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Perko on or off


TNgillster

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My 99 response didn't even have a switch. It could sit all winter and not drain the battery. My 08 23lsv would drain in a day if I didn't turn it off. So it depends on the boat.

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Yes bilge is wired straight to the battery so it always has power. My boat is in the water all summer on a slip and I switch mine to off whenever I am not using the boat to avoid any possible battery drainage.  

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Thanks for the thoughts so far. Just wondering about long term wear and tear by leaving it on versus turning it off. I left mine on Sunday in the slip and am wondering if it will need a charge on Friday. 

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2 minutes ago, TNgillster said:

Thanks for the thoughts so far. Just wondering about long term wear and tear by leaving it on versus turning it off. I left mine on Sunday in the slip and am wondering if it will need a charge on Friday. 

It is a switch that is designed to be used, you're not going to wear it out anytime soon.  And if you do somehow - they are cheap compared to a battery.

Your boat should not have a drain that would be killing batteries in a week, if it does then something needs fixing - or your bilge is running constantly.

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17 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

It is a switch that is designed to be used, you're not going to wear it out anytime soon.  And if you do somehow - they are cheap compared to a battery.

Your boat should not have a drain that would be killing batteries in a week, if it does then something needs fixing - or your bilge is running constantly.

But it does help protect against an "oopsie" like leaving a ballast drain pump running.  Been there.

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2 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

But it does help protect against an "oopsie" like leaving a ballast drain pump running.  Been there.

Yours don't shut off automatically?  Or is that only when you use the profiles to drain the tanks?

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1 minute ago, oldjeep said:

Yours don't shut off automatically?  Or is that only when you use the profiles to drain the tanks?

correct, no auto-shutoff.  But this was in the olden days of our 2006 vride that we did that.  Turning the switch to off at the end of the day became part of the routine at that point.

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13 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

correct, no auto-shutoff.  But this was in the olden days of our 2006 vride that we did that.  Turning the switch to off at the end of the day became part of the routine at that point.

Ah.  Because now that I think about it - my pumps don't work at all if the main power button on the dash is off anyways.

Edited by oldjeep
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I turn my switch off when I leave. I’ve heard stories of boats with touch screens starting themselves when sitting with the switch on. I would hate for it to start while sitting on the lift. 

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19 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

But it does help protect against an "oopsie" like leaving a ballast drain pump running.  Been there.

Didn't burn up the ballast pump? Awesome.

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13 minutes ago, carguy79ta said:

Didn't burn up the ballast pump? Awesome.

aerator pumps will go forever!  Had it been an impeller pump it surely would've roasted the impeller, but it also would've been so loud it definitely would've been hard to miss.

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I even turn mine off over night when we are at our lakehouse.  I have an onboard charger installed that I plug in when we leave for the week, but never leave my batteries on when we are gone.

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+1 on always turning the perko switch off between uses - on the water or off the water.  That said, I have forgotten to switch it off many times (sometimes for up to 3 weeks) and never found dead batteries as a result on 2 different 23 lsv's (14 and 15).  

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On 6/16/2022 at 11:54 AM, pawter1970 said:

Yes bilge is wired straight to the battery so it always has power.

Maybe not on all models and years? This is a Copy/Paste from my '16 Owner's Manual -

If the battery switch is in the OFF position, the automatic bilge system cannot operate. If the boat is in water, this could result in excessive water in the bilge hold, and subsequently sink the boat.

Edited by BigCreek
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I always turn mine off no matter how long the boat will be stored. Overnight or over winter. I could be wrong, but I thought the purpose of the battery switch was to eliminate the potential for unwanted draw on the battery which can, in some cases, result in fire. I believe that was what multiple investigating agencies blamed for the fire at the Sundance Marina in Portland that destroyed my 2010 23 LSV. A boat was there on consignment to be sold, the battery switch was left on and that resulted in a fire which ultimately destroy the entire storage facility 250+ boats.

 

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There were some defective engineers that put the bilge pump to the switch.  You turn off the switch and slow leak sinks your boat overnight.  I had to reroute one of my boats' bilge pumps straight to the battery, I forget which one now.  

And it should never drain the battery.  Leaving the battery switch on should never drain the batteries, even for a week, so something is wrong if the batteries die with the switch on in a short amount of time.  

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