think its wired right to charge both batteries yet keep the trolling motor separate from the outboard / main power battery. or if that's even possible. so here's the diagram (I hope) and tell me what you think. there are other wires that I didn't include such as bilge, radio, gauges ect that come off of that rear battery to the fuse block too.

 

[fucawi]

Re: On Board Battery Charger help

Well you seem to have your charger current flowing in the solenoid operating windings ..thats not right...why not put a charging plug for each battery and just run a + and - direct to each from the plugs.....often with these things its easier to rip out the old wiring and wire it as you want it ....every second hand boat I buy I usually end up with half the so called dash harness on the floor and then it goes in the bin.