Shutting off Circuit breakers

[boatrboy]

Ok - silly question but after looking at the circuit panel next to my battery switch I can't figure out how to shut off the bilge pumps, etc from this panel. Last year I would just charge the batteries every so often, but there are so many things that draw it down I removed the cables. I wanted to avoid removing the battery cables this year and turn off the battery drains.

Are these cb's manually resettable? I can see the on/off I just can't seem to move/trip them. I checked my Sea Ray manual but they show pics, but I can't find how to turn them off in the description.

Any help would be truly appreciated.

Mark

 

[jrcinnh]

If they are like mine, there is small hole in the part that stops you from pressing the "off" side. I used an open paper clip to turn them off. They turn on normally.

 

[thunderbird1]

I've been wondering the same thing, but was afraid to ask. Anyone understand why the breaker switches are designed that way?

 

[Hampton]

Probably so you don't bump the bilge pump and sink the boat.

 

[MLauman]

Why turn them off? I don't think they consume any power unless they are actually pumping.

 

[fwebster]

Sea Ray wires all bilge pumps hot all the time, even with the battery switches in the off position. Panel mounted bilge pump switches are just for you to manually turn the the pumps on, but you cannot turn them off.

As long as the float switch isn't raised, the pumps won't run, so why bother with trying to fix what isn't broke?

 

[jrcinnh]

I'm pretty sure boatrboy is talking about winter storage on land. When you turn the battery switches off some loads are still connected like the bilge pumps, mercathode and stereo memory. On my boat unswitched loads are protected by these sheilded circuit breakers. You effectively remove the red cable from the battery by turning off the switch and setting the unswitched circuit breakers to "off".

If you do this while your boat is in the water you are taking a big risk because you have no bilge pumps. Disabling the pumps on land is probably unnecessary but harmless.

 

[boatrboy]

JRC is correct in his assumption. Sorry I did not elaborate, but the boat is safely on a trailer in my driveway. I asked about the bilge breaker but I did mean the JRC's list.

So Frank - Do you know if my 1999 breakers are like JRC's 2005?

Thanks for the reply.

Mark

 

[fwebster]

If you are talking about the circuit breakers with a single round red button, they can only be reset once they trip. Removing the battery cables is the best way to accomplish your goal, besides in your location, the batteries should be removed and stored in a space protected from freezing anyway.

 

[boatrboy]

If you are talking about the circuit breakers with a single round red button, they can only be reset once they trip. Removing the battery cables is the best way to accomplish your goal, besides in your location, the batteries should be removed and stored in a space protected from freezing anyway.

Thanks Frank - You are probably right in removing the batteries - I have been leaving them in the boat because I do charge the batteries every so often but I realize this may not guarantee them from freezing.

BTW my circuit breakers have what appears to have a guard around the left side and are not the red circle ones. I do have one red circle which I think is for the windless, but obviously I don't need to worry about that one.