E-Series Ignition/Battery/Key Question?

[props2you]

Hopefully one of the electronics guru's can chime in! Whilst underway, key is turned on, house and start are both turned on (obviously). Now, while moored enjoying the day, it typically stays that way as well, but I was thinking, is there an advantage to turning the key & start OFF while moored? Should I be at least turning the singular ignition key off? Does the system shut down after a certain time limit just on house if only the stereo is on? Does it save juice?

 

[mraz72]

Disclaimer, I have an issue with either wiring or the house/start battery switch, so I can't follow my own advice here BUT

I think the idea is to moor, and turn OFF the start battery to preserve the charge. Run appliances off of house, and when it's time to move, turn on the start battery and go.

As far as the key, you need the key in and ON to do things like listen to the radio. Other things, like the bilge don't require the key. I have no idea why or how that's wired, just my experience.

If the Start battery ever dies, you can turn on Parallel (I think that's what the switch says). The idea is to use both batteries to start the motors. I like having an external jump battery with me that I regularly keep charged. The battery I purchased is

https://www.amazon.com/Antigravity-...d=1530910450&sr=8-1&keywords=micro+start+xp+1

BUT, with the above process you shouldn't need it.

 

[props2you]

Thanks @Michael Rasmussen When I turn my key off, I can get my connext to come on, but wasn't sure if it was a timed sensor for protection. Yep, I have one of those micro charges as well. I'm just not sure if there is any advantage to turning them off, from a draw perspective, if it's even worth it?

 

[seadude]

Best practice is to shut the key off whenever you are stopping for more than a few minutes. Leaving it on keeps all of the engine electronics powered so it definitely consumes more power. Pressing (any?) button on connext powers it back up - not sure if it will time out and shut off automatically. No need to mess with the battery switches as that's why you have two isolated batteries. One caveat is apparently if you run the house battery low enough so connext won't power up, you can't activate the push button start. However, switching on the combine battery switch should allow everything to work properly.
Some more info: the batteries continue to get a trickle charge from the solar panels even when the switches are off and leaving the switches on whenever the boat is in the water is always a good idea to keep the bilge pump active- it seems the charge from the panels offsets the bilge pump cycling.

 

[Michael Barone]

Perhaps one of you can answer my question. As @Michael Rasmussen stated, you should remove the key when stopped, and the bilge pump does not need the key to run. The issue that we are running into is, when the boat is docked, we turn the start battery off and leave the house battery on. This seems to cause a "Low voltage" alarm on the Connext display. The only way we have found to keep the start battery off is to keep the key in the ignition. Has anyone else experienced this and do you know how to fix and/or workaround it? Thank you.

 

[Julian]

What I do varies based on how long I plan to sit in the boat (and what I remember to do):

If I'm sitting for a short while in the boat (between runs, short break etc), I do nothing - leave all the switches alone.

If I'm stopping for lunch and know we'll be swimming/listening to tunes etc. I will turn the main switch off, and press the light switch to repower the Connext Screen and then listen to music. I don't touch the battery switches...they are there to isolate the systems. I know my stereo runs off the house battery - plus I'm not cranking the tunes most of the time while anchored. I read someone figured out a way to keep the Connext from turning off when you turn off the key....I forget what they did (this would avoid the annoying beep and restart).

 

[Michael Barone]

The issue is more when we dock the boat, i.e. overnight or for an extended period. We turn the start battery off to preserve it, but it causes the alarm.

 

[seadude]

Then don't do that

 

[Matt Phillips]

I turn my key on at the beginning of the day and off at the end unless we are tied up somewhere an leaving the boat for a while. It is my understanding that the system, is designed to be in that steady state while you're out for the day in float mode. I also believe that if Mother Yamaha intended for us to turn the key off more often, then they would have placed the key up on the dash, and not down on the sidewall near the floor. Between the solar panels and two batteries, I've never had an issue...even when out for several hours at the fireworks displays at night.

 

[Bluewater272]

If I'm in the boat, my keys are on as well as both batteries.

 

[dietz]

What I do varies based on how long I plan to sit in the boat (and what I remember to do):

If I'm sitting for a short while in the boat (between runs, short break etc), I do nothing - leave all the switches alone.

If I'm stopping for lunch and know we'll be swimming/listening to tunes etc. I will turn the main switch off, and press the light switch to repower the Connext Screen and then listen to music. I don't touch the battery switches...they are there to isolate the systems. I know my stereo runs off the house battery - plus I'm not cranking the tunes most of the time while anchored. I read someone figured out a way to keep the Connext from turning off when you turn off the key....I forget what they did (this would avoid the annoying beep and restart).

Would be nice to know how to keep connext on when switched off instead of rebooting it & waiting out the BEEP. Tried searching but didnt find the workaround.
...because of the need to reboot, I just keep everything on

 

[brddog]

If I'm in the boat, my keys are on as well as both batteries.

Mine are as well.

 

[jcyamaharider]

Yep I always leave my keys in the on position even sitting for hours on end. There is a float mode or a reason.

 

[props2you]

So.... Does float-mode disable other power drawing electronics while floating? Since it's actually called float-mode, I would assume it does?

 

[jcyamaharider]

That is the way I understand it.

 

[Julian]

The only reason I will turn mine off when sitting for a long time is that when I lift my engine hatch with the keys on, I can hear an audible hummm coming from the engines. Not sure what that is - I asked the dealer about it and they said it was normal. I figure it can't hurt to turn it off....other than the annoying beep (which reminds me...I was going to work with @Mainah to see if we could package his Shrill to Chill mod).

Do you guys also hear a hum from the engines when you open the hatch?

 

[jcyamaharider]

I never open the hatch....LOL

 

[Weeb]

I believe it’s the fuel pumps humming. They activate with the ignition like a car.

 

[props2you]

@Julian There is an engine hatch??? Hmmmm, can't say I've ever heard a buzzing in the engine bay whilst anchored. Is float mode active when you hear it? Bilge pump running dry has a nice whine to it, is it that? I would have to assume if float mode is active it shuts down the engine electrical gremlins for obvious power draw reasons?

I have noticed something that leads me to believe the key is meant to be turned off for extended anchoring. The auto blowers ONLY turn on when the key is turned on from the off position. Otherwise you have to manually turn them on. There is no other trigger for the auto blower to activate other than the ignition. Assuming the design is to be that the key is turned off each time as to activate the auto blower, otherwise what is the point of the blower being auto aside from initial launch? If you leave the key on all day, unless manually activated, the blowers would never come on. This is where I was having an issue at one point earlier this year. After running around for 30-40 minutes I would anchor up and leave the key on, after sitting for an hour-ish, I would attempt to start the engines, without manually turning the blowers on and they would take a couple/few series of attempts to start before they would fire up. (less than 40 hours on boat and new plugs this year). Now, my procedure is to turn the key off while anchoring, thus enacting the auto blowers, ever since turning the key off I've never had a single issue starting. It could be coincidence, it may not be, but I think I'm going to stick to this procedure moving forward.

 

[dietz]

Also have noted that when garaged, if I forget to turn off battery switches (key is off ) , every few minutes there is a load electronic actuator sound - continues all the time, so something is still happening with key off & switches on. ...guessing maybe bilge pump