Dead Battery???

[FULL-THROTTLE]

Hello,

I have a 98 Challenger with twin 787's, runs great with no electrical problems, BUT I let the boat sit for the week with the dess key out, and the battery is 99% dead?? I checked and there is nothing electrical turned on??? I had the battery checked and it checks out fine, by the way the battery is brand new and it is the correct battery. I did notice that after charging the battery, while connecting the terminals there is a small spark on the pos terminal between the wires and battery, like something is drawing on the elec system???, again I checked to ensure all switches are off and dess key is out. I find it odd that this boat does not have a master off switch for the electrical.

Is it correct to allow the electrical systems to continue with the dess key out/off? I can run the radio, blower and lights with out the dess key?? Maybe I have a bad relay??

Any Input is welcome.

Thank You.

P.S. This boat is fun as hell, I glad I found it.

 

[texasmojo]

Im no boat expert but i'll chime in. There has to be a battery cutoff switch somewhere in there. They are normally within 4ft from the battery. Try following your positive cable from the battery to see if it leads you to the switch. If there aint no switch then you need to add one. The radio is whats killing your battery. It draws a very small amount of power even when turned off. To preserve your radio settings. It does this in my boat too until i turn off the bettery master switch. As long as you dont have a battery master switch turned off, you will still be able to turn on electrical stuff on your seadoo without having the key in.

 

[FULL-THROTTLE]

Hmmm

It is odd they produced this boat with no master cut off switch, I guess I'll have to put one in. I just hate to mess with the stock configuration.

Thanks for the input.

 

[kustomkarl]

Here is a test to see if you have a draw on teh system. I have a 1997 Challenger and If I leave it for weeks at a time connected the battery never looses any charge. Disconnect the negitive- cable from the battery. Take a 12 volt test lamp and connect it between the cable end and the battery post (Lanyard cap must be off DESS post). If the test lamp lites then you have a constant draw on the battery and this is not good. I would then start disconnecting components, one at a time, to see if any of these are causing a draw on the battery. In your case I would start with the blower, the clock in the stereo then go to the rectifier etc. Note: using a volt meter connected between the cable end and the battery post will not work. It must be a 12volt test LITE.
Lite on...draw. No lite on...no draw.
Use a multi meter to test any electrical circuits.
Keep us posted on how you make out.

Karl

 

[markj602]

you could hook a multi meter up in series with the post and the wire and measure current

 

[seadoosnipe]

Short....

You may have an electrical short, if your have a brand new battery and your losing power. The bilge pump is the only device that will come on automatically without any intervention.

With your battery fully charged, disconnect the bilge pump and the water sensor (two wires directly beside it).

Spark.....yes, when you first attach your battery wires, the electronics is being activated. But after 33 seconds, this system is automatically shut down by the DESS.........

I have the 1997 Challenger.........as for the battery switch, they do have one, but it's automatically operated by the MPEM.