Minn Kota MK 2 DC onboard charger...

[Patty]

Hey guys I just installed a MK 2 DC alternater battery charger on my Pro-V and it doesn't seem to be working properly.... I have a 200HP yammy four stroke powering it... The "alternater on" light is green and ready to go but it never kicks into charge mode when i'm running... I don't have a voltage gauge on the dash but have the voltage readout on my 898 and it says 14-14.4V when running wide open, Minn kota says the charger kicks in when the cranking battery voltage reaches 13.6V... Any thoughts??? Does anybody else have expierience with these chargers???

[REW]

Patty,
There is no reason for your on board alternator to kick on into charge mode unless your cranking battery battery, or the battery that the charge is connected to - is discharged.

Just a thought - plug in your 12 volt spot light for a few hours to nearly discharge the battery that is connected to your charger.

Then, go boating. Now, see if the on board charger kicks on and starts to charge.

Simply put, no need to charge a battery that is already sitting at 14 volts.

Be safe
REW

[Patty]

The Unit doesn't charge the cranking battery it charges the batteries for my 24V trolling motor batteries, so I don't see running the cranking battery down helping to charge the trolling batteries... Its simply a Charger that works of the Alternater from the outboard allowing it to charge the trolling batteries while running and stopping the flow of "juice" when the key is turned off... It was brand new yesterday...

[cyber16]

14-14.4v IS charge voltage, therefore it looks to be working yet the led on the charge is not indicating the charge cycle.
What does the bird say the voltage is without the motor running?

[Patty]

The bird says around 12.3-12.8V with the motor off... I just topped up the fluid in the cranking battery as well, almost 1 liter low (I shoulda been on that sooner!!!)... hopefully that will help bring the voltage up...

[Burr]

Hmmm, lets think this through...

The 14+ Volts that is reading is the output of the alternator, when the big motor is running - that sounds right.

The Bird Voltage is probably hooked up to the Starting Battery? So the voltage on the bird has nothing to do with the voltage in the trolling motors - where your MK 2 DC is hooked up. Irrelevant.

The 2 bank - MK 2 DC should have 3 dual leads, and a single wire. One dual lead that will hook up to your cranking battery, and one dual lead each to your trolling motor batteries. The single wire should be spliced in to a wire that is powered only when the big motor is running.

Is it possible the single wire is not powered when the big motor is running?

Is it possible you are not hooked up to the cranking battery with the 3rd set of dual leads?

You have to be hooked up to the battery that the alternater is sending a charge to, so the MK 2 DC can "Combine" with the trolling motor batteries and send the alternator charge to the trolling batteries.

I would not anticipate any of your dual leads are reverse polarized, as you would not see a green light if they were. It would be red.

[cyber16]

I stand corrected, I assumed the bird voltage was being taken from the deep-cycle batteries being charged by the minkota and NOT the main motor starting battery, i assume most people would not risk a no start on the water due to a depleted main battery due to accessories running off it.
This is very important on most 10hp and greater 4-strokes as they need power to run the fuel pumps.

Therefore, i would suggest test voltage at the batteries while main motor is running

[Patty]

Due to interference i have the bird hooked into the cranking battery... It also Lets me keep an eye on the cranking battery voltage while i'm running other acc...

Its working fine now, Once the trolling motor batteries were run down a bit it seemed to function properly....

[bob1]

That is the way they are supposed to work!