DC Power

[Phil Nersessian]

Is there any easy way to shut off all the DC power on the boat(short of disconnecting the batteries)? The only solution I have come up with is taking pictures then pulling out the 40-50 fuses in my DC panels for re-installation in the spring.

 

[ixlr8]

Won't turning off the big red switches for "HOUSE", "ENGINE", both "THRUSTER"s, and the "INVERTER" kill things enough?

 

[S. Todd]

I think you have it figured out Phil. The CO detector and radio and perhaps other minor draws will eventually drain the house batteries if not disconnected.

 

[ixlr8]

Looking at the schematics, I was wrong. It looks like the engine fuse block and the thruster fuse block both get power directly from their associated batteries. It appears if you want to kill power totally, turn off all the big red switches and pull the fuses in those two blocks.

 

[BradOwens]

Instead of 40 - 50 fuses, how about pulling the negative cable off each battery?

 

[Phil Nersessian]

The big red switches only shut off AC power. I have been told that with solar panels it is best to leave the batteries hooked up to get a trickle charge from the panels, however there are so many small,minor DC loads on the batteries that last year my batteries got completely drained. There are literally 40-50 different DC fuses in 4-5 different panels and that doesn't count the things that are direct wired to the batteries with in-line fuses, Just hoping for an easier way to shut them all off.

 

[dclagett]

Phil,

Last winter I had planned to go over to the boat every few weeks and hook up my Honda generator for a few hours to charge the batteries while I worked inside on stuff. However my first trip over I looked at the battery voltage and all were reading a little over 13 volts. My solar panel even under shrink-wrap easily maintained the batteries at 13 volts throughout the winter without unplugging anything except having all the battery switches off. If you had your solar panel uncovered last winter you may want to check to see if you solar panel is producing a charge current.

Richard

 

[AZtoVA]

it is my understanding the the solar panel puts about 90%of its charge into the House bank. the rest into the starting battery. the others get nothing. I was wondering if I could take a charger every month or so to the boat and hook the charger directly to the batteries not kept up by the solar Panel? dont want to send current "back" through the system if it will hurt something. thoughts?

 

[dclagett]

Ed,

The way my boat is wired the solar panel maintains all 4 batteries (2 house, engine start and thruster) at the same voltage. All last winter the boat sat for 5 months and this past boatinng season I never hooked up shore power to charge the batteries while the boat was not being used. The first thing I always check when visiting the boat is the battery voltage at the panel. All batteries always have voltage levels above 13 volts within 1 or 2 hunderds of a volt between batteries.

Not knowing the details of how our boats are wired I would disconnect the negative lead of each battery being charged by a portable charger. There may be a better way to do it, but that would be my approach to charging each battery independently. Since I have a portable generator if I need to charge the batteries I would connected the generator into shore power. However, in my case the solar panel has done such a good job maintaining the batteries there has been no need to use the generator, even with the boat sitting for 5 months.

Richard

 

[baz]

Is there any easy way to shut off all the DC power on the boat(short of disconnecting the batteries)? The only solution I have come up with is taking pictures then pulling out the 40-50 fuses in my DC panels for re-installation in the spring.

So, what is the reason you want to do this ? Do you not access to 110v maybe ?

I had my R-21EC on its trailer parked to one side of my driveway all winter long. I simply ran a cable to the boat as if it were at a Marina's shore power and left it like that. The batteries were kept charged AOK, and had no issues 6 months later.

 

[Osprey]

To the parasitic current draw list given earlier in this thread one needs to include the ACRs. The BlueSea's data sheet for a "7610/ST Automatic Charging Relay" states that an open relay draws about 15mA. During a prolonged storage period (months), and with no active charging source present, this ACR draw will be a significant factor leading to discharged batteries.
During winter storage my experience is that solar panels as a charging source are effective in keeping all the tug's batteries fully charged. The 90/10% regarding house and starter batteries comment above is correct for some of the solar setups. However, I have noted that the solar panel generated voltage is sufficient to close the ACRs. With the ACRs close all the batteries are include in the charging circuit. Even so, one should routinely monitor the system should some unexpected fault develops within the system.

 

[baz]

On my new 2018 R-27/OB The backlights for the console switches are ON all the time and there's no way to have them OFF bar removing the battery -ive connections or some other trickery.

I think/sense that this was a purposely designed feature by RT.

 

[stwendl]

My r27 switch lights are only on when the nav switch is on. However it would be nice to have a separate switch just for that. The labels are bit hard to read with glasses down there and little to no light.

 

[AZtoVA]

Thanks Richard. I should have mentioned. I have a Cutwater 30S. It is on the hard and no easy access to power

 

[Kevin Lamont]

Is there any easy way to shut off all the DC power on the boat(short of disconnecting the batteries)? The only solution I have come up with is taking pictures then pulling out the 40-50 fuses in my DC panels for re-installation in the spring.

Phil,

If you turn off all of your red battery switches then pull the fuses for your bilge pumps and CO detectors that will take all load off of your batteries. This is how we store and ship boats so the batteries dont drain while in storage and or shipping. We do recommend however to have some sort of charger going while not in use to ensure batteries are topped off and not discharging while not in use. You can try and rely on the solar panel to keep a charge but only charges the house and engine batteries and NOT the thruster, also if you are keeping the boat far away sometimes the panel can get dirty and not charge. Best option is to have it plugged into shore power or have a trickle charger hooked up. You can email me direct if you have any questions.

Thank you