battery power lost while on the hook

SeattleChuckD

New Member
Jun 30, 2020
1
Boat Info
2018 Searay 350 Coupe
Engines
twin 8.2 liters
Can anyone help with what I need to make sure is shut off so as not to lose all power in the main batteries when on the hook for the night? Thanks
 
It's kind of a generic question, so you are likely to get very generic responses. The more specific you can be as to your setup, usage, etc, the more specific (and helpful) responses we can provide.

1st I would evaluate what I am using and then turn things off that are not essential. On the list of essentials, I would say at a minimum, you need power to one fridge, and to your anchor light. Everything else should be negotiable.

When I was learning my boat, I did a few "dry-runs" in my slip. That is to say, I disconnected from shore power and behaved as I would expect to on the hook, including running the anchor light all night. Do that a few times, and you will get a very clear picture of how your system will behave away from the comfort and safety of your slip.

Your experiments may lead you to the conclusion that you need to increase your house-bank capacity and/or replace ailing batteries. At the very least, you should consider replacing all of your bulbs with their LED counterparts. This can go a long way towards decreasing the demands on your system.

If you like to crank your stereo, you should be banned from all anchorages forever, but I digress.... Running a stereo with a big amp can have a profound effect on your battery capacity, so just don't. If you have multiple fridges/freezers/ice makers, tetc. consider consolidating and investing in a decent cooler. Also, never deploy or retrieve you anchor without the engines running. Doing so will kill a battery bank lickity-split.
 
Hey Chuck,
Welcome to CSR!

I just took a quick look at the manual for the 2018 350 Sundancer Coupe. Assuming your boat corresponds to what is depicted in the manual, you have a nice battery setup with dedicated port and starboard engine starting batteries, and either 2 or 3 (with thruster) house batteries. It's not clear which battery is used to start the generator, but I assume not the house bank.

By "main batteries" I assume you are referring to the house bank. You shouldn't be running your house batteries flat overnight typically. Items like LED lights, water pumps, refrigerators / ice makers, toilets shouldn't do it.

I see there are wiring provisions for an inverter. If you have an inverter, depending on what you are powering and for how long, that could quickly kill a pair or trio of batteries.

It is also possible for a stereo system with lots of amps to run a pair of 12V batteries down quite a bit over a few hours.

Can you give a little insight to what power you were using and for how long?
 
The only thing I’d add is if you are anchoring where there are tides and/or current, include minimal electronics so there are functioning depth and position drift alarms as part of the must have electric draw.
 
Never run anything off the engine batteries except the engines.
Install a dedicated house system or install a generator
 

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