B.Charger leave on/off

[mjf]

Can someone advise please. When I leave my boat I leave it with shore power on and battery charger on. Engine start and Aux units all isolated at the switch board. Some others say never leave power on when not on board.
Seems to me with modern diode technology etc that there is little chance of 'cooking' the lead acids but.....

Opinions welcome

Michael

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[ccscott49]

if you go to the boat every week for say four hours, switch it on whenn you arrive, 2 before lunch, pub for an hour and 1 hour after, that will be enough to keep your batteries in good nick. leave it off rest of the time.

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[Planty]

If like me you have "metered" shore power, watch the meter literally bankrupt you if you leave it on too long as well!
Paul

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[barryjl]

I've always left mine permanently on - never had any problems at all, nor any issues using too much power.

<hr width=100% size=1>There's no problems..just opportunities

 

[AuntyRinum]

Me neither!

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[Jim44]

Me neither, in fact I left it off and it caused me more problems with things that use the 12v supply, like the heating and toilets, so leave mine on all the time know.

Also leave power on to the boat all the time for my cabin heaters, engine heaters & de-hum and still boat temp dropped below 5oC the other day



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[rich]

Have you checked your anodes lately???

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[pheran]

My boat has two large (Victron) chargers installed, one for the 12v systems, the other for the 24v. They are left permanently switched on and operate whether we are connected to shore-power for just a few hours or for weeks. Never any problems with anodes. Mind you, they are the 'clever' sort.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=blue>A convert to steel boats and displacement cruising - the only way to go</font color=blue>

 

[hlb]

Mine on all the time. Better a knacked battery than a sunk boat.

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue>No one can force me to come here.<font color=red> I'm a volunteer!!.<font color=blue>

Haydn

 

[Mike21]

Normally leave charger on all time, only thing worth checking every so often is levels in batteries to ensure don't run dry.
Batteries not normally maintenance free like on cars

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[Jim44]

No, have not, but what do you mean??

If I leave charger on will that cause anodes a problem? or if i leave it off?

Confused......please help


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[Jim44]

Before you ask, I dont know where the anodes on my boat are or what they do. So please give as much information as possible.

The only thing i do know is you need the boat out of the water and they protect the metal from rusting...yes??

Thanks

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[ccscott49]

most marine batteries these days are of the maintenance free, sealed type. all mine certainly are. the open type are dissapearing rapidly, mores the pity!

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[tcm]

To leave on, or Not, that is the question

There is no really "right" answer to this one, and as each poster has indicated below, sometimes obscurely, they each have reasons for leaving the shorepower connected and battery charger on, or not.

The reason FOR leaving it connected are
1. If there's a leak of any kind the bilge pumps are able to run and run and run - otherwise they would stop working after a day or so if there was no shorepower and just drain the batteries. Then the boat sinks. You could close the stopcocks (and seeing how some don't know what these are, they are the inlets from under the waterline for the engine, and others if you havem are for the generator and aircon) and this closing stopcocks reduces the likehood of a leak . But then if someone needed to move the boat, they couldn't start the engines.
2. You can also have mains power dehumidifiers, heaters set up, to keep the interior free of damp or avoid the risk of freezing. In cold areas, or with an expensive/newish boat this is an important consideration.

The reason AGAINST leaving it connected are

1. It can (but need not necesarily) cause more "eating away" of the sacrificial anodes than if the boat was left without shorepower connected.
2. The batteries need to be properly "topped up" with de-ionised water, and need checking that this remain the case, else the batteries get cooked and you need to buy new ones. But modern battery chargers switch off when the batteries are charged, and can have lower settings for trickle charging etc, so the risk of this is not great.
3. If metered, power is expensive. But you can minimise this by turning down (or off) most of the things that draw large amounts of power. The battery charger won't use very much at all. A hot water tank left to a high setting will use lots.









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[mjf]

Thanks for the advice.

Hauling in Feb for hair cut and blow dry and anode check. The trim tab anodes seem 80% complete after nearly 12 months afloat.

Why would charging the battaries eat the hull anodes? The boat is bonded via bushes on the shafts.

Michael

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