I took my clients 32 Boston Whaler to yard last week for new Bottom Paint. Checked on it later in the week the house batteries were dead.
Ran a mission to pick up a plug adapter and plugged her into power at yard.
Came back this week, batteries were still dead, questions loomed.
Fortunately, I was able to run the boat without house batteries but was concerned about the bilge pumps.
After arriving back at clients house with the boat, an Uber to pick up my truck, I picked up two new AGM group 31s and installed those and everything worked fine. The original batteries were too dead for the charger to even charge.
in the background subsequent to the new battery installation, I heard one of the bilge pumps running longer than it should, it was an Atwood Savannah S 1100. They are no longer in production. The pump would not turn off even when I rolled the float switch. Nor was it actually pumping water. I went to remove it from the cradle to investigate and as I did this, it just shut off never to turn back on.
So my answer to the batteries was the bilge pump was acting finicky, not pumping water and did not turning off and killed the batteries. Now moving onto a replacement of the bilge pump, which is tricky because the cradle will also need to be replaced unless I can find new old stock.
Point being if you guys have dead batteries and not sure what’s going on check for systems that are not shutting off and wired direct to batteries.
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Bilge pumps are made so damn cheap. I wish someone would manufacture a robust bilge pump. Maybe a housing and impeller made of nylon 6-6 (marelon) or some marine grade material. A more robust motor would be good too.
Also people, keep your bilge CLEAN! One zip tie can lodge in the impeller and stop it. A clump of leaves, paper or anything can clog it from pumping.
I run redundant bilge pumps on my Bay Boat because I will take it offshore occasionally ( although I guess I can drown a lot closer too).
I am guilty of burning up pumps and batteries from cleaning the boat after being out, and tripping the switch without disconnecting the batteries.
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