This is a cautionary FWIW category post.
Customer #1:
I get a call from customer #1 on Saturday morning. His boat is out and on the hard for winter. During a recent rain storm his bilge filled with water enough to kick on the bilge switch. Unfortunately his el-chapo Rule Bilge Switch stuck in the ON position. He did not get back to the boat for nearly a week and when he did he found his BRAND NEW TPPL AGM batteries, on Saturday, at 00.3V!!!! His garboard drain should have been removed the second he went on the hard and the batteries 100% disconnected from the vessel after being charged to 100% SOC. This was 100% preventable! Any vessel that stores mast up, with a keel stepped spar, should have a garboard drain installed if possible. If you store mast up and can't install a garboard drain think twice about mast up on the hard.
Customer #2:
Last Tuesday I got a call from Customer #2 who thought he "blew a fuse". When I get to the boat I find his 680Ah AGM bank at 00.12V. Once again his bilge pump stuck on and would not shut off. This was caused by his "check valve" sticking and refusing to open. He does not have a garboard drain and does store with mast up. No garboard drain is just a poor practice for mast up storage. Again his batteries should have been 100% disconnected when he left the vessel.
His bilge pump also does not have any OFF position which I have recommended multiple times. He insists on just pulling the fuse for winter but he "had not got to that yet". We have no idea how long his batteries sat at 0.12V but he had not been to the boat in approx 23 days. His batteries were not recoverable.
Once again bilge pump mistakes have costs thousands of $$$$$ in damages. Customer #2's AGM's were not recoverable and even after charging could barely muster 3.5Ah's for a 220Ah battery. They were brand new in May. I had suggested removing the check valve and installing a proper bilge pump system no less than 3 times and each time it was put off because "It seems to work.". The new bilge system would have cost less than 20% the cost of his battery bank..
Key Points:
*When on the hard batteries should ALWAYS be 100% disconnected from the vessel. Turning OFF the battery switch is NOT sufficient. Parasitic loads almost always exist and this will murder your batteries over the winter even without bilge pump mistakes.. Most boat yards require that batteries be 100% disconnected while on the hard.
*When on the hard and stored mast up, especially with keel stepped spars, you should have a garboard drain installed. This should be removed as soon as you are done pressure washing the bottom.
*Please, please please stop using check-valves on centrifugal Rule type bilge pumps. This is an incorrect & poor installation practice with almost all centrifugal style pumps. This horrid installation practice murders tens of thousands in batteries each year just in my small market (over 4k just last week alone). I can't imagine how many banks are destroyed nationally by the incorrect use of check-valves. If you need a check-valve use a diaphragm pump for nuisance water.
*Please, please please stop using cheap crappy Rule type float switches. Please use a time proven reliable bilge switch such as the Ultra Safety Systems Senior or Junior switches.
*Please always have a way of turning off your bilge pump other than via pulling a fuse.
*Expensive batteries can be murdered just as easily as inexpensive ones. These two incidents alone will cost $1900.00 in Northstar thin plate pure lead (TPPL) AGM's (unless they recover suitably) and about $2100.00 in Lifeline AGM's. These events could have been 100% prevented had quality equipment been chosen, proper installation practices had been followed (no check valve) and best practices for on the hard winter storage had been adhered to.
Customer #1:
I get a call from customer #1 on Saturday morning. His boat is out and on the hard for winter. During a recent rain storm his bilge filled with water enough to kick on the bilge switch. Unfortunately his el-chapo Rule Bilge Switch stuck in the ON position. He did not get back to the boat for nearly a week and when he did he found his BRAND NEW TPPL AGM batteries, on Saturday, at 00.3V!!!! His garboard drain should have been removed the second he went on the hard and the batteries 100% disconnected from the vessel after being charged to 100% SOC. This was 100% preventable! Any vessel that stores mast up, with a keel stepped spar, should have a garboard drain installed if possible. If you store mast up and can't install a garboard drain think twice about mast up on the hard.
Customer #2:
Last Tuesday I got a call from Customer #2 who thought he "blew a fuse". When I get to the boat I find his 680Ah AGM bank at 00.12V. Once again his bilge pump stuck on and would not shut off. This was caused by his "check valve" sticking and refusing to open. He does not have a garboard drain and does store with mast up. No garboard drain is just a poor practice for mast up storage. Again his batteries should have been 100% disconnected when he left the vessel.
His bilge pump also does not have any OFF position which I have recommended multiple times. He insists on just pulling the fuse for winter but he "had not got to that yet". We have no idea how long his batteries sat at 0.12V but he had not been to the boat in approx 23 days. His batteries were not recoverable.
Once again bilge pump mistakes have costs thousands of $$$$$ in damages. Customer #2's AGM's were not recoverable and even after charging could barely muster 3.5Ah's for a 220Ah battery. They were brand new in May. I had suggested removing the check valve and installing a proper bilge pump system no less than 3 times and each time it was put off because "It seems to work.". The new bilge system would have cost less than 20% the cost of his battery bank..
Key Points:
*When on the hard batteries should ALWAYS be 100% disconnected from the vessel. Turning OFF the battery switch is NOT sufficient. Parasitic loads almost always exist and this will murder your batteries over the winter even without bilge pump mistakes.. Most boat yards require that batteries be 100% disconnected while on the hard.
*When on the hard and stored mast up, especially with keel stepped spars, you should have a garboard drain installed. This should be removed as soon as you are done pressure washing the bottom.
*Please, please please stop using check-valves on centrifugal Rule type bilge pumps. This is an incorrect & poor installation practice with almost all centrifugal style pumps. This horrid installation practice murders tens of thousands in batteries each year just in my small market (over 4k just last week alone). I can't imagine how many banks are destroyed nationally by the incorrect use of check-valves. If you need a check-valve use a diaphragm pump for nuisance water.
*Please, please please stop using cheap crappy Rule type float switches. Please use a time proven reliable bilge switch such as the Ultra Safety Systems Senior or Junior switches.
*Please always have a way of turning off your bilge pump other than via pulling a fuse.
*Expensive batteries can be murdered just as easily as inexpensive ones. These two incidents alone will cost $1900.00 in Northstar thin plate pure lead (TPPL) AGM's (unless they recover suitably) and about $2100.00 in Lifeline AGM's. These events could have been 100% prevented had quality equipment been chosen, proper installation practices had been followed (no check valve) and best practices for on the hard winter storage had been adhered to.