Battery switch left on... Dead battery

[Wishfull1]

So.. I thought I would leave work early and go on nice cruise with the wife on our anniversary. Nope! Arrived at the boat storage, get the cover off and all hooked up to the car. I have this habit of turning on the blower for a second just to make sure we have power. Good habit I guess, because I was greeted with silence. Grab the key to try and turn it over.. nothing. Battery is flat dead. Good thing we didn't make it to the launch.

What would cause a battery to go dead in about month storage with nothing left on other than the battery switch? Boat ('18 SX195) is outdoor stored, with mooring cover and tongue raised. No signs of water, so I wouldn't think the bilge should run? Or some say the bilge runs occasionally regardless of battery switch state?

Anyway to prevent this? Turn the battery switch off? Or take the battery out to trickle when not in use?

The obvious answer is use the boat more often, but with the damn weather in Ohio.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Jameson Clark]

Mine has the style bilge pump that cycles every so often and it looks for resistance (water pumping) to keep it running. I can turn that auto function off in the Connext screen though.

 

[ncnmra]

Not sure about your 2018, but on the older boats, with the bilge switch on, the pump will turn on every so often to detect if there is water flow. If there is, it will continue to run, if there isn't, it stops. It is IMHO an absolutely awful design, and subsequently, I replaced my bilge with a simple float pump instead.

Additionally, on the older boats there was a Sirius/XM radio receiver that would suck power, even if the radio was off. In my case, the radio is on standby (lights/LCD) as soon as the battery is on. You could check that.

I have made it a habit to carry one of those small Lithium Ion Boosters. They are nice and light.

 

[2kwik4u]

My '17 AR190 does the same thing. Leave it for a weeks with the battery switch on (and no engine run time), and I'll come back to a discharged battery. Leave the switch in the off position, and It'll hold for 3-4 months no problem.

Best I can tell it's the stereo head unit producing the draw.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to leave mine on a trickle charge in the garage, so it's not a huge concern for me. Perhaps figure out a way to make sure you don't leave the boat without turning off the switch. Maybe put the trailer lock near the switch so you have to get in there to lock up before you leave, reminding you to turn the switch off.

Unrelated tidbit......Had a buddy that ran his volkswagon golf with bikes on a roof rack into his garage twice. First time he thought "I'll never do that again", second time he started looking for proactive ways to remember there were bikes on the roof when he got home. He ended up just making it a habit to throw the garage door opened in his trunk before he loaded the bikes. Once he did that, he had to get out of the car to open the house. Forced him to look at the roof and see his very expensive bikes up there. Never drove into the house loaded again.......I'm a big fan of making little reminders like these "automatic" so you don't forget.

I've attempted to remove my boat from the garage once with the tower up. Luckily it only dented the garage door a little before I realized what I was doing. Now the pin for the fording tongue gets hung on the tower in the garage. Can't tow the boat out until I walk back and find the pin, which is hanging on the tower forcing me to go "oh crap I almost forgot again".......works well.

 

[Ancient canoe]

Your radio is probably drawing power even when it's off, that an your bilge. If you have power at your storage facility, I'd get a charger and hook it up. If not, and it's going to be some time before you use it again, you can keep the battery on a trickle charger at home.

 

[Dean P]

So.. I thought I would leave work early and go on nice cruise with the wife on our anniversary. Nope! Arrived at the boat storage, get the cover off and all hooked up to the car. I have this habit of turning on the blower for a second just to make sure we have power. Good habit I guess, because I was greeted with silence. Grab the key to try and turn it over.. nothing. Battery is flat dead. Good thing we didn't make it to the launch.

What would cause a battery to go dead in about month storage with nothing left on other than the battery switch? Boat ('18 SX195) is outdoor stored, with mooring cover and tongue raised. No signs of water, so I wouldn't think the bilge should run? Or some say the bilge runs occasionally regardless of battery switch state?

Anyway to prevent this? Turn the battery switch off? Or take the battery out to trickle when not in use?

The obvious answer is use the boat more often, but with the damn weather in Ohio.

Thanks,
Bob

I connected 6 tiny blue led light to the battery switch and installed them just above the rub rail (3 per side evenly spaced) as a visual aid in determining if the batteries are on. Works great. Never did it again.

