Power off or on when slipped?

Fly'n Family · Apr 27, 2014

Did a search and went through pages but didn't see anything - though I'm sure this is a common question.

Newbie with the boat. Will be docked, and either used or checked up on once every week or at times every other week.

Do you guys leave everything powered in order to keep the batteries charged, or completely de-power when gone for that amount of time?

Thanks

ziekman · Apr 27, 2014

Definitely leave power on, with charger on. Your charger knows when the batteries are fully charged, and will stop charging. Now, you'll get many different opinions on things like the a/c, etc, but I think most will agree, let the charger do it's job, while you're away.

Fly'n Family · Apr 27, 2014

ziekman@cox.net said:
Definitely leave power on, with charger on. Your charger knows when the batteries are fully charged, and will stop charging. Now, you'll get many different opinions on things like the a/c, etc, but I think most will agree, let the charger do it's job, while you're away.

Thank you for the reply, that's kind of what I was leaning towards - I just wanted to hear what you experienced guys do. And my question was a bit broad, I won't leave any of the goodies on - just the power connected so the charger can do its job.

Southpaw II · Apr 27, 2014

Agree.....a/c heat, battery charger, and fridge, outlets on. Hot water heater, stove, off. Head system and freshwater system pump off. Some people leave their a/c in the dehumify mode. Oh, yea, dock water off as well.

Don

AFD · Apr 27, 2014

charger and fridge are always on on our boat. i don't have ac so not an issue. I will leave a fan going to prevent musty smells when it gets humid but we will be on our boat pretty regularly so it will be opened up more than weekly.

Dsybok · Apr 27, 2014

I only leave my fridges and my smart charger powered up, while plugged into shore power, but I leave the breaker for the fridges DC off, so if the shore power goes out I will have a lot longer for the Bilge pumps to run if necessary versus my fridges wearing out my batteries in 36 hours. I don't keep anything of value in the fridges, so if I have to throw out some skunked beer its worth it.

I turn off everything else, radios, lights, A/C , water heater, head etc, all off. I have batteries that are probably about 6 years old, and they hold charge very nicely so I guess it's working.

ziekman · Apr 27, 2014

Thanks for the reminders, yes fridge always on, and good point on dock water. I turn it off, but also disconnect at the source, for peace of mind.

AFD · Apr 27, 2014

i never leave the water hooked up. i use the tank and pump even at the slip, i top it off when we leave the slip and when we leave the boat. i feel like it takes just as long to hook up in the transom locker as it does to just dump it into the tank. pressure is better with the pump too.

Four Suns · Apr 27, 2014

I think my marina contract requires that my boat stay powered on... so the bilge pumps can not drain the battery.

mjmason1 · Apr 27, 2014

I concur with leaving the power on. When I leave I have a checklist. Right now the heat is off until I get there, in the summer the AC is on a level just to keep humidity out. The water heater is turned off. The ice maker is shut off. The water pumps are off. The domestic water is shut off at the dock just in case. The fridge is left on because we keep it stocked. Who wants warm beer?

Madifonzo · Apr 27, 2014

In addition to what others have stated the Mercathode system is hard wired before any switches and therefore are always active. I have been told they can drain batteries if the boat is left unattended for too long. Then you risk being unprotected and susceptible to galvanic corrosion. Again, I am no expert but this is what I have been told.

Madifonzo · Apr 27, 2014

Gets me thinking on the AC system. I know many of my dock neighbors allow the AC/heat to run when they are not there...I have not done it yet. Not sure how comfortable I am. Mean something fail that floods the boat or are there safety's in place?

sbw1 · Apr 27, 2014

Charger is always on as is the ice maker. All else is off unless we are using it. We slip at home so fridge is not an issue because it is never on unless we are cruising. When cruising, all is on all of the time.

Georgia SeaDawg · Apr 28, 2014

Charger, AC, and fridge are always on for me. We never hook up to water at the dock. Only use fresh water holding tank.

skylark · Apr 28, 2014

AFD said:
i never leave the water hooked up. i use the tank and pump even at the slip, i top it off when we leave the slip and when we leave the boat. i feel like it takes just as long to hook up in the transom locker as it does to just dump it into the tank. pressure is better with the pump too.

same, keeps the water fresh in the tank

duckmnn · Apr 28, 2014

If you dont leave plugged in to charge batteries.You take a chance of the mercathorde system not working. As im told from mercruiser.It takes at least 12.5 volts for it to run proper.

src · Apr 28, 2014

My mechanic told me something interesting regarding the fridge. Since it is a DC unit, when you run it off of AC power it just runs through a local (at the fridge) AC-DC transformer. According to the mechanic, these transformers are fairly cheap, and tend to leak voltage. He indicated that it is a source of stray voltage that con contribute to corrosion of my outdrives.

I haven't really done any research on this, but it does seem to me that as long as I am running my chargers from shore power, I might as well just let the fridge stay on DC power. One thing I think I can count on is that the charger's converter is more efficient than the fridge's.

AFD · Apr 28, 2014

skylark said:
same, keeps the water fresh in the tank

true. i also dump the tank every few weeks down to empty and start fresh.

dwna1a · Apr 28, 2014

In the slip my power stays on, with the charger for the batteries on at all times. Water is only on while we are at the boat. I keep a very close eye on her during these times

dpmulvey · Apr 28, 2014

Whatever you choose to leave on, I've found that painting those breakers with bright red nail polish makes it much easier to I.D. them when buttoning up for the day.

Power off or on when slipped?

Fly'n Family

ziekman

Fly'n Family

Southpaw II

AFD

Dsybok

ziekman

AFD

Four Suns

mjmason1

Madifonzo

Madifonzo

sbw1

Georgia SeaDawg

skylark

duckmnn

src

AFD

dwna1a

dpmulvey

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