Battery Basics

[rderenzy]

I'm new to these toys - should I really keep my boat battery, 4.3 Merc, on trickle charge 100% of time not in use?
that worries me - away at work, running charger, dogs in house, etc

just looking for some SOPs for boat battery basics

 

[R055]

You should be fine, most people only use the trickle chargers for winter storage.

I make sure my battery switch is turned off so the radio doesn't drain my battery though. It can drain my whole battery within a week if I leave battery switch on.

 

[Grub54891]

If at the dock, yeah, leave it on so the bilge pump don't drain the battery and let the boat sink. At home, na, no problem.

 

[FreeBeeTony]

I bypassed the battery switch for my bilge pumps for the exact same reason.

 

[R055]

If at the dock, yeah, leave it on so the bilge pump don't drain the battery and let the boat sink. At home, na, no problem.

Pretty sure he doesn't have on board charger because he mentioned charging while he's at work and his dogs.

 

[rderenzy]

yea, no onboard charger, just handled. boat is about worth 5k, not at marina

should I take battery out of boat, or unhook from boat to charge? or no?

all winter do I need to leave on trickle? thast what im' worried about, away from home at work, dogs, house burn down

 

[rderenzy]

I don't have a battery switch, what is a battery switch

 

[Grub54891]

This is a battery switch. All you have to do in the winter is make sure its fully charged. Then disconnect. If its dead in the spring, it was almost shot in the fall. I leave mine in the boat.

 

[rderenzy]

hmmm...I like that. do you install that near the battery? does your radio lose the settings everytime you switch it off? seems like this would be good when in the garage just turn to off

 

[rderenzy]

I wonder how long a radio can stay "on" - worried if I'm anchored just floating for hours - the radio doesn't shut off ever

 

[stonyloam]

You should keep it on a battery MAINTAINER, a little different than a trickle charger. It will keep your battery fully charged, and never overcharges. They are a little more expensive ($20 or so) but they assure a charged battery all the time. I keep mine (3 batteries) on 24/7 365.

 

[redmen62]

I have all 3 batteries in the big boat on a charger all week when I'm not there, and leave both the batteries on my little boat sit all week. I installed an isolator in the little boat, so even if the radio memory drains 1, I have the other that'll be charged. Over the winter I unhook the negative cables on all the batteries and just leave them in the boat(s) and throw the charger on them for a little bit in the spring when it's time to go

 

[Grub54891]

As far as the radio, yes you will lose the settings, unless you hook up the memory wire usually yellow, check with your radio mfg or manual witch one it is.The memory wire keeps the settings for the radio. That would get hooked to constant power. Over time it might drain the battery, but same as your car, you can let it sit a couple months or more and it starts every time. Also your bilge pump, nav lights get hooked to constant power.

 

[rderenzy]

thanks all

 

[R055]

As far as the radio, yes you will lose the settings, unless you hook up the memory wire usually yellow, check with your radio mfg or manual witch one it is.The memory wire keeps the settings for the radio. That would get hooked to constant power. Over time it might drain the battery, but same as your car, you can let it sit a couple months or more and it starts every time. Also your bilge pump, nav lights get hooked to constant power.

If my battery switch was on the radio lights/screen would stay on and drain my battery within a couple days, op make sure yours doesn't do that.

 

[rderenzy]

yea that is my problem, the radio is wired directly to the main (both yellow and red wire) so the radio never, EVER, turns off and is always displaying. I like the idea of wiring it to the ACC switch