Jump starting a 320 DA

[Mightychan]

In the spirit of "be prepared", how does one jump start the boat? The manual warns against jumping the boat in the engine room, due to potential fumes and BOOM. So how are you supposed to do it? The manual states that the helm cigarette lighter plug has an attachment (and I assume heavy enough wire) to attach a spare battery to raise the hatch. Could I just jump the boat using one of the portable booster packs using this connection point? Seems like that would be a lot of juice going through a cigarette lighter plug... Thanks!

 

[CliffA]

there is an 'emergency start' switch that ties all of the batteries together for emergency starting....and you can use the on-board charger powered by the generator and/or shore power to charge the batteries....so needing to 'jump start' and engine will be unlikely....

but if you ever need to 'jump start' an engine I assume the on-board battery charger is not working (from shore power or generator) and/or the starting battery will not hold a charge and all of the other batteries are dead as well.....again an unlikely situation...

the safest method would be to either replace the starting battery or remove the existing battery from the ER and charge it on a stand alone charger (if it will hold a charge) then reinstall it.....but even these procedures can produce a very small spark when you connect the positive and negative battery cables to the new battery or the newly charged battery....

I would just open the ER hatch and turn on the bilge blower....let the ER self ventilate from the open hatch for a period of time or you could use a fan on the deck blowing fresh air down into the open ER to speed up the ventilation process.....

if there are 'ANY' signs of raw fuel (liquid or fumes) in the ER I suggest you resolve that problem first before making any electrical repairs in the ER.....

cliff

 

[rcknecht]

I would call BoatUS or SeaTow... You save gas, and may save your life... Its too complicated when you are on the water... The only thing I would do would be to plug in my shore power connection to a neighbor's boat in a raft up to charge my battery...

 

[Irie308]

Last summer while anchored out I went to start my gen and no juice. Engines wouldn't fully turn over either. I used the emergency switch to fire up the engines which charged the batteries within minutes for me to be able to start the gen and fully recharge all the batteries.