fast battery drain. New EXV82 Enduroline battery

[UK-WOOZY]

Used boat yesterday after a years work since getting it last year. the boat has been rewired. we are using a Blue Sea relay switch kit for the above battery and the start battery. There is also a 50w panel connected directly via its dual battery regulator to each battery. Used the nasa depth, incastec speed log, b&g vulcan 7 and onboard icom vhf on the boat yesterday. before end of the day the vulcan was flickering and i realised it was struggling for power. the battery was at 8 volts when i tested with a multimeter, engine start at battery at 12v so i put the blue sea selector switch onto emergency both so i could run the nav lights too and fusion stereo. before using the boat yesterday the house battery was on just over 11v as i leave the bilge pump on standby which is on a separate circuit direct to the battery via a fuse. Im sure the battery should last a lot longer despite using all the electronics and not even the lights or water pressurisation or the chart tables gps or navtext. Im sure it should last longer especially with the solar panel trickle charging all the time. we had only ran the engine to get off the buoy and back on as it was a club race we took part in, but the boat i had before without inboard has a similar rated panel that kept two batteries at 13v all the time and run everything including tv for 2 days.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Used boat yesterday after a years work since getting it last year. the boat has been rewired. we are using a Blue Sea relay switch kit for the above battery and the start battery. There is also a 50w panel connected directly via its dual battery regulator to each battery. Used the nasa depth, incastec speed log, b&g vulcan 7 and onboard icom vhf on the boat yesterday. before end of the day the vulcan was flickering and i realised it was struggling for power. the battery was at 8 volts when i tested with a multimeter, engine start at battery at 12v so i put the blue sea selector switch onto emergency both so i could run the nav lights too and fusion stereo. before using the boat yesterday the house battery was on just over 11v as i leave the bilge pump on standby which is on a separate circuit direct to the battery via a fuse. Im sure the battery should last a lot longer despite using all the electronics and not even the lights or water pressurisation or the chart tables gps or navtext. Im sure it should last longer especially with the solar panel trickle charging all the time. we had only ran the engine to get off the buoy and back on as it was a club race we took part in, but the boat i had before without inboard has a similar rated panel that kept two batteries at 13v all the time and run everything including tv for 2 days.

You started off with a flat battery. 11v is as flat as a witches tit, you need to prevent this or your batteries won't last very long at all.

 

[xeitosaphil]

You started off with a flat battery. 11v is as flat as a witches tit, you need to prevent this or your batteries won't last very long at all.

My understanding is once a battery is at 12v it is probably 50% discharged or even more? After which the battery is starting to get damaged and needs changing for some conciderable time, and at a decent charge rate definately not achieveable with solar panel this time of year.
Only my opinion of course.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

i have the whale ic bilge pump connected direct to the house battery but with a fuse and rocker switch which has an LED, could this be enough to bring the battery down to below 12v?

 

[pvb]

i have the whale ic bilge pump connected direct to the house battery but with a fuse and rocker switch which has an LED, could this be enough to bring the battery down to below 12v?

That would depend on how long the pump runs for; do you have a significant leak?

 

[earlybird]

The Whale IC pump appears to have an electronic sensor. This will be a small, but permanent drain on the battery even with the pump connected but not running. EG, taking 25ma as a guess, this would be ~4 Ahr/week from the battery. Doesn't help if the boat is left for long periods.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

That would depend on how long the pump runs for; do you have a significant leak?

bilge is very dry that i could tell when i lifted the sole, i did all i could so it would stay dry. so as far as i know it has not been ran except when we tested it to make sure it worked before launching the boat 3 weeks ago.

even though the solar panel is connected direct to both batteries would the relay somehow affect it charging the batteries, could the relay draw power even with the switch off position

this is the switch we have for the whale. the whale is a new install by myself and a friend as is the switch and fuse.

https://cdn.sparkfun.com//assets/parts/6/6/1/6/11155-01.jpg

 

[pvb]

even though the solar panel is connected direct to both batteries would the relay somehow affect it charging the batteries, could the relay draw power even with the switch off position

Depends how you've got it all wired. The Blue Sea relay only uses 15mA on standby.

It might be an idea to take the batteries home and put them on a mains charger to ensure that they're actually fully charged, then see whether your solar panel can keep them topped up properly.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

good point. i used the batteries straight from the shipping packaging plus used the batteries for testing when we rewired before launching, not used a battery charger. but though the solar panel would of been enough, it was on previous boat.