Battery or Alternator problem

[bretski75]

I have a problem running all my accessories. The problem started when I turn the heater on, the other accessories cut out and the the breaker for the heater pops. I thought it was the battery at first, but then since it doesn't matter weather the engine is running or not, same sequence of events.

Heres what happens

turn on the ignition: guage reads 12, then 2 seconds later when the PP turns on it goes to 11. turn on the heater it drops to 10 and the perfect pass and the heater cut in and out, until the breaker for the heater pops.

I don't know if its the heater drawing too much? or just a bad battery, but if the battery is bad wouldn't the alternator run the accessories.

Boat starts and runs perfectly

[Pistol Pete]

Mr. Shade Tree mechanic would say...pull a battery out of your car and swap it in, if the problem goes away...buy a new battery for the car.

[zilla]

As a car stereo installer, a quick check for the alternator is to disconnect the battery when the boat is on

1 if it stops most likely alternator

2 if keeps running battery

[bretski75]

Is it normal for the heater to drop the amp meter by 2 amps?

[Pistol Pete]

Sounds plausible to me.

[68Slalom]

You can buy a really cheap volt meter to see how many volts your amps really puts to the positive cable, the voltage regulator in the alternator should increase voltage when you turn on accessories. For example if you battery is low you charging system should be somewhere closer to 14 volts, when your battery has a full charge it should be closer to 12 volts. You may have a bad voltage regulator!

Keep us posted on what you find.

[bretski75]

To close this out, I put a charger on it and have not had an issue since. I'll chalk it up to a battery that was not fully charged. At least until next month when the heater will start to get a workout.

[Deke]

I've got a similar thing going on in my '99 Response. Turning the heater on causes the Perfect Pass to reboot, sometimes repeatedly. No popped breakers though. It has always had the issue where turning on the heat would cause the PP display to go blank but continue to operate normally otherwise. We just lived with it. But this is different now. The voltage gauge reads something like 13.8 but at the instant you switch on the heater it momentarily drops to 11._ but then back up to the 13's.

My original plan to fix the display problem (which I've had since new) was to improve the ground to the perfect pass module. But this is sounding like something different. Can anyone clue me in to some things to check?

Thanks,

Deke