Mega 360 power draw?

[mossie3]

Manual says to connect power through a switch. I'd rather not have to mount a switch around the bow. I have a master switch that I cut all power off when off the water. The max draw spec says .5 amp. Does the mega 360 still draw power when not in the water?

[SLYDoggie]

The Mega Live & Mega 360 installation manuals both state to add a switch. Even when out of the water, the Mega Live and Mega 360 are "watching" for the wet switch to be activated, so they always use a small amount of power that can drain the battery over time.

This can be a whole boat switch or an individual switch. Personally, I prefer individual switches because you can turn them off and on again without shutting everything down. This has come in very handy for me on a few occasions when Mega Live or Mega 360 has become "confused." A simple off and back on of the device can sometimes fix the problem without having to reboot everything.

There are a large number of toggle switch or latching switch choices on this, and that is a personal preference of the user. I personally use an Apiele LED Latching Switch from Amazon, and it works great.

[Amistad Tackle]

I recently forgot to turn off my master and the 360 and Live kept running. The live was hot when I went back out to unplug the battery charger 10 hours later. A separate switch on the power line wouldn't hurt anything. Solder it into the line. Other time I wondered about another switch is when scanning for hours from the console and the Live and 360 are on and baking in the sun (been over 100 here for weeks) because the master is on to run the console unit. Not sure what kind of heat they can take, but having them off wouldn't hurt. The Live really does get hot.

[Pelican]

I recently forgot to turn off my master and the 360 and Live kept running. The live was hot when I went back out to unplug the battery charger 10 hours later. A separate switch on the power line wouldn't hurt anything. Solder it into the line. Other time I wondered about another switch is when scanning for hours from the console and the Live and 360 are on and baking in the sun (been over 100 here for weeks) because the master is on to run the console unit. Not sure what kind of heat they can take, but having them off wouldn't hurt. The Live really does get hot.

I noticed over the weekend that Live uses almost as much power out of the water as when it’s in the water. Not a big draw either way but surprising.