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Battery drain - help in tracking down


kylesullens

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2006 23LSV.  I've got a new battery, fully charged.  When it sits for a couple days, the batter is graveyard dead.  I have a portable jumper box so i'm never stranded, but it is becoming a nuisance.  

Anybody got advice on how to track down what is drawing down the battery?

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Are you turning the battery switch to off at the end of the boating day?  Can't say for sure as every boat is different but my experience has been that most boats have everything going through the battery switch to isolate any power draw except for bilge pump and stereo memory.  If that's the case with yours, then you've narrowed it down to 2 things, and stereo memory won't drain a battery that quickly...I'd check your bilge pump to see if it is running when you're shut down.

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That's nuts, IMHO.  I'd add a Blue Seas master switch, and if you later add a 2nd battery you just buy the ACR for it.  I really can't imagine why it doesn't have one?  Anyway, sorry it doesn't answer your question, but as for the battery drain, I'd check to make sure the bilge pump isn't running after you shut down.  If you are certain all the switches are OFF then it's that or the stereo is my guess.  Do you have a basic head unit stereo or do you have amps?

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16 hours ago, kylesullens said:

I've got a new battery, fully charged

Based on what? How new? Are you charging the battery, then letting it sit over night with cable off and then rechecking the next day or later and the voltage is holding at what? 

 

16 hours ago, kylesullens said:

When it sits for a couple days, the batter is graveyard dead

Is this being verified with a volt meter? Also, each time a battery is cycled deep, it A) does not recover to the full capacity that it was before. and B) it needs to be recharged with a proper charger, not the boat's alternator.

I would not over look that the boat could be getting put away after use, with a low battery. This means you're coming back to it days later, still low. 

I would not discount a battery thats not reaching full charge or holding a charge, rather then a draw pulling it down.

You can use the old 12V test light method to see which circuit might have a draw. Sounds light this potential draw might be large enough to make the light glow. 

Im in favor of a master disconnect switch, but this does not fix an unwanted draw, just bypasses it. I would want to confirm, isolate and fix the draw.  

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Do you have a power wedge with the original Lenco control box?  Malibu had a bulletin SB042406-6 back in 2006 about a 90 milliamp draw even with the key off.  There was a replacement box and re-wire to prevent the drain, but If your wedge is still working fine, a battery switch would be a lot cheaper and easier solution.

Edited by csleaver
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