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Old 03-15-2013, 08:57 AM   #21
rwidman
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City: North Charleston, SC
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nsail View Post
........... But, the house batteries won't stay charged very long (or as long as they should) and they're supposedly good (a couple of years old)...........
If the house batteries won't stay charged very long, I would be looking for something that's drawing a current continuously. A light left on, a florescent light left on but with a burned out tube, a partial short from a positive wire to water in the bilge, a defective piece of electronics or defective appliance, etc.

Turn off everything, then disconnect the negative lead from the house bank and insert an ammeter into the circuit (your electrician will know how to do this.) There should be no current draw other than the very minor current from a radio memory circuit and perhaps 1/4 amp for a CO monitor. Newer CO monitors draw much less standby current so if you have an older one, you might consider replacing it.

If you find a current draw, turn off circuit breakers one by one until you find which circuit the draw is on, then check everything that circuit powers until you find the culprit. Then, of course, repair or replace it.
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