"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:28:52 -0500, TomC penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

FWIW. In my 2000 Sea Ray 185, the thin red fused (10amp) wire from the
battery is for the amfm radio memory. I believe it does create a small
drain because the radio needs some juice for the memory.
TomC


I put a breaker in line with all of my navionics because my (VHF)radio
was constantly waiting for a WX broadcast. Great if you are on board
and listening.... a drag if you aren't and the thing is draining your
batterie(s).


I had to do the same thing after replacing the stereo in a little Sea Doo
jet boat I owned for about a year or so. The original deck that was in the
boat when I bought it used was an older purely mechanically controlled
AM/FM/Cassette deck that consumed no power once it was turned off. I
replaced it with a modern AM/FM/CD deck with digital controls that used 12V
to maintain presets in memory and to standby to wait for a possible IR
command from the little remote control. The silly boat had no battery
switch, and after I replaced the stereo, I found that the battery would be
drained after sitting for a week. Using the method I prescribed elsewhere
in this thread, I discovered that this new stereo was drawing half an amp of
power just sitting there while turned off!. I couldn't believe it. Half an
amp doesn't sound like much, but 24/7 on the trailer it adds up quick.
Since the stupid stereo was the only offending item. It was easier to
install a breaker switch next to the stereo than install a battery on/off
switch, which Sea Doo should have had done to begin with. Problem solved.
Silly boat eventually sold.