Leave instruments always on or turn off when not in use?

[mikedefieslife]

Commercial vessels run on AC so their generators are also on all the time.

[Watermann]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

Commercial vessels run on AC so their generators are also on all the time.

Well yes, but if the debate is over the life of the electronics themselves, the point I was making is that in my experience, the life hasn't been abysmally short. There are thousands and thousands of hours on our GPS receivers and AIS neither of which have ever been shut down as a matter of routine as far as I'm aware. The AIS keeps a record of power ups and downs. The last recorded one was in 2014, probably during the shipyard period. I suspect moisture, corrosion and temperature flucations are far greater factors in life than simply being on. Granted, our electronics are in a reasonably stable atmosphere when compared to the deck or cockpit of a pleasure boat.

We don't have super exotic stuff. The GPS units are Furuno GP-150, AIS is Furuno FA-150, Simrad AP50 autopilot, etc. Nice equipment but hardly groundbreaking or super battle hardened.

Also, except for our radars which are on the 120 VAC buss, the bridge electronics are all run off a 24 VDC battery bank with continuous charging input.

Obviously, if power consumption is a concern, as it is on smaller vessels, your reasons for keeping electronics on or off are going to be different.

On my personal boat, the GPS receiver, depth sounder and wind/WX instruments stay on 24/7. These are relatively low draw devices. Been they way for over five years now with no issues.