oil question and bilge pump power

[eggharborrick]

whats the school of thought on changing the oil in the crusaders, end of season at winterization or in the spring prior to launch?whats the correct way to fog the engine? I'm going to split my house/cranking batteries up. 1 cranking each engine and 2 for the house. currently i have 2 for everything. I noticed my 2 bilge pumps have power all the time even with the battery switches off, which makes sense. So should I wire these to my cranking or house batteries? how many amps is needed to keep the cranking batteries maintained, will a solar panel do it?

 

[diver_dave]

whats the school of thought on changing the oil in the crusaders, end of season at winterization or in the spring prior to launch?

End of season. Don't expose the hibernating metals to acids, water, etc in the old oil.

I noticed my 2 bilge pumps have power all the time even with the battery switches off, which makes sense. So should I wire these to my cranking or house batteries?

The pump that would typically run when at rest should wire, thru a fuse, to the house bank. The next pump should run to an engine battery. 3rd pump to the remaining start battery. Make sure if it sinks, it has all dead batteries! Also, if you have different size pumps, that house pump should be the smallest.

 

[RicardoMarine]

Wow, you have quite a few, and very different (I might add), questions for one thread.

1. whats the school of thought on changing the oil in the crusaders, end of season at winterization or in the spring prior to launch?
2. whats the correct way to fog the engine?
3. I'm going to split my house/cranking batteries up. 1 cranking each engine and 2 for the house. currently i have 2 for everything.
4. I noticed my 2 bilge pumps have power all the time even with the battery switches off, which makes sense.
5. So should I wire these to my cranking or house batteries?
6. how many amps is needed to keep the cranking batteries maintained, will a solar panel do it?

1. Engine oil is changed during lay-up due to an Alkalinity and Acidity level potential. The potential increases as the engine hours on this last oil change increase. Your call!
2. The correct Fogging method (for Carbureted Engines), IMO, is to make this your very last winterizing item.
   Do so by fogging while a helper turns the ignition key OFF!
   By doing so, we interrupt combustion, and we end up with better fogging solution protection.
   (fogging can be done in 8-10 seconds and @ approx 1,200 to 0 rpm.)
3. Not a bad idea! I crank my Stbd engine on a large bank of 6 volt G/C batts. This serves as my cranking and H/B.... with no need to split anything up! I have a helm controlled solenoid that combines the Port bank to Stbd bank, should the need arise!
4. I'm going to guess that you mean that the Float Switch is powered "all the time"! Your "Float Switch" should be..... and particularly if you moore this boat.
5. Again, this is IMOO here......., our bilge pumps are fairly low demand power consumers.... but none-the-less, we want these to run as long as possible. The bank that best serves this, would be our largest Amp Hour capacity bank..... usually our House Bank of Deep Cycle batteries!
   You may want to direct wire your "Float Switch" to an "Un-Interruptible" power supply from this House Bank. (the rear of your MBSS is a perfect location)
6. This is an impossible question to answer because this involves amp hours required, as well as voltage. Solar panels may be OK for maintaining fully charged batteries....., but they are NOT a good choice for battery charging. (See info on Marine Battery Maintenance.) Your best bet would be a good On Board Marine Charger with today's "Smart Charge" technology.

I'm sort of a NAZI regarding any direct battery wire connections.
I prefer to see only Cable connections being made at our battery banks.
For any "Un-Interruptible" connections, the rear of your MBSS (main battery selector switch) @ terminals #1 or #2, is a near perfect location for these...... keeping the Rat's Nest from our batteries, and avoids small terminal battery corrosion.


Back to fogging for a minute:
NOTE: Most carbureted V-8's use a dual plane intake manifold. Both planes must receive an equal amount of fogging in order to protect all cylinders.

This may not be for all, but I remove my sea water pump impellers and do my fogging during my very last "Dry Start" of only 15 seconds...... (8-10 seconds of which is fogging)!
At the same time, this rids my exhaust system of any potential remaining water.


Edit: I agree with Diver Dave...... I'd rather have a few low and/or dead batteries, than a boat that sank.
You can also connect an alarm in with your manual helm switch lead! This pump lead is schematially the same as what the main pump float switch powers when activated.
Place a note on your boat with phone numbers for both the marina staff and YOU.
Should an alarm be heard, you'll hopefuly get a phone call.

​

 

[makomark]

As far as the solar panel being adequate, it depends. I'm sure you can find one with an adequate rating, the question is can you afford it.

What you need to ascertain are the battery(ies) amp-hour capacity(ies) and the 'normal' amount of energy you consume on your typical trip. Your schedule/frequency will also factor in - if you use the boat til sunset and you want it charged by 0600 the following morning, you'll need an AC based charger.

bottom line is none of us can get you a definite answer on this one without a lot more specifics.