Dual battery set up on new Yamaha 255XD boats

[Klover]

I noticed that I have to have all three switches on in order for the engines to start and/or for the head unit to come on, so I'm guessing the batteries weren't wired correctly since I assume as long as the house battery is on the dash/connext screen should come on? -- but ours doesn't unless all battery switches are on.
I could take it back to the dealer but it's about 45 mins away -- so wondered if anyone on here that has a 25' model with the dual batteries can either take a pic or video to show how the batteries are wired? Thanks

 

[mrcleanr6]

the connext needs both the engine batteries and house batteries to be turned on then the key switch on.

 

[jocolo21]

The yellow switch stays off unless you run out of juice, then you turn it on.

 

[Klover]

Hmm -- the dealer told me when you're beaching/floating and wanna listen to stereo you can just use the house battery and then when you need to start up you turn on the engine battery -- that way listening to music won't leave you stranded.

 

[212s]

Hmm -- the dealer told me when you're beaching/floating and wanna listen to stereo you can just use the house battery and then when you need to start up you turn on the engine battery -- that way listening to music won't leave you stranded.

Dealer is misinformed.

If wired properly, the Start battery is isolated and used only for starting the engines even if both switches are on. The House battery is for the stereo and other electronics and will not draw on the Start. You also need to have both switches on all the time to use the stereo or the Connext will detect the zero voltage and throw an alarm. You can confirm the setup by simply watching the battery voltages with the engines off and listening to tunes - the Start should stay around 12.6v and the House will slowly drop. Once the House gets down to 12.0v you need to start the engines to charge the House up or connect a charger if you're in a slip/dock or sitting in your driveway pretending you're on the water.

 

[212s]

The yellow switch stays off unless you run out of juice, then you turn it on.

This is important @Klover - the yellow combine switch is only used if you have a problem and the Start battery is low. It will combine both batteries to help start the engines, then you turn it back off. This is all covered in the owner's manual.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Hmm -- the dealer told me when you're beaching/floating and wanna listen to stereo you can just use the house battery and then when you need to start up you turn on the engine battery -- that way listening to music won't leave you stranded.

Bad information is worse than no information, and your dealer is giving you bad information on this subject.

As the others have stated, the paralleling switch combines the engine start and house batteries for emergency starting if the engine start battery is too low to start the engines on its own.

Your battery switch panel has four switches, three with knobs, start/house/parallel, and the other is the DVSR (digital voltage sensing relay), no knob.

With the start and house battery switches turned on, paralleling switch off, the start and house batteries are isolated. Once you start the engines the start battery is getting charged by the engines. Once the voltage on the start battery reaches 13.2 volts the DVSR closes and parallels the start and house batteries together so that both batteries will charge while the engines are running with the start battery getting priority for charging. Only after the start battery is charged does the house battery start getting charged.

When you stop the engines and are floating and listening to tunes etc.. both batteries remain paralleled until the voltage drops to 12.7 volts, at this point the DVSR opens breaking parallel between the start and house batteries so that now the house battery is carrying the load of all accessories, and the engine battery is isolated and ready to start the engines.

When you look at the battery switches, the one node without a knob is the DVSR, there is a small led light that turns on when the DVSR is closed. This light will stay on as long as the DVSR sees the voltage on the start battery is above 12.7 volts, regardless of the battery switch position.

This battery switch also serves another purpose. When you start the engines the voltage drops, if the DVSR is closed when starting the engines the DVSR opens isolating the house battery loads from the low voltage transients.

 

[anmut]

Hmm -- the dealer told me when you're beaching/floating and wanna listen to stereo you can just use the house battery and then when you need to start up you turn on the engine battery -- that way listening to music won't leave you stranded.

Your dealer, like most dealers, got it wrong. It's as simple as:

1. When you launch the boat, turn both house and starter battery switches = ON. Combo switch (yellow) = OFF.
2. Enjoy your day boating and playing music at the sandbar.
3. When recovering boat, turn both switches to off.
4. Plug in to a battery tender or charger when at home.

I'm running 1500w of JL stereo for hours on end at our sandbar, never been stranded.

 

[Wicked92]

the solar panel charges both batteries? or is the DVSR in charge of authority on that?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

the solar panel charges both batteries? or is the DVSR in charge of authority on that?

Without looking at a single line of the solar panel charging circuitry, I’d say the solar panel goes to the start battery and once that battery is at 13.2 volts it is keeping both batteries up… so the OEM charging logic would remain in place, just with a solar panel as the source.

 

[Klover]

Your dealer, like most dealers, got it wrong. It's as simple as:

1. When you launch the boat, turn both house and starter battery switches = ON. Combo switch (yellow) = OFF.
2. Enjoy your day boating and playing music at the sandbar.
3. When recovering boat, turn both switches to off.
4. Plug in to a battery tender or charger when at home.

I'm running 1500w of JL stereo for hours on end at our sandbar, never been stranded.

When you use battery tender, which battery of the two should you charge/hook up to the tender?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

When you use battery tender, which battery of the two should you charge/hook up to the tender?

If you hook it up to the start battery the tender will make sure the start battery is charged and, when the start battery is charged the DVSR will be closed and the start and house battery will be charged.

