Need Help With Battery Switch

[Epitome]

I have a 1998 Model 2503 Trophy Center Console. It has 2 batteries with a 4 position switch. Down both are off, up both are on, left battery one on, right battery two on. In the left position for battery one on I am getting no power anywhere (brand new batteries and I tried switching them). I removed battery two and I get nothing from battery one in the up for both position. From the switch itself there are 2 hot wires with fuses coming out and both fuses are good. I am stuck and I don't know what to do next. I have included a pic. Thanks ahead
I am not even sure I am supposed to get power system wide from both batteries, I just assume that is what is supposed to happen.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Probably a bad/missing connection on the switch. Remove it from the transom, and make sure the connection for that battery is good, clean, tight, and corrosion free. If all looks good, your switch may be bad, and it's time for a new one, but that's not too common, unless you had a short or other malfunction. The picture of the front of the switch really doesn't help much.

 

[gozierdt]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

I agree, I think you need to pull the switch cover off and see what's hooked where. In a normal battery switch hookup, the two heavy red wires on the right and left would come in from the positive terminals of your two batteries, and the black wire in the center would be the "out" terminal. The two smaller, fused red wires look like they may come off the battery two "in" terminal. If that's so, they bypass the switch, and are always powered from battery 2- lots of people hook their float-switch equipped bilge pumps this way, so the bilge pumps are always available (at least until the battery goes dead). So first question would be where does the large black wire from the center of the switch go- and if it's hooked up as I suggest, it should really be red so that everyone knows its a hot (positive) wire. And where do the two smaller red wires go- bilge pump, stereo, fishfinder, guage panel, etc? So figure out how the switch is hooked up first, then trace from there...

Edit: Also, you don't see any power anywhere with the switch in "1" position. Have you tried to start the engine with the switch in this position? And where have you looked to see no power "anywhere"?

 

[Epitome]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

I simply put the switch "on" for battery #1 and I turned all the switches on I could find, including tilt/trim of motor. Nothing worked. I did not however try starting the boat. It just doesn't make sense to me that I could start the motor and not be able to tilt/trim it, but I suppose anything is possible. the boat has 2 bilge pumps, one in a box with an automatic float and one on the bottom of the boat that I can turn on and off with a switch. I know that when I turn the batteries on, sometimes the automatic pump spurts out some water. Perhaps battery #1 is meant for just running this bilge pump for when the boat is in a slip for long periods of time? The boat is exclusively trailered and has not ever been in salt water. I would doubt anything got corroded, everything is very clean and nice in there. I will mess around with it again tomorrow and see if everything is working right and I just don't know what I am doing. I was operating off the idea that both batteries power everything when each is on, maybe that is wrong.

 

[Haffiman]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Normally one battery is for engine alone, the other for accessories.
Trim/tilt is often only working with ign ON, depending on which engine you have.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Remove the switch and measure the voltages at the back of the switch with some accessories turned on. Measure when switched to #1 and then when switched to #2 so that you are putting a load through the switch. Could easily be a bad switch if someone has ever overtightened the terminals.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Where does the black cable on the switch go to? Usually black indicates ground and a ground wire must not be connected to the switch.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Here is a dual battery switch setup. It shows an outboard but the concept is the same for an I/O. Every accessory on the boat is fed from the COM terminal on the switch except the bilge pumps which should be wired directly to the largest capacity battery.

 

[Epitome]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

So both batteries should power everything? Or is Haffiman right? According to your diagram, it looks like both batteries feed everything. No? My tilt/trim works with ignition off. I guess what I need to check is if battery one works only with ignition on, if at all.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Anyone wanting to mess with boat electrics needs to start their research with a wiring diagram for their power plant so they at least begin to understand that there are TWO electrical systems on a boat -- not just one. The concept is really simple if one takes the time to study both of them. Then one needs to understand that a battery switch is just that -- it selects which battery powers the boat. It is no different than if the boat had just one battery (as most do when new). The very large battery cables going to the engine in a single battery system power everything in the boat so this does not differ from a dual battery system. The switch merely allows EITHER or BOTH batteries to power EVERYTHING. The switch can handle in the neighborhood of 300 amps so that's not an issue. Now then. The engine gets its power via the large battery cables. The power in those cables also goes up the engine harness to the helm where it powers the gauges, tilt and trim and the starting system. There is generally a smaller pair of wires with a circuit breaker that goes from the battery to the fuse or breaker panel at the helm. This is the second electrical system. It powers all the accessories via the fuse/breaker panel. By installing the dual battery switch and another battery you do not change this entire concept. The two circuits are still fed from the COM terminal on the switch rather than any single battery. That's why the switch is so versatile. But it is only versatile if people learn how to use it to their advantage.

 

[Epitome]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Well, I tried it with battery 1 on and turning the key on and still no power. Thank you for explainging that both batteries should power everything, that makes sense to me. I will have to take that switch apart and see what is going on. Thanks.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Once again, you are misinterpreting how the switch works. BOTH batteries CAN power everything but they don't have to. The boat should operate the same whether you have BAT 1, BAT 2 or BOTH selected. The switch merely connects the selected battery or batteries to the COM terminal. The COM terminal is then the point that feeds everything else. You have a wiring problem. All I can do is refer you to the previously posted diagram.

 

[Epitome]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Sorry for not being clearer, but I do think I understand. You are saying that with just battery 1 on, everything should work, with just battery 2 on, everyhing should work. Obviously, if both are on at the same time everything should work also.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

Did you do the test I suggested in post #6?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Need Help With Battery Switch

If you have it wired the way my diagram shows -- yes it should work. That's what the switch is for -- so you can SELECT which battery or batteries powers the boat. Parked and listening to tunes or using trolling motor -- switch to BAT 2 (saves BAT #1 since it is now off-line). Ready to go = switch to BAT 1 or BOTH. BAT 1 will be fresh to start the engine. BOTH will allow starting as well and when under way BOTH will charge. If you KNOW BAT 2 is low because you ran it down with the radio, troller, lights or whatever, start the engine on BAT 1, then switch to BAT 2 so the full charge from the engine goes to BAT 2. If accessories are NOT wired to the COM terminal on the switch -- why have the darned thing.