Last Minute Winterization Question

[BurnMac42]

ugh...hopefully the last question...I went to put the maintainer on the battery today and just noticed the sticker on the battery's access door that says something to the effect of "disconnect battery before charging or electrical malfunctions may occur"...

Now...with my perko switch to "off" am I missing something? Wouldn't that isolate the battery from the rest of the boat?

Normally I would have just disconnected but Tige for whatever reason decided it would be a swell idea to zip tie my port side drain hose to the negative engine wire....I'll cut the zip tie and disconnect the battery if need be but I already have the tender hooked to the battery, just not plugged in so if I don't have to crawl back in there I wont...

[supervol0509]

No heater.
No shower.
I removed the plug at the bottom of the V-Drive transmission.
I disconnected the hose on the engine side of the strainer, but never did see the cylindrical part (transmission cooler?), shown in the diagram.
The ballast is all empty. I didn't remove/drain any of the hoses. If there was any water in any of those hoses, I assume it would expand back into the bag, if it did happen to freeze.

I initially missed the transmission cooler. My engine is piped up differently than what is shown in the engine manual. My transmission cooler is downstream of the v-drive (v-drive piped between strainer and transmission cooler). Not really sure why you need to disconnect the hoses from the transmission cooler. It is higher, in elevation, than the v-drive, so everything should drain through the v-drive plug.

[supervol0509]

ugh...hopefully the last question...I went to put the maintainer on the battery today and just noticed the sticker on the battery's access door that says something to the effect of "disconnect battery before charging or electrical malfunctions may occur"...

Now...with my perko switch to "off" am I missing something? Wouldn't that isolate the battery from the rest of the boat?

Normally I would have just disconnected but Tige for whatever reason decided it would be a swell idea to zip tie my port side drain hose to the negative engine wire....I'll cut the zip tie and disconnect the battery if need be but I already have the tender hooked to the battery, just not plugged in so if I don't have to crawl back in there I wont...

I used to charge the batteries in my old Moomba all the time, with the cables still connected, and never had an issue. I was charging the batteries in my Tige, this weekend, and disconnected the cables, beforehand. I think the engine manual recommends disconnecting the cables, before charging, so just wanted to be on the safe side. I have dual batteries, and for some reason they are installed so that the positive of one is adjacent to the negative of the other. Horrible idea, and certainly got my attention, when I accidentally dropped the wrench.

[IDBoating]

I initially missed the transmission cooler. My engine is piped up differently than what is shown in the engine manual. My transmission cooler is downstream of the v-drive (v-drive piped between strainer and transmission cooler). Not really sure why you need to disconnect the hoses from the transmission cooler. It is higher, in elevation, than the v-drive, so everything should drain through the v-drive plug.

Mine, and many other Tiges I've seen, is plumbed the same as yours. The sequence is thruhull - strainer - v-drive - transmission intercooler - raw impeller pump. No biggie, they are just using the vacuum of the flexible vane impeller pump to draw the water through those components first instead of putting them downstream of the pump.

Yes, theoretically "everything would drain down through the v-drive". I am not so trusting. I open everything, let it drain naturally, and then hit it with the shopvac hose too. Some of those components are expensive to replace... a few extra minutes making sure the water is gone is cheap insurance. Just my $0.02!

[chpthril]

I have dual batteries, and for some reason they are installed so that the positive of one is adjacent to the negative of the other. Horrible idea,

On a 6 year boat, im sure someone has had one or both batteries out and back in. next time in there, rotate one 180*so its back the way it was originally.

The warning sticker is for CYA. Some chargers have the capacity to charge in excess of what some components can handle. So, knowing your charger and hoping the system is wired correctly, is key.

Now, given that Tige uses a Blue Sea brand Dual Circuit Plus switch (not a Perko) and of late, a VSR, yes, placing the Blue Sea switch in the OFF position, can isolate the electronics from the charger. However, we've seen on the 15's and 16", the ACR is not wired to the correct side of the Blue Sea switch. This of in itself wont effect the electronics, but can impact the operation of the charger.

Prior model years used a diode type isolator and had some electronics wired directly to the house battery.

[supervol0509]

Mine, and many other Tiges I've seen, is plumbed the same as yours. The sequence is thruhull - strainer - v-drive - transmission intercooler - raw impeller pump. No biggie, they are just using the vacuum of the flexible vane impeller pump to draw the water through those components first instead of putting them downstream of the pump.

Yes, theoretically "everything would drain down through the v-drive". I am not so trusting. I open everything, let it drain naturally, and then hit it with the shopvac hose too. Some of those components are expensive to replace... a few extra minutes making sure the water is gone is cheap insurance. Just my $0.02!

Gotcha. I went ahead and disconnected the hose from the transmission cooler, as well as at the opposite end, at the v-drive. I also went ahead and disconnected the hoses from the ballast pumps. Most were empty, but one had a little water. I didn't go through and disconnect all the engine hoses. I just did the drain points, as indicated in the Tige manual. We already had a pretty good freeze, but I just went back and double-checked everything, to make sure I couldn't find any other drain points. I've seen some complain, but this engine was much easier to drain than my old Indmar. Had to disconnect a lot of hoses, on that engine, and they were tough.

[IDBoating]

I have found that the incoming side hose on the transmission cooler is the only hose I need to disconnect. With that and all seven drain plugs removed, I can use the shopvac to first suck water out, and then blow lots of air through. This has been working for me for ~7 winters now.

On the ballast pumps: IMHO it depends on what kind of pumps you have. Impeller pumps should be opened, blown clear, and the impellers removed for storage just like the engine's raw water pump. Aerator pumps can be sucked/blown dry through their hoses. BTW, I also blow the shopvac through the vent hoses as they can have some residual water in them too.

[BurnMac42]

On a 6 year boat, im sure someone has had one or both batteries out and back in. next time in there, rotate one 180*so its back the way it was originally.

The warning sticker is for CYA. Some chargers have the capacity to charge in excess of what some components can handle. So, knowing your charger and hoping the system is wired correctly, is key.

Now, given that Tige uses a Blue Sea brand Dual Circuit Plus switch (not a Perko) and of late, a VSR, yes, placing the Blue Sea switch in the OFF position, can isolate the electronics from the charger. However, we've seen on the 15's and 16", the ACR is not wired to the correct side of the Blue Sea switch. This of in itself wont effect the electronics, but can impact the operation of the charger.

Prior model years used a diode type isolator and had some electronics wired directly to the house battery.

Any of that info change on a 2017 with a single battery setup?

[chpthril]

Wow, a tige with a single battery? Havent seen one of those since like a 2007 20V with no ballast and base stereo. EIDB used to be an automatic upgrade of the boat was ordered with ballast or tower speakers.

Given past experience, there certainly could be something wired direct to the battery. I cant say for sure without tracing cables. Check the specs of the charger.

[BurnMac42]

Wow, a tige with a single battery? Havent seen one of those since like a 2007 20V with no ballast and base stereo. EIDB used to be an automatic upgrade of the boat was ordered with ballast or tower speakers.

Given past experience, there certainly could be something wired direct to the battery. I cant say for sure without tracing cables. Check the specs of the charger.

Yeah dual battery was an option on the 2017 at least on the R-series....I'm adding it soon but I just haven't gotten around to it yet....