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Blower + 'Idiot Light' Update

Grizz

Grizz
Experience can be a good teacher. Bad experiences, if survived, can be an even better teacher. The recent 'Blower Thread' struck a nerve, a reminder of a bad experience...which was survived.

1st mistake: the battery selector switch was set to 'Both' without anyone's knowledge.

2nd mistake: the blower was inadvertanly turned on for who-knows-how-long, running quietly enough that no one in the cockpit or cabin heard it running. So it was draining both batteries equally (see '1st mistake' listed previoiusly).

When it came time for our 2 AM Engine Start (a dual purpose activity, serving as a great alarm for the off-watch to wake up and to recharge the battery, 'singular' used intentionally), the tell-tale 'click-click-click-click' of the starter was not a happy sound. A worse sound, after calling for the switch to Battery #2, was "that's not going to do us any good" (see '1st mistake' listed previoiusly). Uh oh...

As foreshadowed, we survived, after a creative MacGyver jumpstart combining of the 2 batteries, just sufficient enough to get the Universal started. Whew!

Take Away and Fixes
: future night runs use 1 battery only, with verbal confirmation between watches of either #1 or #2 in use. Make the use of the Blower obvious with an 'Idiot Light', using a red LED light pigtailed off the Blower Switch, mounted in the 'O' of a Blower label glued to the engine panel, to serve as a visual alert that the Blower is, in fact, running.

This was a cheap fix that is only 'Idiot Resistant' (nothing is idiot proof IMHO) that will help avoid a repeat of this 'dead batteries, won't start gut wrencher'.

Apologies for the huge picture, it's how it appeared after the 'drag and drop' with the 'Add Attachment' option.
 

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tenders

Innocent Bystander
My standard procedure is:
- only set the battery to “both” when motoring back to a mooring or dock where the boat will be completely put away before departure.
- while underway, use battery #1 on odd calendar days and #2 on even calendar days (I believe this is a Navy standard operating procedure)
- use a blower so noisy that it is impossible to miss when the engine is off

With this process, an idiot light is unnecessary; it’s just another thing to fail.

Did you connect the two batteries in series to zap the starter into action? How did you reconnect the batteries after it finally started without frying the alternator?

“Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.”
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
For what it's worth, I never (ever) use #2 alone (it's the "emergency starting battery"). The yacht runs on #1, a house bank of two Group 31s.

Noteworthy that, in my case and commonly, only #1 is monitored by the Victron. Switching between emergency and house would confuse things.

Yes, when motoring, I switch temporarily to "Both"--because that's required on my boat for the alternator to charge all batteries at once.

Some of this, I think, is personal terminology.

If you call the backup battery a "starter battery," might as well use it that way.

If you call the backup battery an "emergency battery to be used only in the event the house bank fails," well, that's a different role, and the battery is there only for that.
 
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Back in the late 90's (prehistoric times...) we added a second 12 volt "emergency" battery in a custom plywood & epoxy box under the aft cabin berth. Then the old battery location was changed from a pair of group 24 batteries to a pair of golf cart format batteries to create one larger "house bank."

The note about not hearing the blower is ironic. Before we removed the factory Universal diesel the Atwood blower was hardly noticeable with the engine running, altho kind of loud with engine off.
Now, the new engine is so quiet that the blower is obnoxiously noisy even with the engine running.

I may have to try a replacement blower to see if the db level will then be more acceptable.

"It's always Something!" as the nice lady used to say on SNL.... :rolleyes:
 
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Grizz

Grizz
Blower + 'Idiot Light' Part II

  • Wasn't aware of the 'Navy Procedure', which I've apparently and unknowingly adopted with a twist: #1 is used in odd months, #2 in used in even months. This system has worked well, so far.
  • I understand, conceptually, the terms 'house', 'emergency' and 'starter', but...with (2) Group 27's that alternate in even/odd months, energy to start the engine and power the lights/electronics hasn't been an issue (except for that one 'uh oh' incident)
  • Agree that adding 1 LED to indicate the Blower is activated increases complexity, but there's little chance of it burning out (micro LED) and the wiring was easily chased/installed and was hard wired / heat shrunk (Shrinked? Shranked?) to the switch.
  • I guess I'm not going to complain about a 'quiet blower', especially when it get used as infrequently as it does.
  • Normal seasonal use in Chicago is quite easy on batteries, especially with all the running and cabin lights having been swapped to LED (except the steaming/deck combo). The Auto Pilot and Chart Plotter are the largest draws, with the AP being used mostly when motoring, when battery drain isn't an issue.
  • There's a 45-minute chug to get to/from the Race Course one or 2 times a week, plus 2-3 mid-distance night races a season. The batteries are critical for the (1) 72-hour marathon (Chicago to Mac) each summer. The balance of use is day sailing with the engine killed soon after exiting harbor...and started shortly before returning. Not great for the Universal, but there are ample occasions to 'bring her to temp & burn the carbon'.

This concludes this peek into the center of the Continent. Approximately 165 days until the harbors open
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, but less than 15 days until the 1st Harbor payment is due
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. Oh well...
 
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