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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles Archive > Archive through June 10, 2005

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Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       04-28-2005, 4:23 PM Reply   
What should I look for?
Old     (big_ed_x2)      Join Date: Jul 2004       04-28-2005, 5:10 PM Reply   
Any amps?if yes.are they turning off also?you might have them hooked up to the constent and not ignition!
Old     (wake_upppp)      Join Date: Nov 2003       04-28-2005, 5:19 PM Reply   
How much of a drain are we talking? I know some removable face stereo's can drain even when the power is off. Check for draw across the battery with the face on, then off.
Old    deltahoosier            04-28-2005, 7:35 PM Reply   
You have two wires to a head unit. One of them turns the main power on when the ignition is turned on (or stereo button is pushed on the dash) and the other wire goes directly to the battery. The one to the battery keeps the stereos clock set and it's memory. It is good to do that for a car since you are always running your car. On a boat, it will be a constant drain on the battery. I turn my perko switch off so I do not have anything on when I am not using my boat.
Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       04-29-2005, 6:45 AM Reply   
complete drain of the battery. I have to check if the amps are turning off when the stereo turns off. Everything is dead right now (recharging). The amps are wired to the power remote wires on the headunit.
Old     (fox)      Join Date: Jul 2002       04-29-2005, 7:00 AM Reply   
I have always thought that the Amp should be wired to the remote antenna wire on the head unit. That way they are only "on" when the head unit is on. It's either that, or there is some kind of short someplace else...bad ground maybe?

Eric
Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       04-29-2005, 7:05 AM Reply   
how would I check for a bad ground?
Old     (wake_upppp)      Join Date: Nov 2003       04-29-2005, 4:23 PM Reply   
Bad ground has nothing to do with draining batteries. Once again, how much drain across the battery with everything off?
Old    deltahoosier            04-29-2005, 4:52 PM Reply   
Does your clock keep time? If it is, then your head unit could always be draining your battery based on what I wrote before. In that senerio you are always supplying power to the head unit. I think you can also get into trouble if you have the ignition wire and the power wire reversed. I had a truck that if I went over a week without using it, the head unit would drain the battery. Especially if the battery was weak to begin with.

Eric,

The power remote is designed for turning the amps on and off. The antenna and the remote turn on have different current needs.
Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       04-29-2005, 5:19 PM Reply   
the clock on the headunit does keep time but it does not display when the headunit is turned off. I have double checked my connection:

headunit:
red= acc power lead
yellow= battery continuous

BOAT:
yellow = constant
red= switched

I have them red to red, yellow to yellow.

The battery is drained enough so the stereo won't turn on, however the blower, bilge pump and all other accessories still work (if this helps)

Thanks Rod for the info. I almost took Eric's advice and wired the amps to the antenna wire.
Old    deltahoosier            04-29-2005, 9:33 PM Reply   
The head unit is draining your battery. The clock still remains set because it is always getting voltage from the battery. Just because it is not displaying time does not mean it is not using voltage to keep the time.

The other accessories may not be as voltage dependent as the stereo. The stereo needs a voltage range most likely and may not turn on if you have not met it's voltage requirements. The blower motor will just run slower if you do not have enough voltage.
Old    deltahoosier            04-29-2005, 9:38 PM Reply   
with that said, you may have a weak battery to begin with on top of it all. The stereo may just be enough to drain your battery and take it over the edge.
Old     (cyclonecj)      Join Date: Jul 2001       04-30-2005, 7:59 AM Reply   
Definitely weak battery. You don't have to jump your car after a month of memory power use.
Old     (cyclonecj)      Join Date: Jul 2001       04-30-2005, 8:05 AM Reply   
Oh yeah, check the alternator belt and charge output too. My buddy has a Ski Brendella Shortline Comp and we experienced a dead battery the other day. After checking everything else, he noticed something lying in the bilge, it was the alternator belt:-)
Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       05-02-2005, 8:10 AM Reply   
Well i charged the battery, turned the stereo on and the amps are definitly shutting off.
We took the boat to the lake, thinking it wouldn't crank because the battery was dead, and the battery sounded strong. Boat took about 5-7 good cranks before it fired up.

I just took the negative amp cable off and I'm waiting to see if just the head unit still drains the battery. If it does, what should I look for??
Old    deltahoosier            05-03-2005, 12:02 AM Reply   
I have a perko switch and I just turn all power to the boat off. I do not care if the clock is set on the stereo. If it is the battery, you can alway hook up a trickle charger and let it charge all the time.
Old    deltahoosier            05-03-2005, 12:03 AM Reply   
Do you have perfect pass or anything else on the boat that may be draining it? Do you leave the key on by mistake?
Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       05-03-2005, 7:07 AM Reply   
No perfect pass and nothing else is on in the boat. The key was not left on by mistake.
Old     (jayc)      Join Date: Sep 2002       05-04-2005, 5:59 AM Reply   
The amount of power the memory on a stereo draws is no way enough to flatten your battery.

I'd guess that you battery is on the way out of something else is drawing current.

Ideally you need to get a multimeter and check to find out what is drawing the current.

To prevent this happening on my boat I have a small solar panel which I plug in when not in use that keeps the battery topped up. Not ideal if you garage your boat though!
Old     (skibum69)      Join Date: Aug 2004       05-04-2005, 6:35 AM Reply   
Are you running a cap on with the stereo? These will slowly drain your battery if left connected.
Old     (ladythump)      Join Date: Jul 2004       05-04-2005, 6:47 AM Reply   
Jason,

I don't know what a cap on with the stereo means...
Old     (jayc)      Join Date: Sep 2002       05-04-2005, 8:28 AM Reply   
Then chances are you don't have one.
Old     (sam8)      Join Date: Dec 2004       05-04-2005, 12:25 PM Reply   
Ronia;

You might try the following..

If the battery load tested okay, you have a voltage draw somewhere.
Get yourself a digital voltmeter, available at any autoparts store.
There will be instructions with it, or get a friend who knows 12vdc to help you out for a few minutes. Set it to something like a 20vdc scale. Remove the ground cable from the battery, and put the voltmeter in line with it, the black probe hooked to negative post on the battery, and the red one hooked to the ground cable you disconnected.
Your voltmeter should now read what you are losing, probably around 2 volts or less.
Now, while this is hooked up, start pulling and putting back in your fuses until you find one that, when pulled, causes your voltmeter to drop to zero.
At this point, you will have isolated the circuit that is bleeding power from your battery.
Old     (hypo303)      Join Date: Jun 2004       05-05-2005, 4:14 AM Reply   
i connected both red and yellow wires together
to a on off switch for power from my radio..
this way the the radio is only on when i turn on the switch. i dont really care about preset memory.
i also connected a toggle switch between my remote and amp ,so that my amp can be turned off with the radio still on

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