Pilot
Active Member
Longevity of Battery charge, emergency start question
I have a 2008 350 Sundancer with twin 8.1 engines, dual battery sets (4 total) and a generator.
It seems that when we go out for an overnight and use DC power our batteries on the starboard side go dead pretty quickly. This happeed twice. This is prior to running the generator which we don't want to run immediatley as its loud and should be unecessary in the short run, until we decide to go to sleep or below to watch TV etc,.Case in point, recently we went out, turned off everything but the stereo and anchor light and cabin light switch. Occassionally would flush the head and run water for a minute. 3 hours later the stereo is dying and we then can't start the generator or even the starboard engine as the batteries on that bank are too dead. We showed 8-8.4 volts on the starboard battery bank from our smartcraft guages. However we can still start the port engine as that is isloated from the starboard side, and once started, that side was charging fine at 13.5-14. volts.
Now, another issue, when we try to use the emergency start button to get the starboad started, it doesn't seem to do anything. We press and hold the emergency switch for 30-40 seconds, then while holding it, hit the starboard engine start button. Nothing but cellunoid clicking and flashing dashboard blue lights. Eventually, lost all guages except smartcraft, we even lost the anchor light and bilge blower as the starboard battery bank was dead as a doornail. This seems like a poor design???!!
Why and what is going on here? I would think that 3 hours of running just a couple light load things on the battery set without running the generator would be fine. Also, does the emergency start switch really work ever? I mean you obviously never use it until you need it, but damnit, when you need it and it doesn't work, well, that's really disapointing.
One bright side is that I sure have learned to take lots of extra gear with me, many flashlights, extra radio, extra ice, battery radio etc as I just don't trust my boat will be dependable,,, and thats a shame because it's brand new!
Any suggestions are sure appreciated. Thanks all.
I have a 2008 350 Sundancer with twin 8.1 engines, dual battery sets (4 total) and a generator.
It seems that when we go out for an overnight and use DC power our batteries on the starboard side go dead pretty quickly. This happeed twice. This is prior to running the generator which we don't want to run immediatley as its loud and should be unecessary in the short run, until we decide to go to sleep or below to watch TV etc,.Case in point, recently we went out, turned off everything but the stereo and anchor light and cabin light switch. Occassionally would flush the head and run water for a minute. 3 hours later the stereo is dying and we then can't start the generator or even the starboard engine as the batteries on that bank are too dead. We showed 8-8.4 volts on the starboard battery bank from our smartcraft guages. However we can still start the port engine as that is isloated from the starboard side, and once started, that side was charging fine at 13.5-14. volts.
Now, another issue, when we try to use the emergency start button to get the starboad started, it doesn't seem to do anything. We press and hold the emergency switch for 30-40 seconds, then while holding it, hit the starboard engine start button. Nothing but cellunoid clicking and flashing dashboard blue lights. Eventually, lost all guages except smartcraft, we even lost the anchor light and bilge blower as the starboard battery bank was dead as a doornail. This seems like a poor design???!!
Why and what is going on here? I would think that 3 hours of running just a couple light load things on the battery set without running the generator would be fine. Also, does the emergency start switch really work ever? I mean you obviously never use it until you need it, but damnit, when you need it and it doesn't work, well, that's really disapointing.
One bright side is that I sure have learned to take lots of extra gear with me, many flashlights, extra radio, extra ice, battery radio etc as I just don't trust my boat will be dependable,,, and thats a shame because it's brand new!
Any suggestions are sure appreciated. Thanks all.