My first boat - buying tomorrow fingers crossed (advice pls)

[Bigplumbs]

Agree, use one all the time. Its handy if you are working on something in the house ,no need to drag a dirty heavy battery into the house . I use it to test wiring up before connecting up to the main battery "just in case " also it's a back up if you need a jump while out at sea. Mine is more like this.

View attachment 129532
Halfords 6-in-1 Jump Starter Power Pack | Halfords UK

That looks a very good one but it says only starts up to 2 Ltr Engines and it is only 650 amps. Tony's Engine is 3 Ltr so this one might struggle. I looks very versatile for the price though

 

[Nito]

I have a couple of those type of thing but when I came to use them they were dead for some reason. I understand that several people carry them but that one is quite expensive. I wonder how many times it will crank a large engine before it is 'gassed out'. I see it will deliver 2000 Amps but cant seem to see its capacity noted anywhere.

Yes it’s not a cheap one (and we bought the dedicated swanky case to boot!!) but you do pay for what you get with this one. We keep ours topped up, i.e. we charge after use (you can charge from cigarette lighter or a usb) it holds its charge well being lithium, it has always been ready for action for us. The blurb says up to 40 starts and it’ll crank an 8L petrol or 6L diesel.

I have a few of the Noco battery chargers also which I use for motorbikes and they also perform very well. If you have a Halfords trade card you can get discount on them.

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Tony with the money you saved when bought , find a local marine engineer , to service the boat engine and drive , spend the day with him so you can ask questions and get to know your boat , one day you will need to work on your boat when you on the water and ask him what spares you should carry on the boat , good luck .SS

Good call... these look good?

Walker Outboard Services – Supply and Service of Outboards

Marine Electrical & Engineering, UK | Steve Hill Marine

Hi there...great to see you got the boat home safe and sound. looks like lots of great advice given so far too. Excellent to read guys being patient and accommodating to new boat guys.
Please don't take this as a killjoy moment, but looking at your pictures just there...there are a few tell tale signs that this boat may have had a fair bit of water sitting in the engine bay, at a much higher tide than anything normal or expected. There are a few signs of this and water marks around areas, that perhaps shouldn't show it. Don't panic, but I would just double check everything for signs of water ingress. All the electrical connections should be looked over and greased or treated perhaps. If you haven't already, make sure there is no water made it's way into the engine oil or auxiliaries like starter and alternator too.
Make sure she is winterised properly too, given the inevitable February cold spell, we may see. If you need guidance on this, let us know. Plenty on here familiar with these engines. very important to do this, if not done already.

Thank you and that's ok. happy receiving as much advice as I can to make our boating smoother and safer... and yes please, any guidance on ensuring she is winterised is welcomed. The boat has been in storage for two years with the new owner not using it so assuming it hasn't been done.

If you've got room and it can be secured, yes. The usual set up is to isolate the engine start up battery when at anchor so as not to drain it. In a boat like yours, is there much that can drain the battery when the engines not running? Another option would be to get battery monitor and if necessary, a larger capacity battery.

Ok and thanks. Apart from the stereo (if that!) I don't believe there is much on the boat that can drain the battery?

If you have space yes you can. I bought a second battery of the same size as my original Together with a plastic battery box. Make sure you mount it securely preferably on the other side to the first battery to maintain balance in the boat as batteries are heavy. I then adapted a set of good quality jump leads and put battery terminals on the end of them. The batteries I have are the double terminal type with one standard terminal and a second threaded terminal with wing nuts each side. I then have the two batteries wired in parallel but the second battery does not have the positive connected with a good insulator over the bare terminal. if I get an issue with the first battery I just connect the red on the positive on the second battery and away you go. If you ever need to charge the second battery you can just run on that for a trip and it Should charge it up.

getting to your boat with all the family full of expectations and having a flat battery is no fun.

you could of course keep one in the back of the car in case. My boat is on a tidal swing mooring which we access from a small blow up dingy so one on board is less faff. For me it is important to reduce the faff and stress associated with boating

Thanks and will buy another just in case. Is it feasible to have them both in a dual setup? If the backup one is not being used for months or years would it become depleted / too low to charge back up?

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Yes it’s not a cheap one (and we bought the dedicated swanky case to boot!!) but you do pay for what you get with this one. We keep ours topped up, i.e. we charge after use (you can charge from cigarette lighter or a usb) it holds its charge well being lithium, it has always been ready for action for us. The blurb says up to 40 starts and it’ll crank an 8L petrol or 6L diesel.

I have a few of the Noco battery chargers also which I use for motorbikes and they also perform very well. If you have a Halfords trade card you can get discount on them.

this looks so small compared to say the ones the RAC come around with when you break down in a car? Is this one really that good?

 

[Bigplumbs]

Yes you can have the two batteries wired in parallel all the time and the Altinator will charge them but if you leave them like that and you get a battery drain they would both drain. A fully charged new battery not connected should keep its charge for many months. My advice would be to leave the second battery disconnected on one terminal and every now and then when you use the boat just connect it up for that trip. A trip of a few hours say 3 hrs should do the trick

 

[limecc]

I installed a digital volt meter in the console so I'm always aware of the SoC. Imho if it doesn't crank and start on a fully charged 110ah battery then it's never going to. I fitted a 5hp auxiliary instead of a second battery.

When not in use and in storage or on the trailer you can determine the battery voltage anytime via a tracker, on mine I set a low voltage alert to tell me when to connect the charger.

If you are going to fit another then this is the proper way electrically:

 

[Nito]

this looks so small compared to say the ones the RAC come around with when you break down in a car? Is this one really that good?

