Leave boat for longer than norm.....

[robtheplod]

In light of Covid-19 we're not going to be able to get back to our boat each fortnight it seems so now getting a tad anxious about how we've left it....

 

All power is off to pumps and water is turned off, but I tend to leave it on shoreline with batteries on charge. We have the 12v fridge running also.... 

 

I'm thinking it would have bene better to switch everything off and risk batteries discharging but at least might be safer???  are batteries safer on charge or disconnected??

 

thanks!!

[TheBiscuits]

As long as there is nothing wrong with your electrical systems, it will be fine.  Many boats are left connected to mains 365 days a year, and the charger just quietly does it's own thing.

 

I'd worry more about the food in the fridge going manky than the battery charger.

 

(I'm assuming there is some food in the fridge or you wouldn't have left it switched on!)

[MoominPapa]

1 minute ago, robtheplod said:

In light of Covid-19 we're not going to be able to get back to our boat each fortnight it seems so now getting a tad anxious about how we've left it....

 

All power is off to pumps and water is turned off, but I tend to leave it on shoreline with batteries on charge. We have the 12v fridge running also.... 

 

I'm thinking it would have bene better to switch everything off and risk batteries discharging but at least might be safer???  are batteries safer on charge or disconnected??

 

thanks!!

In comparative terms, batteries are safer disconnected than on charge: a battery or charger failure could happen and could cause problems, BUT plenty of boats are left unattended with the batteries on float charge. The absolute risk is pretty low. I'd put it in the "things I can't so anything about" bucket and stop worrying if I was you.

 

MP.

 

[MtB]

You don't say if the boat is in a marina or where this shoreline power is coming from. Presumably a marina, in which case there is almost bound to be staff on site keeping a weather eye on the boats even if the place is officially closed. 

 

In addition, whenever I take a marina mooring the office usually requires a key. Did yours? One reason for the key is so you can call them and ask them to go and do stuff in the boat like turn the fridge and battery charger off.

 

[robtheplod]

thanks all!, yes the cheese in the fridge might have some interesting growth on by the end of this!

 

yes it is in a marina on shoreline and they have a key..... that's always an option thanks!

Edited April 1, 2020 by robtheplod

[Dav and Pen]

For the last 18 years we have had a barge in either Belgium or France and had to leave it winterised for at least 5 months. Where possible everything except bilge pumps were switched off and if connected to mains power charger left on. For the las t 4 years we moored for the winter at a place where the power was switched off but I had put some solar panels on the roof and these kept the batteries up to voltage.

if you are confident the boat is very unlikely to leak and do not have a cruiser type stern on a narrowboat then you could disconnect the batteries as we did when we had our narrowboat in Ireland for 2 winters. The batteries were still good enough to start the engine when we got back.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Dav and Pen
Spelling

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

thanks all!, yes the cheese in the fridge might have some interesting growth on by the end of this!

 

Odd you should say that, most of my life I've been happy to shave a thin layer of green mould  off my cheese should it have any, reasoning that the cheese underneath is still safe to eat given lots of cheeses have blue veins of mould by design. 

 

I happened to mention this to a microbiologist customer and he had a purple fit say no I must NOT do this! If I must try to save a block of mouldy cheese, cut off a layer at least half an inch thick all over and bin it. Better to bin the whole block of cheese. I was rather taken aback by this....

 

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by Mike the Boilerman
Clarify.

[ditchcrawler]

I would suggest that what you do is bad practice, even visiting every two weeks, You only need the power to trip, the fridge will run as long as possible, say two day by which time the batteries are effectively as discharged as you would like to take them, the point where the fridge wont start again and will sit like that until next time you visit. On top of that the fridge will stink. However that is not as bad as leaving the inverter on as that would take the batteries down to about 11.5 volts and leave them there, quite a bit lower than a 12 volt fridge would.

It happens

[Movin' on]

21 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

In light of Covid-19 we're not going to be able to get back to our boat each fortnight it seems so now getting a tad anxious about how we've left it....

 

All power is off to pumps and water is turned off, but I tend to leave it on shoreline with batteries on charge. We have the 12v fridge running also.... 

 

I'm thinking it would have bene better to switch everything off and risk batteries discharging but at least might be safer???  are batteries safer on charge or disconnected??

 

thanks!!

 

I have asked the marina to take mine off shore power completely to reduce corrosion issues and turn inverter/charger off - I never leave anything else on - batteries will have to do their own thing till I get back on board but they weren't new...……………..

[Tracy D'arth]

Fridge will need defrosting when you get back !

 

Even a tiny solar panel avoids this dilemma. 

[Mike Todd]

41 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

In comparative terms, batteries are safer disconnected than on charge: a battery or charger failure could happen and could cause problems, BUT plenty of boats are left unattended with the batteries on float charge. The absolute risk is pretty low. I'd put it in the "things I can't so anything about" bucket and stop worrying if I was you.

 

MP.

 

Happened to us when we left boat in a (new) marina for a couple of weeks. On return found that there had been a power failure and shore line had tripped out leaving the batteries depleted. They had to be replaced a couple of months later.

 

We left the heating on frost 'holiday' setting and are getting a tad concerned what will happen if it uses up all the diesel!

