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VSR Question

Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: General Forums
Forum Name: The Boat Shed
Forum Description: Discuss all things boating.
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=130517
Printed Date: 01 Jun 2026 at 6:08am


Topic: VSR Question
Posted By: Mossy
Subject: VSR Question
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2019 at 9:37pm
Hi all, I have a VSR and a two-battery setup on the boat. My main starting battery is 5 years old, and is a marine battery. This evening while out drifting, when I went to start the outboard to head home nothing happened, just a little click from the outboard, but no spark. It seemed there wasn't enough battery voltage to get it started, so I selected the VSR switch to EMG Parallel and she started fine from there. Exactly the same thing happened when flushing the motor at home.

I thought the VSR automatically detected low starting-battery voltage and immediately paralleled to number two if needed? Any idea why this didn't happen? Or is the VSR only for keeping the second battery charged? 

As soon as the motor started, the little red light on a VSR lit-up, indicating (what I thought) battery 1 was full and battery 2 was charging.

I've had the VSR several years and have never had this issue. Sounds like my starter battery is kaput, but I thought at least the VSR would get the motor cranked up - obviously there was enough starting current between the two batteries.

If it makes any difference, the I recently upgraded the outboard from a 2-stk Johnson to a new 4-stk Suzuki.

Many thanks.


Replies:
Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2019 at 10:15pm
VSR detects when the charging voltage at the start bat is above a certain level (~13v from memory)and then couples both batteries to the charging source so the House batt gets charged. When you turn off the engine or charger the VSr disconnects the House batt from the start batt so the House systems can not discharge your start batt. It does not automatically parallel the batteries like you suggest. That is why you have the Emg Parallel switch, You probably have a bad batt, but it could also be a bad cable connection so check those first. Simple test would be to swap the two batteries around and see if the problem stays or goes away.

Posted By: Mossy
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2019 at 10:21pm
Thanks Tagit, that is interesting, and way different to what I thought was the case. I connected a volt-meter to battery 1 after flushing the motor this evening and it was reading 12.88v. I'll check it again in the morning and that should give me a reasonable idea of the battery's health.

Posted By: Mossy
Date Posted: 13 Mar 2019 at 10:42pm
Hi again, on a related matter, my mate has the same battery setup on his boat as mine, and he was out boating last weekend and the little red charging light on his VSR never lit up. Presumably this would indicate the second battery never received a boost, and batt 1's voltage never exceeded 13.4v? Would that be right? Batt 1 is brand new.

Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2019 at 9:11am
If the red light didn't come on it could be the start batt starting to fail (or just pretty flat), the VSR failing, a wiring issue, or the house batt failing although that normally makes the VSR 'pulse' and red light flash.

A quick check with a voltmeter across each battery will tell you what is happening. Note that small engines with small charging systems and batteries that are getting tired can give you funny VSR operation. The normal issue is that the VSR starts to pulse. Always check the VSR operation and batt charging voltages etc with the engine at around 2000rpm rather than at idle rpms. This will bring the charge amps up enough to get more meaningful readings.

On your boat, 12.88v is a good reading so that batt may be OK if it is still reading 12.8v later on and you should check the battery connections and cables, especially the cable ends where the lugs are crimped on.

Posted By: Bigfishbob
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2019 at 10:20am
Yep your start battery is stuffed, and 5 years is a particularly good life for it. Your mates battery is not charging to trigger the VSR to charge the other battery, so it may be stuffed as well. Or you have something more serious like the regulator has gone bad on your engine too.

Get your batteries load tested. Sometimes they'll show good voltage, but depending on what's happened to them may not have much  current capacity left.


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www.waikatosportfishing.co.nz

Posted By: Mossy
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2019 at 8:47pm
Okay, thanks for the advice, guys. FYI I got a reading of 12.75V this morning and the battery was still at that level later this afternoon. So it's holding its charge, with no load of course. My mate's main battery is brand new, so I'd be surprised if that was at fault - and the VSR was just installed last year. So possibly a connection issue or something such. His outboard's a 200HP 4-stk.

Posted By: ofthesea
Date Posted: 14 Mar 2019 at 10:00pm
If your battery is five years old why not say "thanks for the service" and buy a new one? Without a good battery all that equipment worth thousands of dollars might not do a damn thing!

Posted By: Mossy
Date Posted: 15 Mar 2019 at 10:21am
True that, I likely will replace the battery. I would hate for the same thing to happen though if I spend a few hundred on a new battery. Not short of bills to pay at present.


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