DVSR Black Wire

[JSchneider]

It doesn't seem like the house battery on our 222SD is charging, when the boat is moving the start battery shows a voltage of 13.8 while the house battery slowly discharges. I have read that the black wire on the DVSR needs to be connected to the start battery negative terminal, however, looking at ours the wire appears to be wedged between two pieces of fiberglass under the DVSR. Is there a negative bus bar under the floor that the wire is attached too, or should it be physically attached to the start battery? I have tried pulling the wire out by hand, but it didn't move, and I don't want to rip it off of a connection if it is attached to one. The boat goes in for some service next week and I will have them take a look at it, but I intend to use it this weekend and if it's a simple fix I'd like to take care of it.

If I can't get it working for the weekend, will the boat charge both batteries if I run them in parallel?

Thanks.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Can you see where it goes on the back side of where it goes through the panels? Loosen the panel where the wire goes to to see if it will pull out easily. I don’t know your boat but I doubt the wire would pass through a bulk head wedged in between panels.

If the wire won’t come out I’d cut it and put it on the start battery negative.

Have you been charging your house battery with an onboard charger or portable charger?

 

[AZMark]

The DVSR has a little red light on it when it’s working for confirmation.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

The DVSR has a little red light on it when it’s working for confirmation.

True true, once the voltage gets to 13.2 volts it will light up, connect the start and house batteries, then turn off at 12.7 volts and separate the start and house batteries.

 

[JSchneider]

We have been charging the house battery with a charger which is a pain because we keep the boat on a lift. I don't think I can unscrew the panels its wedged between the floor and a bulkhead right under the DVSR and if I cut the wire, it will never reach the battery.

We have never seen the red light come on which is why I think the wire isn't connected to anything. I will take another look at it this weekend and see if I can see where the wire goes.

When the house battery is charging does the voltage on the Connext screen show 13.8 like the start battery when it is charging?

If I can't get it working this weekend, can I put the batteries in parallel so they both charge?

 

[AZMark]

Yes you can use the yellow emergency parallel to charge both batteries when underway.

I bet that black wire got caught in there during assembly or when the dealer put the batteries in and no one noticed. I can’t think of anything else it would be hooked to. Mine just has a big ring terminal for the battery stud. That’s probably catching on something in yours.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

We have been charging the house battery with a charger which is a pain because we keep the boat on a lift. I don't think I can unscrew the panels its wedged between the floor and a bulkhead right under the DVSR and if I cut the wire, it will never reach the battery.

We have never seen the red light come on which is why I think the wire isn't connected to anything. I will take another look at it this weekend and see if I can see where the wire goes.

When the house battery is charging does the voltage on the Connext screen show 13.8 like the start battery when it is charging?

If I can't get it working this weekend, can I put the batteries in parallel so they both charge?

Just splice on a piece of small gauge black wire and attach it to the negative of the start battery. Can you get us a picture?

Your voltage on the connext screen should read 14.4 volts when the start battery is fully charged, and the engines running, and if you are not charging the start battery with an onboard charger at home, and or only running the boat a short time you will not see that 14.4 volts, which is fine, as long as it is charging..

So yes, you will see that 13.8 on the house batter when the dvsr operates correctly.. or even 14.4 volts when first heading out for the day provided that you have charged the batteries when the boat was not in use.

As @AZMark says you can use the emergency parallel switch, but you best not forget to turn it off when you get to where you are going. Perhaps even just pry that panel back a tad if you can without breaking something, as @AZMark says it probably has a ring terminal on the end that is holding It from pulling free.

 

[tabbibus]

Just cut it and re do the connection. I have a smart charger so I placed a simple on/off switch on that cable to be able to turn off the connection when charging and on when under way.

 

[JSchneider]

Thanks for the info. I will try getting the wire out with a pilers this weekend and if needed splice the wire and connected it to the start battery. If I put an on/off switch on the wire, can I charge both batteries at the same time with a dual bank charger?

 

[AZMark]

Thanks for the info. I will try getting the wire out with a pilers this weekend and if needed splice the wire and connected it to the start battery. If I put an on/off switch on the wire, can I charge both batteries at the same time with a dual bank charger?

Yes. If you don’t put the on/off switch or otherwise turn off the DVSR (through it’s red loop wire) then your charger won’t be able to charge the batteries independently and any smart functions of the charger won’t work right.

 

[JSchneider]

Fixed it! Got the wire out, connected it to the battery and it works as advertised both batteries are charging.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Fixed it! Got the wire out, connected it to the battery and it works as advertised both batteries are charging.

Thats Awesome! Just in time for the 4th of July weekend!! Well done!

 

[tabbibus]

Fixed it! Got the wire out, connected it to the battery and it works as advertised both batteries are charging.

Love it! How do you charge the batteries when not in the water?

 

[JSchneider]

I had just put a charger on it to charge the batteries which was a pain because we keep the boat on a lift. Had to run a 100’ extension cord from the house down the pier to the boat. Zip tied the cord to the pier, lift and boat so someone wouldn’t kick it in the water. It was on a ground fault plug so I wasn’t too concerned. It’s working great now though, might still add the switch like someone else mentioned above. Thanks for your help!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I had just put a charger on it to charge the batteries which was a pain because we keep the boat on a lift. Had to run a 100’ extension cord from the house down the pier to the boat. Zip tied the cord to the pier, lift and boat so someone wouldn’t kick it in the water. It was on a ground fault plug so I wasn’t too concerned. It’s working great now though, might still add the switch like someone else mentioned above. Thanks for your help!

One way to enable / disable the DVSR is to hook up the red wire on the back to the switched side of one of the batteries. In the diaphragm it shows hooking it to an ignition hot but you can just hook it up to the switched side of the start or house battery. This way you can’t forget to turn it on when you use the boat.



I highly recommend you install a 10x2 onboard battery charger and receptacle on your boat. Seems like if you have a lift you could install a 120VAC out let off of the power feed for the lift and eliminate the need for running an extension cord?