[Keeping Up]

We had the opposite problem once when we were moored in a marina. The power kept on tripping out and being re-set while we were away, so the "intelligent" charger kept restarting its cycle which always began with a supposed "Conditioning cycle" at a high voltage. Over a period of time it boiled away most of the acid which damaged the batteries.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Mike Todd said:

 

We left the heating on frost 'holiday' setting and are getting a tad concerned what will happen if it uses up all the diesel!

Whilst we are not entirely past the season of morning frosts, I would be pretty sure the inside of the boat won't get below freezing now before next winter. So you (or someone from the marina) could safely turn the heating completely off.

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Whilst we are not entirely past the season of morning frosts, I would be pretty sure the inside of the boat won't get below freezing now before next winter. So you (or someone from the marina) could safely turn the heating completely off.

I went and turned our heating off on 4th March, checked all pumps, battery charger etc were turned off, master switches off, AC off and that the Solar was working OK.

 

With hindsight, pretty much just timed it right.

[john6767]

Ours is not in an ideal state either, there are oil filled rads still on, but given the temperature they should not be doing anything.  The battery charger is also on.  Ideally now I would disconnected the shoreline and just solar to keep the batteries charged.  But nothing I can do about it.  I also note that my insurance starts to exclude thing from cover if it has been unattended for more than 30 days, so it is certainly going to be a case of hoping for the best here.

[Movin' on]

21 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Ours is not in an ideal state either, there are oil filled rads still on, but given the temperature they should not be doing anything.  The battery charger is also on.  Ideally now I would disconnected the shoreline and just solar to keep the batteries charged.  But nothing I can do about it.  I also note that my insurance starts to exclude thing from cover if it has been unattended for more than 30 days, so it is certainly going to be a case of hoping for the best here.

Unattended is interesting term if there is a manager on site I would say it attended...…………aren't you at Earlswood Club??

Edited April 1, 2020 by Halsey

[Mike Todd]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I went and turned our heating off on 4th March, checked all pumps, battery charger etc were turned off, master switches off, AC off and that the Solar was working OK.

 

With hindsight, pretty much just timed it right.

Clever clogs!

[john6767]

1 hour ago, Halsey said:

Unattended is interesting term if there is a manager on site I would say it attended...…………aren't you at Earlswood Club??

No Calcutt marina, and they have said whey would be regularly checking the boats.  It has not moved since winter so not really likely that something goes wrong and of course if the electricity trips, which it has never done in 10 years, then it does not matter now that is not going to freeze (not that it ever did this winter).

[Alan de Enfield]

20 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:

Clever clogs!

Just good timing.

[Midnight]

5 hours ago, robtheplod said:

In light of Covid-19 we're not going to be able to get back to our boat each fortnight it seems so now getting a tad anxious about how we've left it....

 

All power is off to pumps and water is turned off, but I tend to leave it on shoreline with batteries on charge. We have the 12v fridge running also.... 

 

I'm thinking it would have bene better to switch everything off and risk batteries discharging but at least might be safer???  are batteries safer on charge or disconnected??

 

thanks!!

Apart from when cruising our boat has been on charge for 16 years. Lately using solar during the summer and nothing bad happened beyond changing the batteries once.

[Movin' on]

8 minutes ago, john6767 said:

No Calcutt marina, and they have said whey would be regularly checking the boats.  It has not moved since winter so not really likely that something goes wrong and of course if the electricity trips, which it has never done in 10 years, then it does not matter now that is not going to freeze (not that it ever did this winter).

 

So you IMHO are "attended" as much as I am!

4 minutes ago, Midnight said:

Apart from when cruising our boat has been on charge for 16 years. Lately using solar during the summer and nothing bad happened beyond changing the batteries once.

 

Once in 16 years - pretty amazing batteries!

[Onewheeler]

1 hour ago, Halsey said:

Once in 16 years - pretty amazing batteries!

We've just replaced the starter bank on our shared boat after 20 years. Left to their own devices for all those winters, only charged when moving in the summer months. Mind, the electrolyte looked like soup.

[LadyG]

10 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Odd you should say that, most of my life I've been happy to shave a thin layer of green mould  off my cheese should it have any, reasoning that the cheese underneath is still safe to eat given lots of cheeses have blue veins of mould by design. 

 

I happened to mention this to a microbiologist customer and he had a purple fit say no I must NOT do this! If I must try to save a block of mouldy cheese, cut off a layer at least half an inch thick all over and bin it. Better to bin the whole block of cheese. I was rather taken aback by this....

 

 

Strange, I used to make cheese and I don't recall any particular mould nasties with hard cheeses, and on farms in the sixties it was common to have a truckle [an 8lb cheese] which kept us going to xmas, then stilton scooped out with spoon and port put in it.

There is one bug that gives you projectile vomiting, soft cheese, unpasteurised milk.  

Campylobacter..... also known for standard S & D

Edited April 1, 2020 by LadyG

[David Mack]

12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Odd you should say that, most of my life I've been happy to shave a thin layer of green mould  off my cheese should it have any, reasoning that the cheese underneath is still safe to eat given lots of cheeses have blue veins of mould by design. 

 

I've done exactly the same, based on the same reasoning.

 

12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I happened to mention this to a microbiologist customer and he had a purple fit say no I must NOT do this! If I must try to save a block of mouldy cheese, cut off a layer at least half an inch thick all over and bin it. Better to bin the whole block of cheese.

 

Oh....

[Momac]

I  have been able to make a quick visit to the boat to switch off the fridge . I have the battery  charger on.

We have everything spring cleaned and ready to go on our first trip of the year which should have been this weekend.?