Parallel light is always on

[Rowan]

I expect the parallel switch, and therefore the solenoid, to only be energized when the V3 decides the alternator is charging the house batteries - and such, it ought to send some amps towards the starter battery as well. My parallel light is always on, whether charging or not, and my two battery banks (house and starter) tend to go down evenly during use. Is there a way to fix this? should i just disengage the orange parallel wire and see if this isolates the batteries?

[Coulomb]

Do you have a battery charger operating?

[Rowan]

No charger running - the light is always on (this must mean the V3 is getting a false signal that it is charging)
Incidentally i removed the parallel wire yesterday and the DC Electric load quickly verified the battery banks were now isolated (the voltages were not equal anymore) BUT - i was unable to start the motor by turning the key....hmmmm

[Coulomb]

It appears that the parallel output is on in some kind of an error but you do have some other issues to sort out.

[Rowan]

Is there a way to reset the V3?
We plan to attempt to declutter years of wiring projects the previous owner underwent. I am looking to find an electrical engineer who can draw up schematics and advise on installation - is this something you can do for a fee?
We have a house bank at 840Ah of AGM, plus a starter AGM battery. Other components are the ample alternator 4023, and our inverter/charger xantrex MS2000. we plan to add a solar array and a DuoGen Hydro/wind generator in the next year.
Other than that its pretty typical boat power systems, DC panel and AC Panel...

[Coulomb]

The V3 probably has a failed parallel driver. This will happen if the V3 replaces a Next Step Regulator and the person wiring it didn't look at the respective wiring diagrams.

We aren't taking new design business at the moment until the backlog is reduced. Some of the information in the Primer may help.
http://www.amplepower.com/primer/index.html

[Rowan]

Is this something that can be fixed/reset, or does this belong in the trash?

[Coulomb]

Perhaps it can be repaired, but until the unit is inspected there is no way to tell.

[Rowan]

Do you recommend i remove the device and mail it in for testing? Is there some testing i can perform? I checked the voltage between the parallel and the ground and it was between 5-6 Volts.

I thought i'd provide more details of my situation so that maybe you can recommend a repair/replacement option.
I have disconnected the batteries and removed the distribution panels to get a better look at what i'm working with.
The starter battery (which had always been in parallel) turned out to be very dead - 10.5 volts after 24 hrs, 6 volts after 4 days. Is it possible this was causing the parallel to be activated?

Another tidbit of info:
The SARV3 ground is taken from the Starter motor, the Alternator ground is wired to the SARV3 from the alternator - these two device grounds are wired together with a short jumper wire. Is this ok, or does the SARV3 ground need to be a dedicated wire from the Negative Distribution Bus/Battery.

Also, the main battery switch happens to be on the negative side of the DC circuit - a problem? should this be changed to the positive side?

The boat has a Xantrex MS2000 Inverter/charger which is wired to the house batteries but also has a built in echo charger to charge the start battery.

We need to plan to add solar and wind/hydro power charging capabilities.

Fire away! (Please)

[Coulomb]

With the ground situation you describe it's no wonder that you're having problems.

Before you do anything, you need to rewire the system. Whoever installed the V3 neglected to look at the wiring diagram or read the manual. Please do that and follow the instructions exactly.

There should not be a battery switch in series with the alternator. The switch should on be used to parallel the batteries not direct current to one battery or the other.

You can find lots of information at http://www.amplepower.com/primer/index.html.