Having said that, I would recommend a two bank battery charger mounted on the boat that you plug in when you get home. Battery chargers like the MinnKota PC 220 will condition and maintain the battery properly.

 

[anmut]

When you use battery tender, which battery of the two should you charge/hook up to the tender?

I use two battery tenders, one for each battery.

 

[emeraldcoastal]

I have a new fsh 210 that is approaching a year old, we use it at least once a week. When the marina (where it's stored) put in 3 days ago they had to charge battery to start, they also had it running with yellow emergency parallel switch on. I drove it a mile to our community dock and it would not start 3 hours later. It started in yellow mode, I turned yellow off, let it run about ten minutes, then shoved off. Immediately upon getting underway the tach froze and connext went down. Not wanting to have the admiral and first mate stranded at sea I returned to dock.

Today we have a Tropical storm approaching and interrupted my plans to go through the electrical. All the fuses were fine and connected. Started in Yellow and proceeded to head back to marina to stow for the storm. Starboard Engine died at least a half dozen times and Port would proceed to redline. Once back at the marina showing the deckhands the connext would not come back up and tachs were just cycling back and forth.

Apologies for the long winded post, I have searched the forums and it appears that the fuses are normally the culprit.. Would a battery go bad this quick? Any other suggestions of where to look. It is still under warranty so I might be making a trip to the dealer. Also I have never put on a charger, is this necessary? Boat is completely stock, have a go9 to be installed.

Thanks

 

[mrcleanr6]

Well your battery is not going to charge in a 1 mile trip. If its really that low it could take hours. You need to pit tue battery on a charger over night and see what happens. Your battery would not be covered under warranty. Your dealer put that in and they usually install the cheapest batteries you can buy so yea its possible yoir batter my can go bad in a year.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I have a new fsh 210 that is approaching a year old, we use it at least once a week. When the marina (where it's stored) put in 3 days ago they had to charge battery to start, they also had it running with yellow emergency parallel switch on. I drove it a mile to our community dock and it would not start 3 hours later. It started in yellow mode, I turned yellow off, let it run about ten minutes, then shoved off. Immediately upon getting underway the tach froze and connext went down. Not wanting to have the admiral and first mate stranded at sea I returned to dock.

Today we have a Tropical storm approaching and interrupted my plans to go through the electrical. All the fuses were fine and connected. Started in Yellow and proceeded to head back to marina to stow for the storm. Starboard Engine died at least a half dozen times and Port would proceed to redline. Once back at the marina showing the deckhands the connext would not come back up and tachs were just cycling back and forth.

Apologies for the long winded post, I have searched the forums and it appears that the fuses are normally the culprit.. Would a battery go bad this quick? Any other suggestions of where to look. It is still under warranty so I might be making a trip to the dealer. Also I have never put on a charger, is this necessary? Boat is completely stock, have a go9 to be installed.

Thanks

Thanks for including that you have not put it on a charger. That should be rectified (no pun intended) immediately. I installed a MinnKota MK 220 PC on board charger with the permanent charger connection on the port side of the center console. I have this charger hooked up to the start battery and the house battery.

The alternators on our boats do not have very much left over charging capacity after running the boat, these alternators will not charge up a battery properly that has been drawn down.

The odd part of your story is that the Start battery is having the problems, that is the first battery to charge before the house battery begins charging through the DVSR. Based on what you have said in your post here is what I think is wrong.
1-Your house battery is connected to the start side of the battery switch. This would mean that the house battery is getting charged first then the true start battery later, although the start battery is acting as your house battery.
2-The fact that your boat starts with emergency paralleling switch on confirms that the Start battery is not getting charged properly.

Remedy.
1-Pull both batteries out and charge them fully, then have them tested.
2-Clean and inspect all battery terminals.
3-Trace out the wiring on your battery switch to make sure the start battery and house batteries are indeed supplying what they are supposed to.
3-Verify that the DVSR ground wire is attached to ground on the start battery.
4-Complete the battery switch wiring verification procedure in the Yamaha shop manual. See attached pic
5-Verify that the red light of the DVSR comes on when voltage on the start battery is at 13.2 volts or above. (It should turn off at 12.7 volts on the start battery)

The DVSR switch closes when the start battery reaches 13.2 volts, Paralleling the start and house batteries. When you are floating, and the battery bus voltage drops to 12.7 volts, the DVSR opens isolating the start and house batteries from each other. This ensures that the start battery is charged before the house battery is charged.

Have a look at your connext screen battery voltages and you can see when the DVSR either opens or closes during the day. When floating and you are running accessory items such as a fish finder and or the live well, you will see both battery voltage levels start to fall until at one point the start battery holds steady and the house battery volts continues to fall. Conversely, when you start the engines, the start battery voltage will come up right away, then the house battery voltage will start coming more slowly.

While the engines are running, both battery voltages, at least on my boat, are different from each other by a half volt or so after I have been running the live well and fish finder for a while and the engines are trying to charge the house batter back up while I’m still running the live well and fish finder. In the morning when I first take off, both batteries are showing 14.3 volts or so. But later in the day they are in the low 12’s to mid 12’s. If I run the boat for an hour or so, both voltages will recover to the mid 13’s.

Hope that helps… you are not the first one to have the batteries hooked up incorrectly by the dealer. Simple problem and a simple fix!

If you have questions please ask!!