Another work day on the boat. Added egg crate panels...
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Finally installed the flooding alarm...
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I attached the sensor with velcro stickies. That way I can move it down or up as I want. I also debated where to put the alarm panel. So in the meantime it is on the corner of the power switch. It may stay there a while.
I finally put in the ignition switch block thingy I got from
@Bruce . Nothing really to take a photo of... It fits perfectly, like a glove, and looks totally normal. Super glued the broken switch. You can't tell anything happened. Didn't tighten the broken switch nut (until it fully cures in 24 hours).
Dragged both batteries out of the boat to have them tested. Having an issue where the house battery drops a lot when I turn on the boat. It will start at 14+v, but then drop to like 12.3v (and if I turn on the blower, down to 11.7v). So I thought it was bad, though it was testing with my little tester fine. Drop was too fast and too much. Certainly it was bad...
Took them both to AutoZone (while taking one, took the other--why not?). Both passed with flying colors. Water level was a little high. But other than that they were perfect. Bought a turkey baster there made for sucking fluid from batteries, so I could bring them to the right level. Dragged them back to the boat, reinstalled them. I figured there must be some small short somewhere. Why else would the voltage drop like that?
First I left off the charger. Turned on the boat--same issue. Hooked up the charger and started pulling fuses in my fuse block (not the one back by the engines--the one I added). Could not isolate the issue. Both my chartplotter and my USB show voltage, so even when I pulled one I could see the level on the other. The audio is on 2 circuits (the head unit on one and the amp and pre-amp on another), but pulling neither of them seemed to affect anything.
So then, just for fun, with the fuses all back, I decided to start with the two most likely things: the last thing I added and the thing with the biggest draw--the amp and the preamp. So I turned off the chartplotter. No change. I turned off the VHF. No change. I turned off the HU (which turned off the amp and pre-amp) and the voltage started coming up (the charger was on). The pre-amp has a modular plug for the power, so I pulled that. Turned on the head unit (and the amp came on)--voltage stayed up. I looked at the pre-amp and noticed that one of the blocks I used to connect the GPS to the VHF radio was leaning funny against the back of the pre-amp--I think making contact with one of the screws. I moved it away and to the side. Plugged it back in--poof. Voltage did not drop.
Didn't have the parts I want to use on that fix with me, but I know what it is now. That is most of the battle.
Significantly, I now have installed everything I have purchased or been gifted for the boat. This is a rare occurrence. I have been carrying some of this crap in the boat for years. Now it is all there, all working and used. Much more room in the boat, too.
