2019 242x Solar Panel Charging

[Kevin-yyz]

Exactly. I have no idea how the system works and the manual is worthless. I guess I will get a six pack, get a hose an conduct some experiments with various combinations of battery on and off to see how the bilge actually works.

Until I find out conclusively I will continue to leave the house battery on since it is being topped off by the solar trickle charger.

Scoop

I had previously tested the pump with the batteries off via the test pushbutton on the bilge pump. It tested fine. Today I put a hose in and turned the water on with the batteries off. When the water was partway up the bilge pump it came on ....for about two seconds and then stopped, letting the water continue to rise. I’m also going to have to figure out proper battery setting while leaving it on the water. For now I have the house battery on and the battery charger plugged in.

I also get show 12.2v or so on the connext screen for the house battery when I know that it is almost fully charged. When I use the multimeter to test the battery is usually shows a much higher voltage than what the connext screen shows.

 

[CDENsomnia]

I had previously tested the pump with the batteries off via the test pushbutton on the bilge pump. It tested fine. Today I put a hose in and turned the water on with the batteries off. When the water was partway up the bilge pump it came on ....for about two seconds and then stopped letting the water continue to rise. I’m also going to have to figure out proper battery setting while leaving it on the water. For now I have the house battery on and the battery charger plugged in.

I also get show 12.2v or so on the connext screen for the house battery when I know that it is almost fully charged. When I use the multimeter to test the battery is usually shows a much higher voltage than what the connext screen shows.

I want to say at some point over the last couple years there was an issue where connext reading was reading voltage at the switch or something weird. @jcyamaharider Didn't you mention how you had to fix your connext so it would show the true voltage of the house and starting batteries?

 

[jmschoolboy]

I also have a 2018 242X and my house battery is loosing voltage while listening to the radio recently. I has dropped to the point where the amps shut down. I unplugged the solar panel at the top and tested it with a meter and its only showing 12.67 volts. My dash read out just to stay around 13.7 volts while listening to the radio. Does any know how many volts the solar charger should put out?

 

[Merlion]

Solar panel fuse is located beside the battery switches. Orange 5amp fuse. Pretty easy to access. Mine is definitely working now. Red light is on in my driveway at 0930. View attachment 100380View attachment 100381View attachment 100382

Guys, I’m very new to this. I’m also having battery problems and feel like the solar panel is not charging the batteries as it should. Even on sunny days here in Florida, my house battery runs dead when floating.

Just ti make sure I understand: is the red DVSR light supposed to be on when? (When the batteries are Charging? Is it supposed to turn green or something when the battery is fully charged? does the solar panel charge the batteries even if they are off? This is all confusing

 

[grywlfbg]

Guys, I’m very new to this. I’m also having battery problems and feel like the solar panel is not charging the batteries as it should. Even on sunny days here in Florida, my house battery runs dead when floating.

Just ti make sure I understand: is the red DVSR light supposed to be on when? (When the batteries are Charging? Is it supposed to turn green or something when the battery is fully charged? does the solar panel charge the batteries even if they are off? This is all confusing

The purpose of the DVSR is to allow 2 batteries to be charged from 1 source (like when the engines are on) but otherwise leave them separate (so if you do run your house battery down listening to tunes you still have a full Start battery to get you home). The DVSR does not charge the batteries. The DVSR should function regardless of the battery switch settings (although turning on Emer Parallel manually does what the DVSR does, bridge the batteries).

The DVSR only has 1 LED. If the LED is off, it is not bridging the two batteries. If the LED is on, the 2 batteries are bridged/combined (the DVSR enters this mode when it detects a charging voltage of 13.4VDC or higher). It is not a battery charger so has no concept of the battery being charged or not. That being said, if the battery that is being charged first is low, it will take a while for the charger to bring it up to 13.4VDC to cause the DVSR to activate and bridge the batteries.

As for the solar panel, are you handy w/ a multimeter? There is a plug on the port side tower (or you could meter it where it plugs into the wire at the top of the tower) and you should see voltage if the panel is in the sun. There has also been a report of the solar panel wires being installed backwards onto the battery (swapped + and -). So that would be something to check too.

