Just Had A Thought!..

[Guest]

Could I get your input please as inboard engines, inverters and leisure batteries are new to us.... Me and the good lady cannot remember if we left the fridge switched on when we moored up just before lockdown, it's not hooked up to mains so would perhaps? be on battery/inverter. There are 2 battery isolater switches which I did turn off when we left, one I believe is for leisure the other for the engine? I am bothered it may be running batteries down (there is a fair sized solar panel). Will we end up flattening batteries.....Thanks in advance.

 

John.

ps...the fridge in the pic with blue isolater switch to the right, and the solar panel.

[WherryNice]

Hello, that's a 12v fridge you have there so will be wired to the battery rather than inverter. As you have turned off the battery isolators the fridge should be off regardless of it's own switch position. The only thing that should be hardwired straight to battery and not through the isolator is the bilge pump.

Unless anyone else knows differently?

[Vaughan]

12V electric fridges will cut off when the voltage gets below about 11.5 volts, in order to protect their motor.

[Guest]

Perfect...thanks guy's.

[Ray]

Thanks to Vaughan my additional comment is not really a worry but I found that the fridge on my boat is always on unless switched off separately using it's own switch. Not a problem now I know this but we always leave the fridge door open between trips and I guess it could have been an issue, more for the fridge than the batteries as it is left plugged in to shore power between trips too.

[Guest]

And also Err indoors is not sure if she emptied it of all perishables!!!....    In all fairness we had intended to go back but then the restrictions came in.

[Ray]

7 minutes ago, Jemaki said:

And also Err indoors is not sure if she emptied it of all perishables!!!....    In all fairness we had intended to go back but then the restrictions came in.

Another week and the perishables will walk out and jump overboard all by themselves 

[ZimbiIV]

Once when we left the boat (I) left the bread in the bread bin,ie microwave oven, 2 weeks later I was elected to retrieve or fight it.

It felt as fresh as when bought!

No mould and still smelt ok, declined to eat it though.

paul

[unclemike]

1 hour ago, Jemaki said:

And also Err indoors is not sure if she emptied it of all perishables!!!....    In all fairness we had intended to go back but then the restrictions came in.

ooer don't mention the sausages.

[Smoggy]

The problem is when the batteries have sat at 11.5v or less for a month they stand a good chance of being knackered or seriously impared, and the lack of capacity to run an auto bilge pump.

When I left my boat just before lockdown I took the fuses out of the eberspacher and radio memory as they bypass the isolators knowing it could be a while till the next visit, next time I will be taking the spares just in case, also gave the stern glands an extra nip up.(no greasers)

[Guest]

46 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

also gave the stern glands an extra nip up.(no greasers

Yea know what you mean, I have haemorrhoids meself... 

[JanetAnne]

6 hours ago, WherryNice said:

Hello, that's a 12v fridge you have there so will be wired to the battery rather than inverter. As you have turned off the battery isolators the fridge should be off regardless of it's own switch position. The only thing that should be hardwired straight to battery and not through the isolator is the bilge pump.

Unless anyone else knows differently?

I am not sure that there are any specific rules regarding what is and is not isolated by the battery isolators. We tend to run a separate permanently live fuse box which supplies bilge pumps, a switchable entry light in the cockpit, the radio memory and anything in the dashboard requiring a permanent live. This will run alongside the fuse box (es) that are isolated normally. 

[Vaughan]

10 hours ago, Smoggy said:

The problem is when the batteries have sat at 11.5v or less for a month they stand a good chance of being knackered or seriously impared,

That is very true, and is called plate sulphation. I don't know whether this will still happen to modern batteries such as AGM.

If the boat has been built to EC regulations, Cat. D or C, then the only thing allowed to bypass the master switches is the bilge pump, as the master switches are there - by regulation - for use in fire fighting. The bilge pump is normally wired to the engine battery, on the principle that it is normally fully charged at all times, just as it would be in a car.

A good way to avoid plate sulphation is with a small (even portable) solar panel as this will provide a constant trickle charge. For protection, the batteries don't have to be "fully" charged - they just have to be "on charge".