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I had no steering ability on 1+2 also. CLDave....interesting it corrected on 1+2.

I'm going to drive it later this afternoon with the help of the kids with rope. I'll let you know what happens. If I cannot drive it I will have to have it towed in to dealership. I don't know if they make house calls or not. Guess I will find out. Thanks guys I appreciate your input. Oh btw, there is only 39 hours on the boat.
 
Some dealers here make house calls depending on the issue. I would call the dealer they may advise not to take it out .
 
Julianna said:
l did add 150 lbs to both sides and it really does help. And with the adjustment of the trim I feel more balanced. I may be getting less mpg but that doesn' bother me. I am happy with how the boat feels.

Power steering issue. A couple of weeks ago we were coming back on the boat and the steering started to make this whiny, humming noise from the steering wheel. I checked the power steering fluid underneath the helm and it was empty! So I filled it up and the engine moved back and forth with no issues. Seemed ok.

Yesterday I decided to take her for a spin and I checked the fluid again. It was down a little from when I filled it but the level was ok. I started to back out of my boat lift and noticed the steering was not going in the correct direction. The engine was moving back and forth, but it was like I didn't have a propeller on. So I put it in drive position and it would not steer at all. I had no control whatsoever. Thankfully the current was in my favor and I was able to float back to my lift. After I bounced off my neighbors piling. smh. Has this happened to anyone else? I wonder if a cable broke but I didn't see anything on the engine that looked out of the ordinary.

I don't know if this has anything to do with it or not....but when I tried to start the the boat, I put the batter on 1. It was dead. So I switched to 2 and she started right up. I have used 1 in the past to start and had not issues. I assumed using 2 would charge 1. Is this correct?

Thanks guys in advance for your responses. Hope everyone is well
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My Benny's power steering is only connected to 1 of the 2 batteries. When I have the same issue happen, I just switch to 1+2, solves the problem until that second battery charges up. Funny thing, having too much fun to figure out / document what battery is the issue / hooked up to!!! I see you have tried 1+2 - possibly give it more time to charge the battery or trace your power steering line and move it to the second battery, or swap your 2 batteries.
 
Julianna said:
I did see fluid coming out of the engine. It looked like it was draining out of the exhaust port on the engine. Cables looked dry. Yes power assist hydraulic Potomac
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I don't know how a Merc 450R steering works but I assume there is a steering ram/cylinder mounted to the midsection of the engine on the transom side. If you oil coming out of the exhaust (at the prop??) then you have something very wrong, clearly. Get that big boy to a tech before it completely leaves you stranded or grenades.
 
I've been told (a bunch of crap?), that unless the alternator is able to put out enough current, running on 1+2 isn't recommended... I was told to effectively pick either battery to run for the day, then use the other the next time out, etc.

After reading some of your replies, it seems more like an issue with how things are wired, but the alternator charging thing still concerns me. on 1+2, it's sending half the current to each battery which is a pretty low charge rate most likely...
 
I've made this recommendation multiple times here - get a combiner/isolator like the Blue Sea SI-ACR. No more worrying about what battery to start with, how to charge the house battery etc. It's one switch - ON or OFF. Batteries are isolated when cranking the engine which does two things, 1) it only drains your cranking battery to power the starter and 2) it isolates the house batteries while cranking so you don't get voltage sags on your sensitive electronics.

On the charging side, it isolates and allows your cranking batteries to charge first so getting home is never a worry. Once it is sufficiently charged it will combine and then charge your house bank. If for some reason it senses the cranking battery voltage dropping, it will isolate again so you don't accidentally discharge it and get stranded.

Very simple to use, never have to think about it again, just ON and OFF. The relay and logic built into the design does all the worrying for you.
 
Potomacbassin’ said:
I've made this recommendation multiple times here - get a combiner/isolator like the Blue Sea SI-ACR. No more worrying about what battery to start with, how to charge the house battery etc. It's one switch - ON or OFF. Batteries are isolated when cranking the engine which does two things, 1) it only drains your cranking battery to power the starter and 2) it isolates the house batteries while cranking so you don't get voltage sags on your sensitive electronics.

On the charging side, it isolates and allows your cranking batteries to charge first so getting home is never a worry. Once it is sufficiently charged it will combine and then charge your house bank. If for some reason it senses the cranking battery voltage dropping, it will isolate again so you don't accidentally discharge it and get stranded.

Very simple to use, never have to think about it again, just ON and OFF. The relay and logic built into the design does all the worrying for you.
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This is in my future... after ruining a battery last year for christmas in july running way too many things off an inverter plus the normal loads, i got some deep cycle house batteries to keep separate from cranking batteries. things are getting much more complex, so this will help...
 
Potomacbassin’ said:
I've made this recommendation multiple times here - get a combiner/isolator like the Blue Sea SI-ACR. No more worrying about what battery to start with, how to charge the house battery etc. It's one switch - ON or OFF. Batteries are isolated when cranking the engine which does two things, 1) it only drains your cranking battery to power the starter and 2) it isolates the house batteries while cranking so you don't get voltage sags on your sensitive electronics.
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I'll probably do this someday, but for now when I start my boat I leave the Master switch at the helm off until the engine is running.
 
CLDave said:
I'll probably do this someday, but for now when I start my boat I leave the Master switch at the helm off until the engine is running .
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I also leave the master switch off . One of the 1st things my dealer told me on my 1st boat purchase was to leave that switch off when you are not using anything .
 
CLDave said:
I'll probably do this someday, but for now when I start my boat I leave the Master switch at the helm off until the engine is running.
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In my case I'll idle up to a fishing spot with my sonar running, engine off, fish, then crank back up to move a few dozen yards, fish, wash rinse repeat.

It's that constant starting that killed my chartplotter each time as voltage dropped and it then had to reset each time. When I put the Blue Sea in it has a start isolator wire that temporarily breaks contact between the house and crank battery when the key switch is turned so I dont have a voltage drop on the house side. Chartplotter sees constant voltage and haven't had a problem since.
 
I have never heard of leaving the Master switch off at the helm. Interesting. I also love the simplicity of Potomac's recommendation of the Blue Sea SI-ACR. I'm taking notes here before the boat goes in. Thanks guys
 
When did they start adding a master helm switch? I’ve got a 2016 GCW but no master.
 

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My 2017 SSBXP has a master switch on the helm. I just assumed they all had them. Hmmm…
 
I think we had all discussed this before but.....My old Bennington I/O only had a 1 battery set up. My current boat has 2 batteries with a Perko switch so I enquired on its proper use. I was told by several mechanics and our dealer to use Battery 1 on the way out and Battery 2 on the way back OR on this trip use Battery 1 and the next trip use Battery 2. NEVER use both batteries at the same time unless you have an emergency! Like if you are unable to start your boat with a weak battery and you need BOTH to start it.
 
BigKahuna said:
I think we had all discussed this before but.....My old Bennington I/O only had a 1 battery set up. My current boat has 2 batteries with a Perko switch so I enquired on its proper use. I was told by several mechanics and our dealer to use Battery 1 on the way out and Battery 2 on the way back OR on this trip use Battery 1 and the next trip use Battery 2. NEVER use both batteries at the same time unless you have an emergency! Like if you are unable to start your boat with a weak battery and you need BOTH to start it.
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that's pretty much what my service guys told me when i got the second battery installed. seems like there isn't a good "scientific" answer without draining a few batteries for "research"...
 
Dealership just called and said the power steering was a battery issue. They are trying to figure it out. Are all Benny's with two batteries having a power steering issue?
 
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