Onboard Battery Charger Question

Hey guys/gals,

Last time I was out I had one battery that was not fully charged, but that was the least of my problems. My ignition switch had gone bad. I replace the switch and started looking into why my battery was not charging. I suspected the fuses and I was right. My charger is a dual bank charger and it has 3 fuses. Going to one battery, I have a fuse on both the positive and negative cables. There is only a fuse on the positive cable going to the other battery. The battery with two fuses had one fuse that was melted into the fuse holder. It was weird because it was like all the color from the fuse was attracted to one side. So, one side of the fuse holder was full of blue stuff and the other side was full of clear stuff. (Stuff =melted plastic) I removed most of the gunk, replaced the fuse, and it seems to be working just fine. I am wondering if any of you have experienced this? If so, how do I prevent it. (Besides checking it periodically)

did the fuse holders get wet? sounds like either it arced somehow or it got water in the fuse holder and it settled to the bottom and just shorted out. either way..just keep an eye on them. i would have thought the fuse would blow before it melted anything, but if water was present then it may have still been conducting electricity.

I noticed when I used to use acid filled batteries that blue colored oxidation would show up on my terminals. If you see the blue again put a little baking soda on it and see if it foams up. If so its acid that causing your problem. I use Optima batteries now and dont have this problem anymore. Whatever the case it sounds like the fuse did its job but I also think it should have blown before it melted. Billy

Arcing or water likely wouldn't have caused a fuse to blow like that. The fuse would blow if the battery was trying to draw too much current from the charger, or if the charger somehow shorted and was trying to draw current from the battery.

I'm not real clear on your setup. Do you have a 12V TM and cranking battery on the charger or do you have a 24V TM? What brand is your charger? Which battery was not fully charged?

Most chargers won't blow a fuse, and as a matter of fact, most charger installations are not fused except in the charger itself, because the charger is current limited, and the amount of current flowing is controlled by the battery, not the charger.

I never seen one with a fuse in both pos and neg leads.

I'm with IBNFSHN, don't know why you would have one on both positive and negative. Was there corosion present in the fuse holder? If so this will create a high resistance conenction, thus drawing more amps and getting every thing hot. How old is the charger, most (actually I would guess all, but don't know that for sure) newer chargers are only one way, it won't draw from the battery.
What size fuse was in it?

I'll try to answer all your questions. I have a 12v TM, a Basspro dual bank 10/10 onboard charger. I use the charger for two trolling motor batteries. I never have any problem out of the cranking battery unless I leave it connected and don't fish for a long time. The fuse was a 15 amp fuse. The was not corosion present in the fuse holder. The charger is about 9 months old. I am still at work, but when I get home I will check it again and let you know if it has ocurred again. Gotta go... Thanks for the replies.

I had the same model charger. Got it wet one time and it cooked itself. Water is a no-no. I blamed myself even if they are suppose to be sealed..toph2o

I just got my Bass Pro XPS 4/4 back from Pro Mariner today. I have a similar set up with one cranking batt and one trolling batt. The charger cables for the trolling batt have + and - fuses while the cranking batt only has fuse on + side. I had to send mine back last week because the cranking battery side of the charger went completely out. They sent me new one. Go to the Pro mariner website www.promariner.com and click on "support" and "return form". You have to fill out the return form, print it, and send a copy with your charger. I had mine about nine months when it went out too. Hopefully this is not a trend.

Do you have the two TM batteries wired together, or do you swap the TM leads when one gets low?

If they are in parallel, one bank of the charger will charge them, and both batteries will always be close to the same state of charge. The blown fuse wouldn't have caused a battery to be undercharged.

If that's the case, you might want to check with the manufacturer to see if it's okay connecting the charger's outputs together.