Electrical Smell - I found it

[John Watts]

I finally pulled the cover off the boat to check the trolling batteries for the smell (previous post). I'm apparently lucky the boat did not burn up in my driveway. The charger was not plugged in, just hooked up to my 24 V trolling battery bank. I found some water in the battery compartment, so I don't know if that was the problem. Here is what I found:

 

[John Watts]

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Time to call Sue at Guest!! You are lucky dude!! I can't believe that bad boy wasn't smokin!!



TOXIC

 

[Marke Cicero]

I agree the Toxic. Call Sue immediately and replace it with a Guest charger.



You're lucky dude!!!



Marke

 

[Bill McElroy]

YIKES!!!!...not cool!!

 

[John Watts]

I expect it was smoking, but the boat was sitting in my driveway covered when this happened, so I did not discover it until later, by then it was cold. Everything in the compartment with the charger is covered with sticky black soot. Any idea what could cause this?

 

[JAMES MOORE]

Looks like the inside of my trolling motor after the wires in the top of the head wore through and shorted out against each other.

 

[Andrew Zuber]

Wow...

that's nasty looking...

I would think that there would have to have been an electical fault inside the charger that allowed current from the batteries to flow back into it...



I'd see if you can get your money back from BassPro and then buy a new charger from Guest...



I say again...Wow!



az

 

[Shannon Daves]

"Everything in the compartment with the charger is covered with sticky black soot. Any idea what could cause this?"



FIRE BYPRODUCTS

 

[Greg Meyer]

Regardless of their response, take it to BPS. That thing should be examined by the manufacturer...

 

[John Watts]

"FIRE BYPRODUCTS"



The "this" I was asking about was the meltdown, not the soot.

 

[Rich D]

Wow!



Was the charger hooked up correctly? Nothing crossed, positive to positive, etc...? Glad it was caught and no one or nothing was seriously damaged.



Rich D

 

[Richard Whittemore]

There is the argument for not leaving your charger plugged in all the time...

One cheap (for me) leason learned.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Uh huh! I think the topic of chargers was brought up recently and I said," I don't trust them un-attended"...this is an example. I don't trust any electrical product that is designed to charge something. Whether it be an on-board charger or a big car -type on wheels.

Once something fails inside...can they guarantee it not to burn up your boat or garage or your whole house?

TEE

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Guys...Read the post...THE CHARGER WAS NOT PLUGGED IN!!!! So now you gonna pull the entire charging unit out of your boat? I would guess it got wet and shorted internally.



TOXIC

 

[TOMMY RICH]

My bad..plugged..un-plugged...those are dangerous animals

TEE

 

[Rob LaMoy]

You're one lucky puppy you still have a boat left. Get a Guest.

 

[Staci Matheis]

That is nasty!



From the way the front is caved in, I would hazzard a guess that there was an internal short. Possibly caused by loose internal wiring or wiring that was jarred loose while bouncing over waves and wakes.



I'm with TOXIC - please be sure to send that bad boy back to Bass Pro so they can inspect it. Then tell them that you want it replaced at no charge with the very best GUEST Charger available!



me!



P.S. I hear that, in cases like this, Sue will personally come stand watch over your boat night and day during the warranty period to be sure there is no problem similar to what you experienced with the competitive brand! (She does request that you allow her to fish when the boat is on the water!)

 

[John Watts]

Yes, the charger was hooked up correctly - I installed it in June shortly after getting the boat and I have charged the batteries a number of times since then with no problems, and nothing had changed about the way it was hooked up. Again - the charger was NOT plugged in, it was just sitting there hooked up to the batteries just as it had been for the 4 months since it was installed. I'm not sure at this point if I even want to put in another onboard charger.

 

[Rich Kulakowski]

Don't forget to check the batteries now. Could have been damaged. Also it looks like one wire set is more charred, check thoroughly what that was wired to. Looks like a "catastrophic failure". Not a good day.

