Starting Issue/Bilge

[Teri C.]

Remember my post about having trouble starting the motor....it would crank but didn't seem to have enough to get it started??



Well, I have a question. If the main power is off, will the auto-bildge still run if water gets in the boat or does the bildge have to be switched to "On" for it to run. My theory may be that I have a sucky WalMart cover for the boat when it's on the lift. The nice road cover won't work because I don't have much to strap it to. When it rains hard, the water puddles in places and I know it gets thru the cover. Quite alot comes out when I turn on the bildge after it sits for a week. Could the bildge be kicking on to drain the water when it rains and draining the battery?



Thoughts?

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

On my Ranger, the main breaker has to be on, in order for anything to work, other than the Trim for the o/b, no pumps will work in the off.



I would think a good deal of water over a week's time, could possiby drain the battery.

 

[Tony Payne]

Auto Bilge _should_ be hard wired to the battery... there is a float switch that turns it on/off when the level in the bilge gets to a specific level. This should be independant of any other on/off switches with the exception of removing the batter or a main circuit breaker (not much of an auto if it isn't always on!).



Could be the culprit....

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

Sim,



Maybe it works with the float, but I have two bildge pumps in mine, manual & auto, I know that when my main breaker is off, I cannot turn on either pump on the dash.



CJL

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Next time you take it out with water in the bilge (or you can put it there with a hose), turn on the bilge to auto and as soon as it starts pumping out water turn off the master. Mine does not work with the master off.



TOXIC

 

[Mini]

The master on off is just that. The auto BILGE pump should not work if the master is off.



Now tell me what you refer to as the master power? The one on the dash or one in the BILGE?



Mini

 

[Teri C.]

Mini,



There is knob on the dash for "Power" with an On/Off selection. That's what I thought the main power switch was. But, some things still work if "Off" is selected (e.g., the power tilt/trim).



The bilge also has a knob on the dash with an On/Off selection. I leave it to "Off" but I thought maybe there was an autobilge that was running.



I was going to disconnect all cables from the battery and see if I have this issue but I had the bilge cross my mind this weekend because it has rained here alot and I pumped alot of water out of the boat this weekend before I went fishing by turning the bilge to "On". I didn't want to disconnect all cables until I knew for sure they had nothing to do with any type of auto bilge.



I never claimed to know anything about boats or fishing. :wacko:

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

I think the master will always be in the batt compartment, in Rangers anyways.



Teri, I was reading the other day, maybe on BBC, that someone had the same problem, turns out the radio in the boat was slowly draining it from full power becuase it was wired to a "always" hot feed form the battery, so the Radio was taking juice for the clock & presets, etc. Do yo have a radio/cd player? Perhaps that's where you are losing battery power. I don't think you could loose that much juice from a week's worth of rain in the auto bildge.



Some T's I do on electric only lakes require me to run my livewells & graph all day without ever cranking up the o/b, I don't have to really re-charge before cranking up the motor. So it sounds like you have another source pulling juice over time.



CJL

 

[mike chip]

teri,

on my g3 it works no matter what. even if the power is off. that way if you leave the plug in it wont fill up with water and ruin the batterys or get in the gas tank. its better to have a dead battery than a boat filled with water. i dought the tralier could even hold the weight if the boat filled up with to much water with out damage. besides if the plug is out it will never fill up. but it sure is nice to vacation and not have to woory about leaving the power on.

mike

 

[Bruce Freeman]

An onboard charger for the starting battery would cure that if it is the problem? Or if the boat is high and dry on the boat lift can you remove the drain lug in the bilge?

BF

 

[Mini]

Ok Teri....I just realized you have a Triton now. Not a Ranger or Nitro. There is a difference in mentality when it comes to each manufacturer. None of them are spot on right for every situation....



The master power on the dash will shut off the entire boat harness with the exception of the trim and tilt (they are powered by the outboard harness and wired directly to the battery). This basically means that the bilge pump will not work with the power off. You can add an auto bilge pump and have it wired directly to the battery separate from the boat wiring harness (I highly recommend this if you leave your boat in the water for any length of time, I would actually wire it to one of the deep cycle trolling motor batteries).



Your switch on the dash that says bilge on/off is just that. If it were an auto bilge it would say on/auto/off. This would allow you to run BOTH the switched pump and the auto pump at the same time. A nice feature when or if you are swamped.



If your goal is to keep the craning battery from draining, I would add a "master power" switch/circuit breaker to the positive side of the cranking battery. This will enable you to ensure that all power is off and have a fast/easy/safe way to disconnect power when needed.



Finally I would add a trickle charger for the cranking battery. If you do not use your boat alot and/or make many long runs your battery may never get charged, that is a bad thing. It will ruin a battery quick.



So:



Add an auto bilge wired direct.

Add a master power switch.

Add a trickle charger to your cranking battery.



These should keep your boat dry safe and charged so its ready when you are. These are all relatively easy tasks (except the mounting of the secondary pump and switch) and I would volunteer to do it for you if you were closer, but I do recall what a triton bilge is like....not much room for this fat man to get around.....lol



Good luck and yoiu know you can call/email Mac or I anytime! Stop bvy soon, there are a few morte smallmouth you need to see in this pond (this time while I am in town)!



Mini

 

[Bruce Freeman]

Not to argue with Mini but the master switch should be put on the negative side of the battery.

Granted this is more important on a tin boat, car or truck than a glass boat. If you break the ground nothing will work. If you just put it inline on the positive side everything that is hardwired to the batt is still hot.



BF

 

[Teri C.]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

 

[Rich Stern]

Bruce, on big boats with master battery cut off switches, I recall them being on the positive side.



I'm not sure how everything can still be hot if they have no pathway to the positive terminal of the battery.

 

[Mini]

On a CAR a positive side breaker/switch would possibly leave an open ground condition.



We are talking about boats.....I think USCG regs are on the POS side.



Mini

 

[Bruce Freeman]

Rich, not everything just anything wired direct to the batt. Mini I still think in the auto world and you place the cut off switch on the neg side so no matter what you are working on (including the batt) you will never get a spark.



BF

 

[Rich Stern]

Bruce, in typical boat installation with a battery on/off switch, the auto bilge pump, and sometimes the stereo memory lead are direct wired, with inline fuses. They bypass any switches or cutoffs on either side of the power.



Everything else on the positive side goes through a master switch, if one is provided. I'm not talking about a typical dashboard switch like some bass boats have. I'm talking about one of those 300 to 500 amp Guest swtiches you find in the bilge or in a deck compartment that cuts power to everything except the aforementioned pump and stereo memory lead.

 

[Bruce Freeman]

Rich, Thats what I was trying to say, since Teri was unsure about the autobilge draining her starting battery adding a master disconect to the neg side would kill everything. Again I am mor auto based than marine.. But I am learning.

BF