My father taught me years ago to point the spot light back toward the helm when not in use. He said that you will never accidentally leave it on and drain the battery if you can see the lens.
I can not tell you how many times that I leave the dock at noon on Sunday or Monday and see spot/search lights on.

While those boats are plugged into shore power it is not a question of running down the battery as much as reducing the life span of those expensive bulbs.

About half the boats on the docks point out while the other half point in.. Thoughts?

Per the owner's manual the 97 Carver 405 had an inverter installed when the optional stereo was installed. I have not searched the vessel. I was hoping someone can provide the location, manufacturer, or model number of the inverter? Thanks in advance
Dan

Per the forum's advice I purchased the recommended battery load test meter. Thanks g36
I knew the age of the three group 31 batteries, but not their condition. I paid the marina to charge monthly, all records indicate they were. I personally charged them on my last visit to the boat. Checked fluids, everything was good. Tester found batt #1 bad, batt #2 weak, and gen batt marginally OK.
I thought the battery and charger upgrade would happen sometime this summer. WRONG! Just bought two group 31 Batts and four GC2 Batts. Was very fortunate to find my local Advance Auto store wanting to make a deal. All six Batts for$600. No core charge. The batteries are the ones made by Johnson Controls. Again guideness from the forum suggested saving money on purchasing them versus the more expensive Trojan, which were twice the price.
New battery charger is the promarine 1230P. Yes, I am staying with the 30 amp. I figure the vessel's 10k Genny will need some exercise. Purchased the optional monitor also.

Will cut and paint the new battery platform tonight.

Thanks for the guidance.
Dan

I am interested in hearing your input on Dinghy cleaners. I was out in the garage and our Mercury dinghy is really in need of some rehab. To be honest I cant remember what I used last year to clean it in the spring Probably something from around the house. I used the 303 protectant for UV and I was less than impressed with that product. No matter how careful I was it ended up making the inside of the hull very slippery.
I just watched a video on Aurora Speed Clean seems to work well but it was a promotional piece.

Looking forward to your guidance and opinions

Cheers
Fraser

I'm looking for a pilot house table for my 2001 Voyager 530.
If anyone has one for sale please contact cqestered@gmail.com.

Just finished having new vynl plank floors glued down and upholstery redone.

I am currently in the process of buying a 1990 3207 and was wondering where in MN is the best and cheapest place to buy a rear deck Bimini both rails and canvas?

Oldguy

I had a few problems with the windlass last Fall not doing what I requested. I would select DOWN or UP and I would hear a "click" but no movement unless I physically moved the gypsy back and forth a few times. Today that did not seem to help at all. I had to release the clutch and hand crank the rope and chain up. If you have not done this before (spoiler alert) it can take a few minutes and WEAR YOU OUT.
Since the solenoid is clicking does that mean the motor is not starting? Need new brushes maybe?
Is there a quick way to diagnosis the problem?
What is the fastest way to remove the motor for repair?

Thanks in advance.

As Holodeck is being launched Thursday This week (YEAH!!!!!) I found time to get the sanitation hose replaced on this 1994 390 CPMY. I ordered 75' of Trident hose and heavy duty clamps. This project SUCKED! However, I know I will not get the odors I was getting topside. I even used 5200 on every joint and double clamped each joint. The hardest part was finding a friend who was scrawny enough to fit in the bilge. Well, I have one and this man could barely get there. The hardest part was running a new length from the aft cabin master to the front of the starboard engine. It took us 9 hours, start to finish. However, marina price was $2900.00 so I know I saved a few dollars.

Launch is Thursday so stay tuned!

RE: CO2 Detectors Sounding Alarm..

After advice from Viper, I am starting a new thread from the 405 driver post to disseminate my progress. Sorry for the hijack 405 driver.

From the previous thread, I posted about having charger and battery "boil" problems after replacing my original CHARLES battery charger and my EXILE dual purpose deep cycle batteries that were also setting off my CO2 detectors.

The NOCO Genius 4 battery charger I installed was under warranty so they allowed me to send it in for diagnostic testing and repair or replacement. The problem is that they did not tell me if the charger had a fault or was okay. They sent me a brand new charger back as replacement.

I was not happy with that resolution so I also bought a ProNautic charger like 405 Driver. Because I did not want to put myself back into the same situation of Genius 4 and new batteries, I purchased the ProNautic 1230P charger and new (different brand) of 27 DC Marine batteries. For those of you thinking about a new charger, the ProNautic is almost "plug and play" in that the original wiring will wire directly into the new charger from the Carver wiring.

I waited a few weeks to respond to my last post to verify that I no longer have the old issue of the charger "boiling" the water out of the batteries and setting off the CO2 detectors with the new setup. So far, everything appears to be working correctly. I made sure that the electrical system was configured exactly like it was previously with the old (new) Genius charger and have had no problems. I was on the hook and using battery power all last night and had no problem with power this morning and after plugging back into shore power the charging system appeared normal.

The ProNautic charger has the ability to remotely monitor the batteries and status with a separate monitor that I purchased so that I would not have to open the engine hatches to see the status on the charger. I now know when the batteries are charging, at what rate they are charging, the battery temp (key to the boiling battery issue), the charger temp and when the batteries are anticipated to be fully charged. I only receive this information when the charger is operational on shore or generator power. All of that and the peace of mind that my DC electrical system is working properly again was worth the cost.

With that being said, if you know of anyone that needs a NOCO Genius 4, 4 Bank, 40 Amp brand new in the box never opened battery charger, let me know and they can have it at half price.

Thanks for the feed back and I hope this helps anyone else that has this type of problem.