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Post by leehadjiosif on Nov 24, 2018 19:45:43 GMT
I was leaving my boat with everything OFF including the charger thinking it was not necessary and preventing any zinc usage by unplugging the shore power. After returning in 2-3 days, I would find that the Starting battery was below 12V with the alarm flashing while the House battery had it's full charge. mmmm major issue here and a challenge to identify problem. I spend hours taking volt reading at all different locations and with different switches on and off. I thought maybe was the windlass contactor sticking but that was not it. It turned out that it was the Max-Power Thruster Control Box (not the panel at the helm) which is powered (as per manual) by a separate battery than the thruster and it only has an 8A breaker. The thruster battery is a dedicated one sitting right next to the motor without a way to disconnect it. It has a 200A fuse but not a breaker. So even when you think that the thruster of OFF by turning it OFF at the helm, the Control Box contactor is still active and using some power from the "other" battery, in my case the Starting battery and that's why it was being drained. Turning the 8A thruster breaker OFF will prevent this by cutting power to the control box...but who would think that! I have the option of connecting the control box to the house bank instead of the starting bank to prevent accidental draining while sailing but I could introduce another problem to the house bank. I have to really think about it before I do it.
So when you turn the engine off and enjoy sailing, be aware that the thruster control box still needs power unless you turn off this breaker or the battery supplying it. Just thought I would share this experience with those who like to turn off the charger for the winter.
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Post by Mistroma on Dec 2, 2018 18:53:19 GMT
Thanks for the information, I've made a note to check pre-launch next year. I haven't had any problem with this in 10 years sailing my DS. I guess that's because I try to turn off the trips in the aft cabin when bowthruster and windlass aren't going to be used. I've always figured that it's safer to have things off when not needed (gas also turned off at cylinder immediately after use). Just a belt and braces thing. I also used to turn off the isolators before leaving the boat each weekend. I don't bother when living aboard as I'm never away for more than a few hours.
It is worth knowing about it though and will measure current when trip is on.
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Post by so36idavid on Dec 3, 2018 4:28:51 GMT
leehadjiosif,
Firstly I strongly recommend installing a battery monitor, they're inexpensive and relatively easy to install. That will take all of the guesswork out of how much current is flowing in/out of your battery. Secondly I think it's a false economy to unplug shore power in the hope of saving zinc. If shore power is chewing up zincs then install a galvanic isolator to deal with that, even more economical and easy to install. Your zincs should need to be changed every six months. If they're not then they're not doing their job.
Most boats that are lost sink at the dock. If your boat starts taking on water at the dock then your bilge pump is the only thing keeping it afloat. If the batteries are not being charged then eventually the pump will fail and your boat will go to the bottom.
David
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Post by leehadjiosif on Dec 10, 2018 15:19:44 GMT
David, I have a battery monitor and it shows that the voltage increases by 0.1V when I turn off the breaker to the bow-thruster controller and I hear it click off. That is why I thought of informing all to be aware!!
Lee
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Post by so36idavid on Dec 11, 2018 6:48:49 GMT
Lee,
In addition to voltage, the battery monitor should tell you how much current is flowing. It sounds like there is current flowing to the controller. It definitely seems like a good idea to open the breaker when you're not using it, just remember to close the breaker before you try to dock in a tight spot!
If you're planning on leaving your boat unplugged from charging sources for a length of time, you might want to take careful note that there is a zero or negligible current drain. You may have additional culprits other than the thruster controller. For example on my boat the car radio has a phantom draw of 0.25A. It's not a lot but that's 6 Ah/day which is 6% of my usable battery capacity. Not negligible when I'm out cruising. I added a cut-off switch to kill it completely rather than depend on the built-in power switch. It's worth understanding what on your boat pulls what current. By chasing down all of the phantom draws, and putting some effort into the fridge, I've gone from running the engine every day to running it every third or fourth day, or never if it's sunny.
Anyway, my comment about the bilge pump still holds. Depending on your pump it may pull anywhere from 5 to 15 A. If you have a significant leak that will draw your batteries down pretty quickly.
David
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