dead battery

[Deegan]

I have a Lund 1800 Explorer with a F115 Yamaha. I keep my boat at a marine, and when I went to use the boat the battery was dead. The battery was new this Spring. I had left the master switch on, but I don't think any accessory was left on. Is there something I'm missing? I have three depth finders, including a Lowrance depth finder/GPS combo. Marine radio, AM/FM radio, and a two bank on-board charger for my two trolling motor batteries. I had last used the boat five days ago. I was thinking about installing an on/off switch at the battery, but am not certain if it should disconnect everything, including the outboard, or just all the accessories?

[Hot Runr Guy]

It's not a bad idea to install a battery cut-off switch, but the master power switch should take care of most of the potential power drains. But,,,,,, you may need to make a change to your bilge pump first. My 1700 Explorer did not come with an automatic bilge pump, so I installed a float switch (see pic in my album) that is directly wired to the battery. This way, even with the master switch off, the bilge pump has power, in the event it is needed. Your motors ECU will draw a small amount of power when not running, but it should not kill a healthy battery in 5 days.
http://www.walleyecentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=20&pictureid=838
HRG

[jdino]

If you have a puck for your GPS, the puck will draw power unless you have it connected to your master switch which will, when shut off, shut off power to the puck. Happened to me. I had to rewire to power to the puck to my master. Problem solved.