 

[grywlfbg]

Ok, so I did some nosing around this morning. This is for my 2019 242X (May, 2019 build).

With the solar panel unplugged and all battery switches off, both batteries were reading 12.74VDC. I then plugged in the solar panel. The START battery jumped to 12.9VDC. The HOUSE battery was unchanged at 12.74VDC. DVSR LED was OFF.

While doing my ribbon delete, I kept checking the voltages. The START battery continued to climb (13.4VDC). The HOUSE battery stayed at 12.74VDC. DVSR LED was still OFF.

After I finished the first ribbon, I checked it again. This time the DVSR LED was ON and BOTH batteries were reading 13VDC.

So what does this mean?

1) The solar panel is wired into the START battery directly. No battery switches involved.
2) The only way for the solar panel to charge the HOUSE battery is via DVSR (once the START battery is full).
3) If you have a solar panel, you should NOT do the red wire DVSR mod (where the red loop is cut and connected to a keyed hot). If you do this, then your HOUSE battery will NOT be charged by the solar panel when the engines are off.

To put it another way... If you want the solar panel to charge the HOUSE battery while floating, you need to leave the DVSR red wire intact. If you also want to install a 2-bank charger/tender for when you have shore power, you will need to disconnect the black DVSR ground wire (either physically or by installing a switch) whenever you plug it into the tender. This disables the DVSR.

I'm only on Day 3 of owning this boat but I've read a lot here and I'm fairly decent w/ electrical things. I welcome any thoughts/corrections.

 

[Merlion]

Ok, so I did some nosing around this morning. This is for my 2019 242X (May, 2019 build).

With the solar panel unplugged and all battery switches off, both batteries were reading 12.74VDC. I then plugged in the solar panel. The START battery jumped to 12.9VDC. The HOUSE battery was unchanged at 12.74VDC. DVSR LED was OFF.

While doing my ribbon delete, I kept checking the voltages. The START battery continued to climb (13.4VDC). The HOUSE battery stayed at 12.74VDC. DVSR LED was still OFF.

After I finished the first ribbon, I checked it again. This time the DVSR LED was ON and BOTH batteries were reading 13VDC.

So what does this mean?

1) The solar panel is wired into the START battery directly. No battery switches involved.
2) The only way for the solar panel to charge the HOUSE battery is via DVSR (once the START battery is full).
3) If you have a solar panel, you should NOT do the red wire DVSR mod (where the red loop is cut and connected to a keyed hot). If you do this, then your HOUSE battery will NOT be charged by the solar panel when the engines are off.

To put it another way... If you want the solar panel to charge the HOUSE battery while floating, you need to leave the DVSR red wire intact. If you also want to install a 2-bank charger/tender for when you have shore power, you will need to disconnect the black DVSR ground wire (either physically or by installing a switch) whenever you plug it into the tender. This disables the DVSR.

I'm only on Day 3 of owning this boat but I've read a lot here and I'm fairly decent w/ electrical things. I welcome any thoughts/corrections.

Thanks for this complete update and congrats on the new boat. So technically, if all is connected a sworking properly, the batteries will be charged by the pannel with the battery switched in OFF? (I’ve read so e posts that say that the batteries must be ON in order for the solar panel to charge them)

 

[grywlfbg]

Thanks for this complete update and congrats on the new boat. So technically, if all is connected a sworking properly, the batteries will be charged by the pannel with the battery switched in OFF? (I’ve read so e posts that say that the batteries must be ON in order for the solar panel to charge them)

Correct. My solar panel charged my batteries with all switches off. If you have a multimeter, go out and meter both batteries before and after the solar panel is plugged in. Let us know what you're getting and we should be able to tell if the panel is working or not.

Yeah, there is a lot of confusion out there around this. I think Yamaha may have been changing things from year to year (and not always updating the manual) which makes it extra hard since you need to find a thread about your model AND year.

Now if I can just get my Connext to save settings in between outings.....

 

[CDENsomnia]

Something to keep in mind is if you are running the stereo etc all day and expect the solar panel to keep the house battery charged thats not a real world expectation. It just extends it a little. With 7 hours of running the stereo with no engine starts I usually get down to 11.7v at the end of the day on the house battery with the solar panel in direct sunlight all day. I wish someone would figure out how to swap this panel out for something with a lot more capacity.

