Power stays on after removal ignition key

[VanGaal]

I'm the proud owner of a brand new 2010 Outback V. After boarding over the weekend I luckily came to the boat yesterday and discovered when we put the
cover on in the habor, we must have accidentally turned-on the heater with the result that the battery was dead.

As I thought this was a wiring error, I wrote to SC, and got a fast answer back.
However not with the anwer I was expecting : they said this was per design.

Now am I the only one has experienced this and why would you want the heater, ballast tanks and manual bilge-pmp to operate when you have turned off the power and removed the key ?

[dru1974]

They are all like that you have swithches to shut these down the key only makes your boat unstealable while docked or beaches. This is so you can listen to tunes and so fourth

[mmandley]

Boats are different then cars. They Key in a boat is strictly for the Dash instruments, fuel pump and running your engine.

Everything else in the boat will work with out the ignition. This is due to the simplicity of design. Also it allows you to use anything in the boat with out having to have the keys available. You can store your keys when not in use and then still have a fully functioning boat.

All boats i have been in so fare, Moomba, Malibu, Supra, MC are all like this.

You just have to double check your system switches to make sure there all off.

[ToddXLV]

There is a breaker cutoff right below the battery selector (if you have 2 batteries) or near the sinlgle battery. If you push the button it opens the breaker and kills all power to the boat. If you push the leg up it closes the breaker. I use that every time I pull the boat out of the water so there is no possible way of a battery drain.

[JesseC]

Be careful with flipping the main breaker. Is your boat stored at the harbor a dry or wet storage. If you kill all the power in a wet slip and anything lets water into the boat your auto bilge may not function on a trailer or in dry storage flipping the breaker would be fine.

[cab13367]

I'm the proud owner of a brand new 2010 Outback V. After boarding over the weekend I luckily came to the boat yesterday and discovered when we put the
cover on in the habor, we must have accidentally turned-on the heater with the result that the battery was dead.

As I thought this was a wiring error, I wrote to SC, and got a fast answer back.
However not with the anwer I was expecting : they said this was per design.

Now am I the only one has experienced this and why would you want the heater, ballast tanks and manual bilge-pmp to operate when you have turned off the power and removed the key ?

The most important reason is that you never want to cut power to your bilge pump (it's not manual by the way, it turns on automatically if the water is sufficient to activate the flow switch). If your shaft seal leaks (or a leak develops in your intake hose or ballast hoses), you want the bilge pump to kick on and get that water out of the boat especially since it sounds like you keep it on the water.

And as other's have said, the other accessories are very commonly used when the ignition is switched off (the stereo, the ballast pumps, etc). Unlike in a car when you typically get out of it as soon as you turn the engine off, we spend a lot of time on our boats with the engine not running so it makes sense that the accessories are not tied to the ignition switch. That's what the battery switch is for.

[viking]

Now am I the only one has experienced this and why would you want the heater, ballast tanks and manual bilge-pmp to operate when you have turned off the power and removed the key ?

You want the accessories to be able to run without the key "on" for safety.....bilge to run if it needs to! Nav lights on while sitting! Runing blowers before and after running motor!

Not to mention the convenience of listening to music without having the key on and motor running :)

[VanGaal]

Ok guys. Thanks for the quick and usefull replies. I guess I just have to be more carefull and sending my son under the cover to double check we didn't hit a switch. This year I've choosen to keep my boat in the water, and don't want to run the risk finding it under water so the switch braker is not an option.

[walb0244]

I know this is a problem I was looking at too just not with the heater tho. I know this would take alittle bit of wiring. But couldn't you move it to where everything runs off the Perko switch and when you turn off the perko switch it turns off everything. But then run power to the auto bilge and the stereo memory? I know some body has had to have done this. I would like mine to be this way and would think it would be simple.

[mmandley]

I know this is a problem I was looking at too just not with the heater tho. I know this would take alittle bit of wiring. But couldn't you move it to where everything runs off the Perko switch and when you turn off the perko switch it turns off everything. But then run power to the auto bilge and the stereo memory? I know some body has had to have done this. I would like mine to be this way and would think it would be simple.

You can do this. You just need to find the wire from your bilge pump and run it directly to the battery positive. Then do the same with the stereo. Both should be at the fuse panel since the 8 gauge wire from your breaker by the battery goes to the fuse panel.

[walb0244]

I just don't like the idea of leaving something on by accident and not knowing it. I just want the piece of mind that when I switch the perko to off that everything is off except for the bilge and the radio memory which doesn't draw enough power to really worry about.

To accomplish this all I need to do is move the 8 guage wire that goes to the circuit breaker from the battery to the perko switch. Correct?

[mmandley]

I just don't like the idea of leaving something on by accident and not knowing it. I just want the piece of mind that when I switch the perko to off that everything is off except for the bilge and the radio memory which doesn't draw enough power to really worry about.

To accomplish this all I need to do is move the 8 guage wire that goes to the circuit breaker from the battery to the perko switch. Correct?

No the 8 gauge wire is What is supplying the power to the boat. Moving this to the Perko Common is where it would be most useful as this point has power on both legs when switching. It will kill the power when you turn the Perko off.

Doing only this will still kill the bilge and radio.

You are going to have to go behind the stereo and find the red and yellow lines. The Red is the main power if i recall and the Yellow is the deck memory. Run the Yellow directly to your battery. You can test this theory buy switching the Perko off and seeing if the deck memory is there when switched back on.

As for the Bilge you should be able to track down at your fuse panel what fuse its connected to. Then cut that wire off the fuse panel. Wire it directly to the Battery threw the ski locker. Then add a fused link at the battery for this wire. Then the bilge will work. You can test this theory by opening the V drive and where you bilge sits is a little nob, twist it and the pump will come on.