Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

[jwharan]

I installed a new Pioneer CD player in my boat. I hooked the the "battery" and the "12V" line from the radio harness to the 12V line on the boat, and grounded the ground wire. Now, I have set the radio to not display a clock, so when I power it off, the display is completely dark. However the radio is not hooked to the ignition, so in effect, it always has power. How can I ensure, that even though the display is dark, when I power it off, that it is not drawing power that will kill the battery. I have a dead battery now, but I think it is an unrelated issue, and has to do with a a bad alternator. It actually died, while i was using the boat. Any ideas or tips for radio installation would be great. Thanks

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Does your unit have a removable faceplate? If so then just remove that otherwise you are looking at putting in a switch because most people don't hook the 12v switched line up to their ignition switch on the boat like you do in a car. The memory line should not drain the battery but the 12v switched line will, went through that myself a couple of years ago.

 

[JustMrWill]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

You could install a on-off toggle switch...just run the power through that and as long as you remember to turn switch off...you should be all set.<br /><br />-JMW

 

[jwharan]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Two things:<br /><br />Do you think not removing the faceplate, is what caused my battery to drain.<br /><br />Are you sure that removing the faceplate will prevent this from happening again?

 

[Purebreed]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

I put in a toggle switch. After two dead batteries you will most likely not forget to turn it off.

 

[jwharan]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

I guess a toggle switch is just as easy as pulling the fuse? I will look into getting a switch. Thanks

 

[amirm]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

It sure is confusing when it comes to wiring a car stereo on a boat. The way I wired mine is that the main (fused) line goes directly to the power bus that stays on when the battery switch is in the ON position. Then the "soft turn on" line goes to the circuit breaker for my electronics. That way, when I flip the breaker on, the stereo is powered as is the rest of my electronics. Most of the time, I just flip the breaker off and that should reduce the power consumption to microamps.<br /><br />In your case, as a minimum you need to put in a switch. But also make sure the main power feed is after the battery switch. That way, you have an easy way to completely zero out the power consumption, whether you remember to turn off the switch or not.<br /><br />Amir

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

jwharan...removing the faceplate for me worked perfect. It was 2 years ago and leaving the face on killed the battery by the following weekend, since removing it we have never had a dead battery. You could hang a meter on your battery to see what it's drawing before and after removing the faceplate. I had thought about a switch also but was never too sure the kids would remember to turn it off when finished. With the faceplate they keep the case for it in the glove box and when they are done they get their keys, wallets etc out and they see the case so they remember to remove the faceplate, either way will work for you but if you do nothing you can expect a dead battery.

 

[jwharan]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

So....my battery is dead right now, I have an overnight trickle charger. I think it has a switch for 2 Amp or 6 amp charge. Can i just throw that on the boat battery overnight? I typically used this charger for car and tractor batteries. Will it hurt the marine battery? Thanks. Typically I use the lower amps.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Trickle charger should be fine, if the battery is dead you may want to put it on 6amp for a few hours and then put it on 2amps for overnight. Make sure you top up the cells with distilled water if any are low as this is certain death to your battery plus affects how well it takes/holds a charge.

 

[jwharan]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Battery is fairly new, (less than a year), but I will check the cells anyway. Thanks.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Trickle charging is not the way to go for charging a lead acid, flooded cell battery. It’s ok for maintaining a charge as long as the trickle does not exceed 1-2% of the battery’s 20-hr amp rating, but charging a depleted battery that way is harmful. The trickle isn’t harmful itself, but the lack of current flowing into the battery is. It allows the insulating sulfites on the lead plates to stay there, and even grow with such a low current flow into the battery.

 

[jwharan]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

18Rabbit:<br /><br />Can you provide me with the best way to get this battery charged backup?

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

The “best” way, or the ‘optimum’ way to do it is to follow the battery industry’s specifications. The specs that are derived for any battery are based on testing done at specific, industry standard values such that the manf can achieve the best possible performance from a battery. In the case of the deep-cycle batteries we use on our boats, the charging is spec’d at 20% of the battery’s 20-hr amp rating**, or 1/5 of the battery’s capacity.<br /><br />So, a 100a/hr battery should be charged at a minimum rate of 20-amps. An 85a/hr battery should be charged at a minimum rate of 17-amps, etc.<br /><br />I have read the typical flooded cell battery should be charged at a rate of not less than 20% of the 20-hr spec, and preferably at a rate of 40%. 50% is considered maximum for a flooded cell battery. I think the 40% value exceeds reasonableness. The cost of a 40-amp charger for a 100a/hr battery just seems excessive to me for a dockside charger.<br /><br />You definitely want a multi-stage charger, and it should have the ‘bulk’ charge stage at about 20% of the battery’s (or battery bank’s) amp/hrs rating. You don’t have to have 20%, and in reality most people don’t and they enjoy battery performance (lifespan) that is acceptable to them.<br /><br />There are a lot of marine battery chargers on the market that function with a charge rate that is lower than ideal. Xantrex and Guest have some excellent chargers, but their battery size per charger recommendation isn’t optimum at 10%. I suggest getting a charger sized larger than they recommend. Newmar makes some of the best chargers and is one of the few companies that more realistically specs their hi-end chargers. They recommend their 25-amp charger for 50a/hr - 250a/hr batteries. But for that same 250a/hrs of battery, they also recommend their 40-amp charger, and their 70-amp charger. Btw, if you want a Newmar 25-amp charger be prepared to part with about $430.<br /><br />** The 20-hr amp rating is the spec for how many amps you get with a steady discharge over 20-hrs such that the battery dies after 20-hrs. We usually refer to this as the a/hr capacity of the battery, a.k.a. the great big advertising number printed on the battery label, i.e. a 100a/hr battery. To actually get those 100amps, you would need to discharge at a rate of no more than 5-amps per hr over a 20-hr period.

 

[jwharan]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

ok great, but i don't want to spend any bucks, can I just jump the boat off my car battery and let it run? will this charge the battery? What are my other inexpensive options here?

 

[TELMANMN]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Don't know what kind of boat but I used the light switch on my 16ft boat. I pulled the rear white lite and the front red/green out of the holders. I then wired the power into the switch so I have an off/on control. If all else fails use a stand alone switch.

 

[amirm]

Re: Installing New CD Player...draining battery?

Smart, multi-stage chargers are available from $50 to $100 dollars. You don't need a marine charger either if you are not going to permanently leave the charger on the boat. Any smart charger is going to be a huge improvment over your standard charger.<br /><br />As for jumping your boat from the car, you better be prepared to run the boat for a long time. If you are alternator is rated at 20 amps, you would need to run the engine (at high RPM) for 5+ hours to put in 100 amps into your battery.<br /><br />A smart charger is a good thing to have around the house anyway.<br /><br />Amir