Start battery drain

[lrc]

I have a 2004 25' CC and since this spring I am losing my start battery capacity on some kind of current drain down about every 2 weeks. I had noticed the voltage drop to 10 Volts on the panel gage (without starting the engine) two days after a fresh battery install.

I now have a spare start battery, purchased as a result of going through two discharged start batteries.

The house battery is fine.

No new equipment has been installed, no modifications since the dealer rigged the boat purchased in 2004.

I am going to pull the drawing but has anyone experienced this kind of draw down? is the solenoid bank a suspect in this?

In the interim, I'm going to install a fresh battery and keep the battery switch off until I need to use the boat. A pain to be sure, as I'll have to raise the hatch every time I need to start it.

Thanks for any help in advance.

[lrc]

I'll answer my own question (with Mac's help)

Here's the answer and it was supplied by Mac himself. This problem has been experienced by some KAMD 44 & 300 owners, especially those that trailer or put their boats in lifts.

The root cause is not turning off the computer to the Volvo engine. Myself and other owners often turn on guages only without firing up the engine to raise and lower the outdrive or to check alarm functionality or battery voltage. That means turning the key one click to the right without starting the engine. When complete, we only turn the key back to the vertical 12 o'clock position, the guages go out, we remove the key and we assume everything is off. WRONG! Even with the Main console switch off, the engine computer is still powered under this condition.

The fix is to turn the key all the way to the left (9 o'clock) against the spring detent, just as if the engine were running. Only then does the engine computer stop drawing power. According to Mac, this bit of engineering was at the insistence of Volvo and their engine electronic package design.

Thanks to Mac and his great factory support. I hope someone else finds this information useful. It sure caused me several dead batteries over the last two years without a clue what was causing it. I would have spent hours with an ampmeter trying to find this one.

You live and you learn!

[TwinFin]

good post

Good information. I would not have thought of that cause.

This is just a suggestion - please take it as such. It is a good idea to open your hatch and check your engines before each trip. It only takes a few minutes to check your fluid levels and inspect the engines and bilge. If you make this a habit you will always need to open the hatch before each trip and you can then also make a habit of turning your battery switches off when you walk away from your boat. Just my opinion & some friendly advice.

[lrc]

Good Point

Twinfin,

Good idea. I was actually going to start turning the switch off just to see whether my battery would maintain a fresh charge, sort of a preliminary troubleshooting technique.

I checked the boat this morning and with the complete key turn off technique the battery looks good so far.