Battery switch procedures ?

V

Vance1965

Active member
Joined
May 12, 2020
Messages
41
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Vessel Name
Jellyfish
I'm new to the world of ranger tugs and all the battery technology. We just got our R27 and haven't been able to get out because of the Snow . I was wondering if there is a publication of what positions the various battery switches need to be in in different situations. I have been told Not to use the parallel switch unless it's an emergency. Other that that I've just been leaving them all in the on position.
 
The parallel switch will tie the house batteries to the engine battery in the event that the engine battery fails. I am not sure I would consider that as an emergency. Best practice when not on the boat is to have all switches off. That is if you do not have things running while not on the boat. If you are going to have things running while not on the boat and on shore power your charger should be on as well so that the batteries remain topped off. If you are not on shore power then definitely keep all switches in the off position.
 
Thank you for your help. I am storing the boat on a trailer and plugged into the house 15 amp power through the shore power. I leave all battery switches in the off position except the house switch.

On a side note I found another switch in my battery area for the inverter. Should this be turned off as well? Wow so much to learn about this boat!
 
Two suggestions

On youtube.com search "as they see prop turns" power management video.
Secondly, Use search function on this site . Lots of topics covered.
As to the snow issue. Only moving will help. Two weeks ago went on a three night overnight in St Augustine. This week pulled it out for polishing and waxing. Next going to lay down raptor decking in the cabin. That is all we can do during this 70% cold snap.

As to the " emergency " use of parallel. It is cautioned that way so you do not accidentally drain your starter battery to run something like the fridge. Better off saving that battery for starting. Or as said above if your starter battery fails you tie into house battery.
 
I just tried typing in "parallel " and " battery switch " in separate searches on this site. Plenty of info to read in your spare time.
Hope that helps.
 
Vance1965,
We also have our boat stored on trailer at our house. It’s great to have it so close and accessible.
In the cabin we run two Calframo air circulation fans, a True North heater set to automatically come on when temp drops below 38 degrees. Also have a Golden Rod heater in the engine compartment.
I’m typically on the boat several times each week off-season working in various upgrade projects and maintenance issues so I like to have the house battery on for interior lights, etc.

Our settings are:
o. For the big rotary switches we have engine, “emergency “ and thruster+windlass turned off and house rotary switch turned on.
o. For the DC panel I turn light switches on/off as needed.
o. On the AC panel we have the battery charger on and the appropriate AC outlets turned on to run the heaters and fans.
o. The solar controller is also turned on in the event of power failure or in the event a connection at pigtail comes loose. Obvious the solar won’t run the heaters and fans but it should keep the batteries full even in the winter.
 
Sounds very similar to what I'm doing. Someone on the group suggested the bilge heater and the cabin heater with the no freeze setting at 40°F. We went that day to Fisheries supplies and picked up one of eaçh.

Do you take that boat out at all during winter? What do you do about your fresh water system? We have it winterized but are planning our first trip out on it for next weekend. Guess I'll just watch the weather and hit it again with the pink winterized if necessary.
 
Vance,
We live about 580 miles from where we normally put in at Bellingham, WA so outings are very much planned. The earliest we have started the season is mid-May. So we don’t have to deal with winterizing multiple times.
That said, winterizing only takes a few hours so it wouldn’t be difficult to do a few times over the winter if we lived closer to the water.
 
Vance1965":1dkndudt said:
Thank you for your help. I am storing the boat on a trailer and plugged into the house 15 amp power through the shore power. I leave all battery switches in the off position except the house switch.

On a side note I found another switch in my battery area for the inverter. Should this be turned off as well? Wow so much to learn about this boat!
Click to expand...
The inverter switch needs to be on for the batteries to charge if you have a combination inverter charger unit. On another note, I suggest if storing the boat on a trailer that you remove the garboard plug and the fuses to the bilge pumps. Sometimes if the boat is not sitting correctly the bilge pump switch can get stuck and remain on. Removing the garboard plug eliminates the compartment from getting flooded. in the event heavy rain water overflows into the bilge.
 
Another thing about the inverter (depending on model): you may want to disable the DC-to-AC conversion aspect. I worry even when docked that shore power might fail, and then AC devices such as bilger heaters will drain the battery.

So I set the Kisae inverter to "In0" which means that AC outlets will run off of shore power but the inverter will not power them from DC. So the batteries will be safe for at least a few days until power returns.

That leaves another issue: how to know when power is off and whether to worry about low temperatures if so. For that, I have an iConnect device text me when/if shore power goes off.
 
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