Power use and saildrive oil

[MCBav42]

Hello all,

I'm an amateur so apologies for the stupid questions.

1. My battery monitor always shows usage of -0.1 even when battery switches are off.  Is this usual?

2. Saildrive oil is slightly milky. I know this means the seal needs replacing but I can't get a service booking for another couple of months. Will it cause long-term damage if I'm only using it for short periods? (at most 2 hours at a time and I always check and top up if needed before each use).

3. Lastly, what's the purpose of the strange hinged step in front of the companionway?! (photo) 

Many thanks.
Marcus

[symphony2]

There may be something connected direct to the battery that is causing that very small power drain.
Would not worry about using the saildrive for a short period.
The are underneath the lift up section is for stowing the tails of the halyards to save cluttering up the area around the clutches and winches.

[Yngmar]

Might just be the battery monitor needs calibrating (setting to zero). Also the battery monitor itself of course also uses power so it may be accurately showing that!

Saildrive will suffer increased wear, especially on the shaft and eventual corrosion, so it's not something to leave for too long, but you should get away with a few hours of use if it's just slightly milky. Not great for it though.

The step is for stepping on! It's hinged so you can clean under it where dirt collects.

[nightowle]

You might want to consider doing an oil change on the sail drive yourself in the meantime.  It's not difficult and can be done while the vessel is in the water. You can remove most of the milky oil from the top end with an oil change suction container device.  Then simply replace the proper viscosity oil checking the dipstick for proper fill.  There are Youtube videos to follow on similar saildrive models to follow.  At least you'd be running cleaner oil until a professional can help with the root problem.

[MCBav42]

Thank you all for the advice. Very much appreciated.

[sunshine]

The are underneath the lift up section is for stowing the tails of the halyards to save cluttering up the area around the clutches and winches.

This is correct in theory. Does anyone actually use it for this? With a reef in the main, the halyard tail is too long to fit in there. Mainsheet similar if beating with the boom hard in. Its a good idea, just wondered if anyone actually makes it work?