Newbie Question - Beeping when turning Battery off

[mmacdona]

First time boater, just purchased a 2005 Tournament 185 for the family. Hoping the forum can answer a couple of newbie questions.

The dealer advised to turn the battery selector switch to "Both" when starting the boat. I'm reading that's not correct, I should be alternating between battery 1 and 2, correct?

There are 3 beeps when I turn the battery selector to Off. What does that indicate?

All my instrument panel switches appear to not be working. Horn, wiper, etc. Although they did initially. Should I hit the red reset button on the breaker? Is that the first place to start?

Sorry - these might be obvious to some....just trying to figure things out.

Thanks!

 

[Doc Stressor]

You are correct. Don't run the engine with the switch in the "both" position unless you have a situation where either battery is not strong enough to start the engine by itself. Alternate the batteries when starting. That way if you have a battery that is going bad, you'll know about it. A battery isolator or an ACR will prevent a bad battery from discharging a good one.

As for the beeps, where are they coming from? You should have your ignition switch turned off before turning off the battery switch.