Battery / Radio problems

[Smithbrother]

Was walking past my boat and heard a beeping sound. Was the CO Detector flashing green and red = change detector or low voltage. Found out both batteries were completely dead. Called the dealer and he sent someone up to replace both batteries. he found the CO detector was always on connected hot to the battery and the JBL Marine amp was constantly on draining the battery. He pulled the two fuses on the amp and the drain stopped. He said to hook up a switch to the red hot wire feeding the amp to turn the amp off when the boat was not being used. Ok in the meantime I left the fuses out. Take the boat out on the lake and wanted to hear the stereo. Put the fuses in then tried to connect the faceplate to the stereo and nothing. It seems to have power but the readout on the radio was like some egyptian scrawls. Hit the power button and nothing. What is with this boat!!!

[cunuck]

I put a switch on the sensor to shut it off but my radio goes off with the battery off switch (I think???)

[ss3964spd]

SB,

The CO detector shouldnt draw enough current when the engines are off to kill the battery(s), unless the boat sits unused for weeks. I wouldn't worry about that.

The amp, however, will definately draw down the battery if it isn't wired in such a way that it turns itself off when the head unit/radio is turned off. Sounds to me like it's wired wrong. The head unit will have a wire, yellow I think, that is connected to the amp. The amp can be wired to a hot source. When the radio is turned on it sends a voltage down the yellow, the amp sees that voltage and turns itself on. When the HU is turned off the voltage on the yellow stops and the amp turns itself off. I think.

As far as the radio itself goes, closely inspect the connector blocks on the rear of the face and the front of the unit. They have to make contact with each other so be sure all are clean and straight.

If your boat doesn't sit in the water install a battery switch so you can kill all the power to the boat.

Dan

[Smithbrother]

Thanks Dan, This is my first boat and yes the amp stays on even with the head unit disconnected (This makes sense now because when I put the faceplate on the amp would "boom Boom" even though I had not yet hit the power button. The CO is a minimal draw so I'm not going to sweat that, and after looking at the amp and radio owners manual, I figure I can put a switch on the hot wire between where it comes out of the wall and where it connects to the amp for easy turn on turn off. The boat is on a trailer when not being used so the idea of a complete kill switch for the entire boat is a great and I will have to get on it when I remove the batteries for the winter. As far as the radio head, I did check the connectors and they are proper and clean. There is an unmarked reset button according to the manual so I will give that a try. Thanks again for the help and great ideas.

Dave

[ss3964spd]

No problem Dave.

As you've determined the amp is wired wrong (is just me but knowing it's wired wrong would drive me nuts). You could certainly install a switch but just ensure the switch has the capacity to carry the max amperage the amp can draw.

Interesting that the boat has two batteries, but no battery switch. My boat had only one battery when I bought it. I added a second battery and a 1, 1+2, 2, off switch this past Spring. Highly recommended.

Dan

[Smithbrother]

Hi Dan,
The boat does have a 1, 1+2, 2 off switch. When I switch it to the off position the amp is still drawing as is the co detector. Like you said it's wired wrong, sounds like a winter project.

[Tommyfmu]

If it were me I'd wire the amp so it goes through fuse panel then batt switch and wouldn't bother with a separate switch to manually turn the amp on and off; I'd run the solenoid wire from the radio head to take care of that automatically.

[Smithbrother]

UPDATE: Sent it back to the dealer, they determined that the amp and radio were wired to the ignition and was always hot. They re-wired the whole thing correctly to operate off the 1-2-both switch. They also found that the radio itself was toast and replaced it. I had them winterize it and return it to me with the batteries out. When I got it back I took the two (brand new) batteries inside for the winter and went to top off their charge. One topped off fine the other said "Replace or repair" WTF!!! Took it back to Advanced auto and they said it was no good and gave me another new one. Hope this ends the problems for the upcoming season but just in case I'm going to purchase a jump pack to keep on the boat when I'm out.

[ss3964spd]

Glad you got it sorted out Dave.

Lead acid batteries do not like to be discharged so if those batteries are going to be sitting unused for a while ya might wanna get a "battery tender" (trickel charger). Swap the tender from one batt to the other every couple of weeks or so.

Dan