Take it back to BassPro, in person, just to see their reaction. Should get you a new/different one.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Wonder if it wasn't a short in the battery itself that could have caused it?

TEE

 

[Jim B]

WOW! Your lucky that it didnt turn out worse then it did. I believe these xps chargers are made my pro mariner. A guy in my club has the pro mariner and he has sent it back 6 times in two years. Like the guys said get a Guest. I have had mine going on 5 years now and its great. It barely gets warm when charging compared to my buddies pro mariner, his gets hot enough to almost burn you. My guest just works i have had it going on 5 years and during fishing season it stays plugged in 24/7 unless im using the boat.

 

[Gene B]

Definatly a short in the charger, a short in the battery would damage the battery not the charger. Very nasty, go buy a lottery ticket before your luck runs out.



Gene

 

[Rob LaMoy]

If I had to venture a guess, I would say that a rough day likely dislodged some internal wiring on the one bank. Then the residual power left in the batteries was allowed to discharge through the short. "Lesser" chargers are just assembled and sealed. Guest chargers are filled with electrical potting (sp?) to stabilize and further waterproof them. Everything in my boat takes a beating on any given day out (passengers included!) and my chargers have never failed me.

 

[Dan J.]

Be sure and check your battery tray. I've seen the exact same thing on another boat, while unplugged. Bouncing around on the water dislodged the tray from the hull and pinched the leads to a battery, crossing pos. and neg., causing the feedback short. It was on a Dual Pro.



Never guess, get a Guest!

 

[gone bye bye]

Without tracing the wires in the pic, it looks like it occured in the charger. BUT were the pos and neg to both batteries clean? (IE no charring melating etc.)



The leads going to the battery could have been worn somwhere from vibration and this could have caused it too. Whether the current would short something in the charger I dont know. It seems that in some way the charger failed and the manufacturer should step up and replace or refund ALL the damages incurred.



Mini

 

[Sue DeLelys]

John,



Which model charger did you have?



Sue

 

[Michael Snow]

Sue, that's a great question. I would have said the xps 5/5/5 that's currently on sale, but the picture doesn't show it to be quite so dark .

 

[Sue DeLelys]

Mike,



My bad...I see the model now.



Thanks,

Sue

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Interesting...all 3 output leads are torched as well as both ends of the charger. Could it be some kind of reverse polarity on the unit causing it to torch?



TOXIC

 

[Tony Payne]

I think the capacitator portion of the flux modulater cross connected with the eludium p modulator resulting in an overload condition in the warp drive.

 

[Rich D]

It might have been the dual canuter valve.

 

[Donnie Matney]

Hey Simmy you been watchin' to much Back to the Future...Flux Capicitator! HAHA



Donnie

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Whatever it was, I'm sure it was a left handed one!!



TOXIC

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

You know, this is such a great board! A serious post goes into this HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I love it here!!!



John, Look at the odds man. How many chargers are installed and how many actually torch. I am going to step out on the limb and say that the odds are pretty high. Now, the odds have struck you. But, will it happen again for all the pain in the tush you are going to have for hookign up the batteries? IMHO, get ya a good Guest charger, wire it up, let it rip and enjoy the ease and sense of security from a Guest.



Carlos

 

[Greg Meyer]

I have instructed Commander Spock to take that charger down to Scotty in Engineering for tests... Kirk Out!

 

[Larry Harp]

I'm sure that unit was manufactured in Texas by an OSU grad.



Harpo

 

[Bill McElroy]

No way Harpo!! That's a total melt down,...HAD to be a former Lion head coach!! LOL

 

[gone bye bye]

You mean Darryl Rogers got a job?



Mini

 

[Bill McElroy]

Yeah,..Darryl and Bobby Ross are partners.....and they hired Wayne Fontes to stand in the lobby and hug people when they walk in!! LOL...

 

[David Hunt]

1.21 gigawatts?!?!?! Put that much through a charger and take it up to 88 mph and you will see some serious s***!



Doc