Battery drain

[imported_Blue]

Good day all,

new to me, '99 2352 Capri. the boat has a single battery, with no on/off master. Although everything is off, battery drains after sitting for 2 weeks (I know, use the boat...no problem) I figure I'll soon install another battery and the appropriate switching, but I'm wondering if this is the nature of this beast, and if anyone has had similar problems.

Thanks in advance,

Blue

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Battery drain

[colour=blue]Hi Blue, welcome to iboats!!

Is there a stereo - with pre-set stations?

 

[imported_Blue]

Re: Battery drain

yes there is....much like our cars.....I'd be surprised if that draw is enough to draw down the battery, but stranger things have happened. In addition, there appears to be a factory installed lead with in line fuse attached directly to the positive battery post. I thought that was the radio lead, but it appears not to be. The boat had an electronic compass, with digital readout (worthless, by the way) and I'm thinking it may be the culprit.....as mentioned, once a battery selector switch is installed, this problem will go away....just curious as to why the drain?

Blue

 

[boatingnva]

Re: Battery drain

I have 99 Capri 2050, and the same thing was happening to me. My shop told me the ignition has a parasitic drain, causing the battery to go down over time. So I put in a second battery (got stuck on the lake once with a dead batt, long story) and a Perko battery switch. Aslo installed a dual battery charger. Now, when I park the boat after outings, I switch the batteries off and plug in the charger. This way I know my batteries will always be fresh when we leave the house.

 

[Mystic Dragon]

Re: Battery drain

some of the maintenance free batteries will lose their charge if they sit for a while (sometimes as little as a few days). Two weeks is a long time for a battery to hold a charge these days.

Try installing a switch (somewhere accessible) and a charger so that you can plug iit in while not in use and it will ready to go when you are.

 

[CaptAlfex]

Re: Battery drain

I have 87 Bayliner Ciera 2150 Sunbridge. We now use 2 batteries with a Voltage Sensitive Relay (VSR) and 3 battery switches.
When we first bought the boat, it had a battery switch. We found that 2 devices on the boat were constantly drawing current when the boat was off. They were an old 80s fishfinder and a 90s vintage portable TV. Together they were dragging the batteries down. We removed the fishfinder and unplugged the battery cable to the TV unless we want to use it. We found both of these battery leaks using an in-line amp meter. Good luck finding your issue.:$

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Battery drain

....watch the Stereo!!
A lot of stereos put into boats are added/upgraded later aftermarkets and usually include clocks, digital display, presets, etc...they constantly draw power and will kill a battery. Guaranteed.
If you don't have a main disconnect switch then interupt the main power to the stereo by running it first through one of the spare 'acc' (accessory) switches on your dash. Hopefully you have a spare. When you 'off' that switch...stereo power will be zilch, nada...until you turn it back on the next time you want the stereo. However whenever you go to reuse your boat you will have to reset the clock, etc ...if this is an issue.
Otherwise put in either a main disconnect switch of the smaller 'in-line' style that go up near the top of the battery right at the post/terminal.
Good luck.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: Battery drain

Interesting thing about newer stereos... they draw a lot of current when off! I replaced my original stereo a month ago with a low end Sony CD unit. When done with the installation, i decided to check to see what the off current was, and was shocked to see it was still 2.5 Amps!!!! WOW, I didn't want that. (Granted, i don't have the stereo's switch wire connected to the ignition switch, it may well go lower if you do that)

However, I did find out that when I remove the faceplate the current (after about 30 seconds) drops to only several milliamps - much, much better.

So, if you have an aftermarket car style stereo and you are draining your battery quickly even when the stereo's off, try removing your faceplate.

Good luck!