 

[grywlfbg]

Something to keep in mind is if you are running the stereo etc all day and expect the solar panel to keep the house battery charged thats not a real world expectation. It just extends it a little. With 7 hours of running the stereo with no engine starts I usually get down to 11.7v at the end of the day on the house battery with the solar panel in direct sunlight all day. I wish someone would figure out how to swap this panel out for something with a lot more capacity.

Yeah. We've only been out twice so far but we run the boat a lot tubing and (eventually) surfing. We just float for 15-20 mins at a time to rest, let the kids swim, have a drink/snack, etc. Then someone will be ready to get back behind the boat and we'll fire her up. The older models had 2 panels wired in parallel. If you were to get the same panel (I saw it linked here somewhere) I don't see why you couldn't wire them in parallel and with a bit of sewing skill add a second panel.

 

[seadude]

Yeah, there is a lot of confusion out there around this. I think Yamaha may have been changing things from year to year (and not always updating the manual) which makes it extra hard since you need to find a thread about your model AND year.

Just an FYI: that's exactly how my 2016 works (first year of the solar panels).

 

[Cambo]

These solar panels are more of a gimmick if it was set up correctly it would need more circuitry. I took a 12v small bulb and it barely lit up the filament the bulb was measured at 4.7ohms and I checked the current flow it was 104ma. It takes a 10 amp charger hours to bring a battery up to full charge after some heavy use

In this video the guy used a 3 amp solar panel to power up a water pump if we ran that direct to the batteries it would over charge them

 

[mark_m]

@Sweinberger as we learn about the SE and it’s charging system...

 

[Cambo]

So unsatisfied with the results I went out in the middle of the day I was surprised at the difference the test above was done at 4:30 pm the sun was off to the side. Today I went out at 12:30pm . The light bulb was bright and I measured the voltage no load 18.8v under load of the 4.7ohm bulb 17.4V then measured amps 400ma so its almost 6 watts. I have a big kahuna portable 12V shower and it powered up the motor no problem it looked like it sprayed a little further than normal probably the higher voltage. The big pending question is what is it hooked up to SYS / start battery or Aux / house battery . The strange thing was when the plug by the tower was separated I hooked a meter to the end that feeds toward the batteries and tried all different combinations of the battery switches float mode and ignition set to on but had 0 volts on every combination . I was hoping to identify what its feeding power to.

 

[JoseCuervo]

what noco charger for two batteries should I buy ? The 8amp or the 12 amp. Thank you

 

[AndyD860]

I’ve also run into this problem. I’m pretty sure that the solar panel on my 2018 242x is not charging the battery. With only the house battery on the voltage will drop below 12v. I’ve never seen the red DVSR light on. Running both engines on idle brings both batteries to 14v.

This is how the batteries were setup, does anything look off? Start battery is the first picture.





View attachment 97721



View attachment 97722

So how often should u charge ur batteries or should u put them on a tender when not in use

 

[haknslash]

I use the tender when I'm not using the boat. Of course mine is at the dealer storage lot with no tender being used lol but when the boat is back with me we always used the tender since it has a maintenance mode to allow it to be used any time the boat isn't being used. It's not the same as say a battery charger where you wouldn't want to keep it plugged in all the time.

 

[Merlion]

I use the tender when I'm not using the boat. Of course mine is at the dealer storage lot with no tender being used lol but when the boat is back with me we always used the tender since it has a maintenance mode to allow it to be used any time the boat isn't being used. It's not the same as say a battery charger where you wouldn't want to keep it plugged in all the time.

Quick question. My boat rests in a marina (Dry rack) with no access to electricity. even though I have the solar panels, I don’t think they do a good job topping off the batteries. I’m trying to find a way to top off the batteries every now and then, and don’t mind removing them and taking them home to do this. Which is the best battery tender I can get for this purpose?

 

[haknslash]

I like the Promariner products. It's what I used on my last boat and also what came on my newer boat. Works great!

 

[Merlion]

I like the Promariner products. It's what I used on my last boat and also what came on my newer boat. Works great!

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