2019 242x Solar Panel Charging

[haknslash]

For dual batteries I use the dual bank Prosport 12 Gen 3 Pro Sport 12 | ProMariner. On my previous boat with single battery I used the single bank Prosport 6.

 

[grywlfbg]

Tks. There are so many options. I’m a newbie when it comes to batteries. How many Amps for charger should I get? (Again this would be to fully top the house battery at home away from the boat) tks

It's not sexy, but you can get 2 Battery Tender Jr's for $50.

 

[Summers420us]

My 2018 does NOT run the bilge with the batteries off. I used to think the way you do.... but I've had 3 separate instances this year where I've got on my boat (in a slip) and it's had 6-8 inches of water under the engines. I have a 2nd pump and float switch installed and the water is up to where the float is.

Turn on the batteries and boom, the OEM pump turns on and runs for a few minutes. Last 2 times out, I've left the house battery on and have had no water to deal with. I posted about this in some other thread, but it's definitely not working right.

I sent an email to my dealer asking them to get an answer from Yamaha. Have yet to hear anything.

Ever get an answer on this?

 

[anmut]

It's not sexy, but you can get 2 Battery Tender Jr's for $50.

Exactly what I use on all my previous boats / yard equipment / generator.

 

[Shookie]

Ever get an answer on this?

No, they weren’t sure

 

[Merlion]

My 2018 does NOT run the bilge with the batteries off. I used to think the way you do.... but I've had 3 separate instances this year where I've got on my boat (in a slip) and it's had 6-8 inches of water under the engines. I have a 2nd pump and float switch installed and the water is up to where the float is.

Turn on the batteries and boom, the OEM pump turns on and runs for a few minutes. Last 2 times out, I've left the house battery on and have had no water to deal with. I posted about this in some other thread, but it's definitely not working right.

I sent an email to my dealer asking them to get an answer from Yamaha. Have yet to hear anything.

Something is not hooked up properly on your boat. I tested this last weekend as I was worried about the same thing. With both batteries off, I filled the engine bay with water, as soon as it got to about 3 inches of water, the bilge pump turned on until it got rod of the water.

 

[WildCatFan54]

Back to the OP of this thread ! On the newer style single solar panel (2019) , if the panel is disconnected from the boat / bimini , shouldn't you still get some reading on a multimeter (other than 0v) if the panel is pointed directly at the sun on a clear day, and multimeter is alligator clipped to connector on solar panel? What would be considered normal ? This would seem to me to take the blown fuse possibility out of the equation . Granted , fuse must be working when panel is on boat with switches off to charge starting battery. Just trying to determine if I have a bad panel OR if the problem lies in the boats electrical system ?

 

[Cambo]

No reading on the solar panel is not a good sign probably defective .The 2017 has dual panels and on post #74 you can see that it was able to power up the water pump on my portable shower .

 

[Cambo]

Just went out and checked my fuse box has a number 118512 it had a zip tie not sure if that was factory I am the second owner my fuse box only has 3 fuses main , audio and solar and two relays . Like others have posted the 5 amp fuse was blown . I’m installing a 10 amp and will probe out the plug by the tower to find out what it’s hooked up to by flipping battery switches and plugging in the charger to fluctuate the voltage and help identify wtf is going on .

 

[Cambo]

With the help of some clouds Im 95% sure I have this figured out for the 2017 model, testing was done with battery switches set to the off position

• Blown 5a solar fuse most likely caused by careless placement of battery cables during removal and re install of batteries for winterization the solar panels keep the wires hot even with the battery switches set to off and if they bump it will pop the fuse
• I keep an alligator clip on the negative VSR control so my dual bank charger operates to peak performance. While charging in the driveway its not connected disabling the ability for it to combine both start and house bank
• The solar panels are hooked to the stater battery if the BEP votage sensitive relay, (VSR) is disconnected as clouds went by I watched the voltage increase and decrease
• hooking on the negative wire engaged the VSR first it was flashing red then clicked and was solid red pairing the start with the house. Same result clouds went by and I watched the voltage drop than increase with direct sunlight so the solar panels are charging both with the negative VSR wire connected

Check your fuse these boats come from the factory with no battery so for the initial install if anyone bumped the wires the fuse could be blown

 

[Cs2930]

I have now had my 2019 242x out on the water a couple weekends now and this last weekend my house battery has just continued to drop in voltage. I am guessing this is from running the stereo almost all day every day. On Saturday about half way through the day my house battery was reading 11.9 on connext and my amps started to turn off due to lack of proper voltage. Once I fired up the engines everything returned to normal. I charged the battery for a good 15 minutes at an elevated idle which helped a lot but I am pretty disappointed in this whole solar panel thing. I swear it's not doing anything.

I saw a few posts on wiring being backwards but what I was curious of is the new single solar panel bulot in to the bimini actually keeping the batteries topped off if they have a decent amount of sun. I really have not seen any indication the panel is working at all! While sitting and listening to music I even see my starting battery drop in voltage starting the day at 12.7 and ending at 12.4 give or take and that while we surf keeping the engines running for an good few hours.

I am going to take my multimeter with me this weekend to do some.troubleshooting but it would be nice to hear other 2019 owners that the panel is doing something. Also any tips for figuring out what might be going on would be nice but I have read some other posts so I have some idea what to look for.

Oh one thing I did try is watching the voltage on connext and then unplugging the solar panel...no difference on a sunny day!

 

[NewBoater]

Reviving an older thread here. I have a 2018 242X and typically are around 14.2 or so on house and starter when engines are on and we are riding around. If we sit in a cove and listen to the wetsounds stock audio I see them both start dropping and the house gets down to 12.4 or so and the starter battery around 12.6. I haven’t run into any issues but not sure if my solar panel is even working. Are these normal numbers after sitting and listening to music for an hour or 2 if the panel is actually working? I have seen the red DVSR light on so I know the light works but not sure that means the sole panel is actually doing anything. What’s a number on both batteries where it’s like you need to start it up and get the numbers back up again from driving. Is 12.4 scary low or more like the high 11’s? Thanks as I’m trying to figure all this out. If fuse was blown would red light not be on that I saw on? For those of you that have owned one of these 2018+ year 242x boats and ran the tests and know your panel is working for sure what do your numbers look like when sitting listening to music? Do they drop to 12.4-12.6? If the red light does come on and I’ve seen it does that mean my panel definitely works?

 

[Lmrowen]

New 2020 242XE owner. DVSR light on with batt switches off so solar always charging regardless of switches on the 2020's, but it seems pretty weak as after multiple sunny days with no use it only increased 0.5V or so. I thought I wouldn't need an onboard tender-charger like my old 212X but am now realizing I do. I'm thinking its better to a single charger and let the DVSR do its thing like it does with solar. That way I don't need to mess with cutting DVSR wires and solar will top off both batts while floating. What advantage would a dual charger provide other than being faster? What am I missing?