shore power to plug in or not?

B

bcarli

New member
Hi
I'm leaving my cdory in the water for the winter and I will be gone for about five months. I have a battery charger and I wonder if I should be plugged in to shore power or not while I am gone. The only draw on the batteries would be the bilge pump. Is there any reason not to plug into power? It seems to me I might as well.
thanks
 
Hi Bill,

I would definately leave the shore power plugged in. A good battery charger will keep your batteries topped off without overcharging them.

One other thing you might consider is a dehumidifier to keep the inside of the boat dry and smelling nice. Your West Marine should have them. They draw as much energy as one 100w light bulb and are very safe.

P1010006_001.sized.jpg

Good luck,
 
I would vote for shore power. 5 months with even only the bilge pump could take the battery down, and somewhere I read that the most common reason for sinking at dock, was to battery depletion, not bilge pump failure. ( The bilge pump would however fail, after the battery voltage drops below what the pump needs for service.)
Then, like Roger mentions, it would be good to have the dehumidifier on board and running also.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Any reason you plan to leave the boat in the water instead of keeping it on the trailer? Seems to me that just sitting in the water is exposing the boat to more potential problems. (Crud on the bottom, winter storms, other boats whacking into it, curious folks walking the docks... maybe that's not a problem where you have your boat?) We just came back after 5 1/2 months (except for a week or so) off the boat, and had very little to deal with. We put her in indoor storage. I don't leave ours unattended in the water for any great length of time... maybe I'm over-protective?

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
A trailer would be my first choice but if that isn't practical leaving shore power hooked up should be alright. When I had a boat moored in Elliott Bay in Seattle but was living near Salem oregon I used to leave it hooked up full time, but I tried to get up there at least twice a month. And also kept a real close eye on the zincs.
 
I prefer shore power but, frankly, don't trust 90% of the battery chargers out there that claim "float" charge. I've seen and had too many batteries go dry from overcharging.

Instead, I bought an inexpensive outdoor timer normally used to turn lights on and off "while you're gone" and set it to give the battery a one hour exposure to the charger every day. Under those circumstances I feel quite comfortable leaving the boat for long periods of time.

Don
 
As John stated earlier I would look for someone to check on her now & then.

Never know when a dock line chafes, a bilge pump quits, etc.

Just a thought! :mrgreen:
 
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