Inverter Batteries R.I.P.

Step 1.. Are the batteries really dead. Put a volt meter on each one. A fully charged 6v battery will read ~ 6.3 vdc with no load connected. The test results will point to the next step.

Not the safest way to do it (and it might not work) but taking a jumper cable and shorting the pos and neg at the charger for a millisecond may do the trick.

This is a terrible idea, it could cause your boat to explode or implode and disassociate every molecule in your body as well as cause chromosomal damage many generations in the future. It may have unforeseen impacts on your boat's stability. I do not recommend it even though I have done it with some success in the far distant past before lawyers and analysts walked the docks.

If you jump them from another battery for 30 seconds the inverter will kick on and charge. You can also hook up a portable 12 volt battery charger and as soon as the inverter see's juice it will start charging. I prefer to always have a seperate, built in battery charger for inverter banks, if only for this reason alone......I know you can get 24 volt inverter/chargers going with a portable 12 volt charger hooked up.....however most 24 volt inverters will shut down if the batteries are below 21 volts

You don't "connect" them, you quickly brush them together. If there was enough power available to do any damage you wouldn't be having the problems described.

another idea

Are your engine start batteries completely isolated from the house batteries? Or is there a way to use the engine start banks to get the house banks up enough to get the inverter charger to kick in?
And you could always use jumper cables in this manner as well.

I can't diagnose your problem but I can suggest a way of preventing it from happening again. Install a battery monitor. It will tell you your current draw and allow you to prevent destroying your batteries. At 160 bucks cheap insurance.

Magnum makes a great battery monitor that integrates right into the remote and inverter. Requires re-doing the negative cable to accommodate a shunt, but a very slick and helpful system

Battery monitor, wouldn't leave home without one. We have a Magnum, ties right in with the existing control panel. Just have to install the shunt and a small module that connects to the shunt and then run a cable to the control panel.

Bob

a proper inverter should have low voltage protection, mine does and prevents battery drain to a bad level.

Have you checked the water levels in all the cells? I'm guessing the batts boiled dry and are now just lead weights.

The Magnum does. Very sophisticated. But the OP indicates he didn't have it on, which mystifies me a bit.

There is something to be said about adhearing to the KISS principle. That being said, a tech should get it right.

My setup is pretty simple. A 1200 watt inverter hot wired to the house bank with a 125 amp fuse and a long extension cord.

Magnum inverter/charger

Interesting problem. A friend of mine up here in Georgianbay had a similar problem last year. His system is also set up so everything has to go through the magnum inverter/ charger. And yes his house bank went dead while plugged into shore power. He now has a second stand alone charging system that he can use when needed. He thinks the problem is in the inverter combo system, however it appears to be intermittent which is a problem in itself.
I have a stand alone inverter system on our CC separate from the ac panel.
Simple and works just fine.

its up to you to spend your money on expense batteries but i have been using trojan 6 v golf cart batteries for over 15 years (T105's) a set of 6 for my house bank and have the currrent set in my boat going on 6 years now. i see no need to change. at internet pricing of $120-$150 each, way cheaper than $2000. probably could even beat these prices, they are cheaper locally for me than this.
i have a victron battery monitor and have a 3000 watt inverter but seperate charger.
BMV-600S series - Victron Energy