Locating Parasitic Battery Current Draw 2005 Speedster 200

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lilngineer

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Hey guys,

I have been dealing with a parasitic current draw on my battery for years now and I need to find the cause. The boat is kept on the trailer and stored covered and typically used weekends. If the boat sits without being started during the week, by the following weekend the battery is dead. Its not the battery as I have replaced it multiple times and typically buy a new once each year.

I have noticed that the battery switch in the rear storage does not kill the radio or blower circuits. Is this by design? Any ideas on what could be causing the draw or how to start testing for it? The charging system tests check out an I have never had an issue on the lake when anchoring. This only happens in storage.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Bilge pump is wired around the battery disconnect as well. And it needs to be that way if you ever leave your boat in the water overnight. Might see if the pump is running constantly due to a stuck float.

What is the voltage after it sits for a few days?
 
I'd start with disconnecting the radio when you cut off the batt switch (maybe pull the power lead or fuse). If the problem persists, then you need to figure out what has power when the battery switch is in the off position. As stated above, the bilge pump is definitely always powered up (and the float could be stuck). With the batt switch off, see if the pump is drawing any power, if it is, I'd replace it and see how it goes.
 
I believe the voltage is dropping down near 10-11V but I would have to measure it again to verify. I never hear the bilge pump running on its own in the engine compartment and I have noticed it turning on automatically after washing it at the car wash on the trailer before.

Its a great idea to try and pull the fuse on the radio. I suspect this could possibly be where the issue could lie. Otherwise, I wonder if enough rain water makes its way down to the bilge when it rains to be kicking on the pump while it sits on the trailer. We tend to get rain on a weekly basis here in Michigan but it does seem like a bit of a stretch that it would kill my battery every week.
 
how old is the battery? If it's been drained too low it may not be able to hold a full charge any more. Have you had the battery load tested? I'm assuming you're using a starting battery as your main battery, is this correct? Do you have a single battery or have you installed a secondary?
 
This is a single battery setup. The battery was replaced again last year. I have been purchasing new batteries every season to rule out that issue and even with a brand new battery the condition always exists.
 
What's the voltage at the battery when the motor is running? What type of battery are you using? Dual purpose, starting only, or deep cycle?
 
I believe running voltage was around 14V when I tested it over the weekend. I'm using a Deka starting battery.
 
OK good. While this isn't for a boat, the electrical system diagnostics are very similar. Have a look at this video (especially around the 5 min mark), and see how he tries to diagnose the issue. Should work for your boat as well. It certainly won't hurt to try his technique.

parasitic draw test
 
Thank you for the help. I was looking at parasitic draw videos earlier ironically. Seems like a good approach to tackling the problem. I'm going to try and perform some tests tonight and I''ll report back.
 
Well I managed to get out and perform some tests yesterday. I also found through studying the wire diagrams that the only circuit that should be always hot is the automatic bilge pump line (brown/red).

Placing the meter inline with the negative and the battery I discovered that I had about a 100mA consistent draw from the radio line. Could be due to an additional powered bluetooth RCA module that was added and the radio backup. As well, due to the way thing were wired in my boat, I had no way to turn it off short of pulling a fuse. Sometime in the previous ownership, someone had take the other fused red lines that supply the radio, aux 12V and blower and had decided to wire them directly to the battery instead of the switch. I have always hooked up the battery this way because that's how it was when I bought it. However, I have thought it was strange that I always had all of these wires that needed to be hooked up to the battery.

I re-wired the switch properly so now it truly kills the radio, aux 12V and blower circuits. I am hopeful that if I am diligent in turning the switch to off prior to storage that I should not have a problem unless its coming from activation of the bilge pump. The meter read straight zero draw in the off position with the wiring corrected.

I noticed that I also have two additional ground wires connected to the battery besides the main ground. Is this normal or should they go to a common ground post somewhere instead?
 
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Seems like you may have fixed the problem. Not sure about the 2 additional grounds. One may be for the bilge, not sure.
 
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