Yes it’s very good. It’s lithium battery tech therefore much smaller and lighter than any other battery tech. I doubt the big AA ones are lithium. Lithium gives great cranking but if you’re flogging a dead engine it will deplete quicker as they don’t have the same ultimate capacity, about 4.6ah this one (56 watt hours/12v) which is not a lot, great power for cold cranking (upto 2000a) and to get something started, but it wouldn’t take long to deplete if you were running pulling some high continuous load through it but that isn’t what its made for. All I can say is that it has worked very well for us. Perfect to keep in your car if the boat is flat to get it going. Although if you keep it at home you can just hook up a battery tender.

 

[QBhoy]

Good call... these look good?

Walker Outboard Services – Supply and Service of Outboards

Marine Electrical & Engineering, UK | Steve Hill Marine



Thank you and that's ok. happy receiving as much advice as I can to make our boating smoother and safer... and yes please, any guidance on ensuring she is winterised is welcomed. The boat has been in storage for two years with the new owner not using it so assuming it hasn't been done.



Ok and thanks. Apart from the stereo (if that!) I don't believe there is much on the boat that can drain the battery?



Thanks and will buy another just in case. Is it feasible to have them both in a dual setup? If the backup one is not being used for months or years would it become depleted / too low to charge back up?

Hi. in that case, just check that it has been winterised. Depending on the age, the 3.0 will have two forms of systems for this. The earlier ones will have plugs you take out the block and the manifold. thermostat housing too. The newer type will have a single point drain system with a blue handle that you release and hold down into the bilge to drain. Good idea to leave the engine and manifold full of antifreeze too. this stops cold corrosion over the winter months. let us know if you need further guidance. please avoid the YouTube method of trying to suck ant freeze in through flushing muffs on the outdrive. very dangerous way of doing it.
hopefully with the mention of it being in storage for a while, it has been done during this time, otherwise you risk a cracked block of best case manifold.

 

[Sneds]

I like the look of those. I guess the one that is £200, three times the price, is that price for a reason?

 

[Bigplumbs]

All gone a little quiet. Now that you have the boat there must be little jobs you are doing or planning for her. Have you at least named her yet ?

 

[TonyBerkshire]

All gone a little quiet. Now that you have the boat there must be little jobs you are doing or planning for her. Have you at least named her yet ?

Hi there. My annual leave is over so back to the day job ... that and our businesses plus investment ventures... plus 3 kids and a puppy keeping me busy ?... do love this forum though and shall try and make an effort to log on in the week ?

In respect to a name, was thinking something like Siren ... mermaid themed... my middle daughters name is Serena but when I asked shall we call the boat that she looked at me all funny almost a disappointment look ?‍

Oooh. Just thought about "DANGEROUS WHEN WET" ?... wave slicer?

Jobs and things I'm thinking first are getting
Safety gear
training
some tech... the depth finder, VHF, etc.
marine engineer to give it a service
Bimini cover
New steering wheel .. its a bit worn
better flooring
spare battery or battery charger
vinyl wrap (Don't hate but maybe mermaid and fish themed as the girls really want it and giving me those eyes ?)
radio controlled scaled boat so the girls can play with it

Missed anything that should be a priority?

Sun screen ???? In the UK ?‍??

 

[steveinnice]

Hi there. My annual leave is over so back to the day job ... that and our businesses plus investment ventures... plus 3 kids and a puppy keeping me busy ?... do love this forum though and shall try and make an effort to log on in the week ?

In respect to a name, was thinking something like Siren ... mermaid themed... my middle daughters name is Serena but when I asked shall we call the boat that she looked at me all funny almost a disappointment look ?‍

Oooh. Just thought about "DANGEROUS WHEN WET" ?

Jobs and things I'm thinking first are getting
Safety gear
training
some tech... the depth finder, VHF, etc.
marine engineer to give it a service
Bimini cover
New steering wheel .. its a bit worn
better flooring
spare battery or battery charger
vinyl wrap (Don't hate but maybe mermaid and fish themed as the girls really want it and giving me those eyes ?)
radio controlled scaled boat so the girls can play with it

Missed anything that should be a priority?

Sun screen ???? In the UK ?‍??

Temp gauge...

 

[Seastoke]

Tony the marine trade is not like cars , you have to book people in , get the boat sea worthy ,

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Temp gauge...

This not standard in the dashboard? Not checked yet tbh.

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Tony the marine trade is not like cars , you have to book people in , get the boat sea worthy ,

I normally book people in for cars though and I am planning on booking people in for the boat ? .. or do you mean there are less people and so waiting times are longer?

I've made enquiries already in respect to the training.... and I have done research on local marine engineers to ensure it is sea worthy... I will be contacting them on Monday.

 

[steveinnice]

This not standard in the dashboard? Not checked yet tbh.

yep its in the dash but its not working , or it wasn't when you posted the photos before you bought it.

 

[TonyBerkshire]

yep its in the dash but its not working , or it wasn't when you posted the photos before you bought it.

Oh ok. Looking through the service receipts it looks like the temp gauge has always been a problem and is continually being repaired ?

 

[steveinnice]

Oh ok. Looking through the service receipts it looks like the temp gauge has always been a problem and is continually being repaired ?

my 10c for all its worth, maybe a aftermarket unit mounted where you can see it but not spoiling the lines of the design and maybe a overheat buzzer as back up. I'm no mechanic but I would think a overheating motor could be a costly issue.

 

[TonyBerkshire]

Advice time.... so it rained yesterday and this happened. Any thoughts on how to stop the water pooling? Was thinking there are some eyelets on the cover so getting some rope to keep it down but due to the shape of the boat don't think it will resolve this issue?

 

[Rwc13]

Stand a prop in the middle so the water flows off?