Electrical problem

[22ba]

I'm confused!!

When I stored my boat this last winter, I didn't take the battery out (just one battery). When I un-winterized, I put a charger on the battery and charged it for a couple days.
Boat ran fine, stereo wouldn't power up. Next weekend, got the boat to the lake...Batteries Dead! Jumped it with the truck, ran all day. This time I shut off the battery Switch off when I loaded it.

3 days later, get in the boat, turn the switch on...Batteries Dead!!!! WTF?

So just now I disconnected the bilge wire (cause I think that's the only thing that runs with the switch off) and am charging the battery as I type.


I haven't done anything to the stereo (stock deck with an amp and two wetsounds tower speakers) since I bought it, never had any issues.


HELP!

[Thegerman618]

You got a bad battery, replace battery and would probably invest in a second battery with a Perko switch.

[22ba]

The battery is Brand new! And the one I replaced was new last year. So they were both bad?
And when it's fully charged, the stereo still doesn't power up.

[Greeko]

Have you checked your alternator output?

Have you checked the cabling from the alternator back to the battery to make sure its connected nice and snug?

Did you disconnect any cables from the battery that were previously connected?

Have you checked to make sure all your grounds are FIRMLY connected and have low resistance to the motor?

[chpthril]

Dont mean to sound insulting, but are you sure you only have one battery? In a 20V, the 2nd is way over under the side seats behind the driver. This could explain the stereo not working.

Need to charge the battery(s) and confirm with a volt meter. Next, test voltage at battery with engine running. Should be 13V or better.

If you boat truly has 1 battery and an ON/OFF switch, there should only be one large B+ POS cable (goes to switch) and one small B+ POS cable (goes to auto bilge) connected to the battery POS post. If so, then everything gets disconnected from the batteries when the switch is OFF. So only a running bilge could be a draw.

[22ba]

I've owned the boat since new, if there's another battery stashed somewhere, I'll be really embarrassed!

My battery is under the side seat behind the driver, right next to it is the single circuit On/Off switch.
I'll get in there with a volt meter tonight and get numbers.

[chpthril]

Been awhile since I was in a 20V working, but I remember one battery being easy to see and access and the other was under the seat bench between the under seat access and the rear locker and was a biatch to get to.

[22ba]

Ok, had to run home at lunch for a sanity check. Confirmed, I only have 1 battery.
bat4.jpgbat3.jpgbat2.jpgbat1.jpg

The two cables you see that are not attached are for my amp.

[jslayde1]

I have to ask - why do you have an air freshener in there? lol...

[22ba]

HAHAHA excellent question! I have no idea!!

[22ba]

Battery reads 12.28 volts
13.76 when running.

[chpthril]

Although 12.3 is a little low, thats more than enough for a stereo to power on. With the amp cabled reconnected, is there voltage on both sides of the little fuse holder? After that, you are going to need to go to the amp power terminals and the back of the head unit and test for voltage. At this point, I would say that the stereo not coming on is independent of your dead battery after sitting. Im a little suspect of tat low static reading that you have right now. There is either a small drain, bad battery or the charger did not fully charge the battery. A few good hours of run time on the lake would rule out the latter.

Moving forward, I would suggest a couple of changes. I would relocate the helm BUS (medium red cable) and the amp B+ to the boat side of the switch. This allows for complete disconnect of the battery, when the boat is put away.

[22ba]

Ok, so the latest:

Battery checked out ok on a load tester.

Have power to the back of the deck, but wont power on. I'm guessing the Deck is Toast.
There is Power to the amp, even with key and switch off, in other words, I found what's killing the battery!

[chpthril]

When you say power, you have 0V/ground on the head unit black, 12V on the yellow and 12V on the red with the key in the ACC or RUN position?

Yes, the amp will have voltage to the main power cables even when off, if the amp is wired battery direct or if the main switch is on. There should be no power consumption unless the amp is turned on. This would require an amp meter to measure any power consumption when the amp is off but voltage is present.

as noted above, rewire the amp's B+ to the switch anyway.