 

[Dean P]

I connected 6 tiny blue led light to the battery switch and installed them just above the rub rail (3 per side evenly spaced) as a visual aid in determining if the batteries are on. Works great. Never did it again.

Here's a picture...

 

[Rumbo]

I don’t have enough experience or technical knowledge about these boats yet to know what draws and what doesn’t so I can’t help you there. However, I have done a ton of research on maintaining batteries and one of worst things you can is leave a battery sit and discharge. Any battery that you are only using once a month should be on a maintenance charger to keep it fully charged. Not going to get into the chemistry of why here but you can get 10 years out of a battery if it’s properly maintained.

 

[Arcadyus]

You are supposed to be able to leave your battery switch off with the 2018 and newer boats. Your bilge should still work with the switch off. But it does still draw power as my battery was dead after a couple months sitting in my garage over the winter. What was really fucked was my dumb ass dealer telling me to leave the bilge switch on whenever the boat was on. I'm shocked that alone didn't burn the pump lol.

 

[jEt_jAk]

If it is 2018 that means the bilge is always checking even if the bilge switch is off.

 

[Matt Phillips]

With the 17, if the battery switches are on and once you cycle the ignition, it lights up all of the electronics. Turning off the switch still leaves power to the bilge pump which cycles every 3-5 minutes looking for water. That's 300+ cycles every 24 hour period. If your boat is out of water, might as well turn off the battery switches.

If it's in the water then you need power to the bilge pump and a charging source for your battery. The choices come down to either electrical connection or solar. At my dock in the summer, we aren't allowed to use electrical for an extended period of time, so on my 09, I rigged a solar 15w solar charger and that always kept the house battery charged. Here's a link to how I set that system up: https://jetboaters.net/threads/solar-battery-charger-install-w-pics.3414/

 

[S1LV3R4D0]

Thats sexy as hell!! and brilliant to boot!! Wish i had that kind of ingenuity!!

 

[swatski]

So.. I thought I would leave work early and go on nice cruise with the wife on our anniversary. Nope! Arrived at the boat storage, get the cover off and all hooked up to the car. I have this habit of turning on the blower for a second just to make sure we have power. Good habit I guess, because I was greeted with silence. Grab the key to try and turn it over.. nothing. Battery is flat dead. Good thing we didn't make it to the launch.

What would cause a battery to go dead in about month storage with nothing left on other than the battery switch? Boat ('18 SX195) is outdoor stored, with mooring cover and tongue raised. No signs of water, so I wouldn't think the bilge should run? Or some say the bilge runs occasionally regardless of battery switch state?

Anyway to prevent this? Turn the battery switch off? Or take the battery out to trickle when not in use?

The obvious answer is use the boat more often, but with the damn weather in Ohio.

Thanks,
Bob

If your storage has power get an onboard intelligent charger, done.
The Yamaha retarded bilge pump system is probably what drained your battery. If you install a secondary bilge pump with a float switch connected directly to the battery (fused) you can turn every thing off even in a wet slip.

—

 

[Wishfull1]

Thanks for the input guys. I really like Dean's idea, but for right now, I will have to rely on the wife. She successfully reminded me last night, as I almost forgot (again).

I charged the dead battery and took it to Advance Auto. It tested 739 CCA out of 800. The battery is less than a year old. Should I be worried at all?

 

[Dean P]

Thanks for the input guys. I really like Dean's idea, but for right now, I will have to rely on the wife. She successfully reminded me last night, as I almost forgot (again).

I charged the dead battery and took it to Advance Auto. It tested 739 CCA out of 800. The battery is less than a year old. Should I be worried at all?

You may want to consider adding a second battery. Many people have done this. Just adds another layer of safety.

 

[props2you]

It's likely not one specific thing if you left your house on, likely the bilge did most of the chewing though, there are many electrical gremlins over a months time that will eat your battery. As previously stated, turn off the house and start to be absolutely safe.... and get a AGM battery!

 

[Gym]

How many times do I have to say this??? GET A PORTABLE JUMP BOX. Use it in the boat during boating season. Put it in your car/ truck in the winter. You'll be INVINCIBLE.