R-27 Engine Battery

[marksandyham]

My R-27 is stored inside a building out of the weather whenever we are not using it. It does not get enough sunlight to keep the engine battery charged. If we skip a weekend the engine battery will be low and sometimes I have to switch the parallel switch on to start it. I did this with my previous boat and never had a problem because the bilge pumps were float operated.

The 24/7 loads on the engine battery are what is depleting it. I don't want to change to float switches on the pumps. I turn off the propane at the tank when not using the stove so ok with the gas detector not operating, don't care if radio forgets stored stations.

Lots of people with lots of experience on this site. Anyone have ideas? I thought about adding a switch to the 24/7 fuse block.

 

[S. Todd]

I pull the fuses to the bilge pumps on our boat once I put her on the trailer (I also remove the bilge drain plug). There is no reason to have those bilge pumps test for water every 2 minutes (and potentially shorten their life expectancy) when there is never going to be any water in the bilge.

 

[knotflying]

No power for a trickle charger? If not, perhaps consider a solar trickle charger that you can place outside and extend wires to your batteries.

 

[brofish17]

I don't follow the logic of tying the 24/7 panel to the start battery when the thruster batter is right there, or the house bank for that matter. But changing that wouldn't solve the issue you have. It's not usually an issue for us, but I'm liking the idea of adding a "not in the water" switch for that panel. You'll have to remember to turn it back on, though. That could be an unpleasant oversight when you're out on the hook.