Ghost Batttery Drain

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OldDude

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Dec 19, 2020
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San Angelo, TX
2008 Nitro 189 Sport. Optimax 115.

I have a ghost draining my starter battery. Have no idea where it's coming from and I'm drawing a blank on where to start. I'm sure I'm overlooking the obvious.

When it sits for longer than 3 weeks the starter battery is completely dead. The battery is new. The old one wouldn't hold a charge any longer after just a year. If I disconnect the negative battery terminal after every use its fine.

Any thoughts?
 
Will having it unplugged from a power source unless I'm using it hurt anything?
 
2008 Nitro 189 Sport. Optimax 115.

I have a ghost draining my starter battery. Have no idea where it's coming from and I'm drawing a blank on where to start. I'm sure I'm overlooking the obvious.

When it sits for longer than 3 weeks the starter battery is completely dead. The battery is new. The old one wouldn't hold a charge any longer after just a year. If I disconnect the negative battery terminal after every use its fine.

Any thoughts?
 
Remember everything except your trolling motor should be running from the starter battery. An auto bilge pump, electronics, auto anything will drain it. My 2004 doesn't have an onboard computer. You could trace it with a meter by selectively removing each component and rechecking for a load. It doesn't take much.
 
Will having it unplugged from a power source unless I'm using it hurt anything?
[/QUOT]

No, not a thing, however if you have a stereo radio with a clock build into it that could be the one. What Panfish Pappy said would be the other thing to try. It has been my experience that if for no reason it just started to drain the battery there is a diode in the alternator that stops the back flow of voltage if it's bad it will drain the battery also.
 
As others have said, a master power switch is always a good idea. Turning it off accomplishes the same thing as removing the negative battery cable. Also if you have a modern battery charger, that has a float mode, you can leave it plugged in when you are not using the boat. Even something like a small Battery Tender will keep the charge up.
 
Yes, I learned the hard way one morning arriving at a big lake and didn't check my cranking battery before I left home. For some reason the charger didn't rollover to the third battery after the trolling batteries were charged. Luckily, I carry a short set of jumper cables and I just jumped from the trolling batteries.
 
Dont feel bad my 2020 boat does this from day one. Do not leave a battery charger connected all the time. It will draw power and recharge 1000 times a year. Destroy batteries and set boat on fire if the charger does not kick out. I installed new batteries then the cut off switch as mentioned above, good advice. Get you a good volt ohm amp meter and learn to use it and learn to trace miliamp draws. I finally found the cheap electronics on my dash as the issue. From day one I thought it was the Mercury outboard, it was not ! Believe it or not some smart battery chargers will pull DC power when unplugged from 120 and left connected to the battery. Check them with meter to verify.
 

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