Batteries

[Smcdermott]

Today on the water one of my batteries quit on me. It still had enough juice to run the electronics but wouldn't turn the motor over. The volatge meter usually reads 14.4V but was only reading about 12.6. Same issue occured after a good twenty minute run. I am going to have the batteries tested to make sure it is not another issue but my guess is I will need to replace them. (Battery two worked fine but my understanding is I really should replace in pairs) Any suggestions as to quality and price? Minimum standars according to my owners manual are CCA of 512A, MCA of 675A and RC of 182min. My thoughts are I really should get something more beefy say CCA of 1000A or so.

Thanks,

Sean

[Slinger]

Somethings not right there, that boats not a year old. Batteries should last a lot longer than that. I ran my old tin on a pair of batteries for 4 yrs and they were old when I got it.
Slinger

[lemaymiami]

I don't subscribe to the "replace both batts" when one dies proposition. I'd just replace the bad one... At the same time you replace that battery I'd want to do (or have done) a very thorough trace of all your primary and secondary circuits to see exactly what killed that starting batt. I'd be looking for either a bad ground that was preventing a proper charging of the battery or a drain somewhere that was running it down during the many days that boats sit between uses. Hope this helps. I'm operating from the assumption that the number two battery is kept isolated (shut off) except when needed. That would account for it still being in good shape.

[Smcdermott]

Slinger,

My guess is that the batteries are two to three years old and that they were not cared for in the best manner. I bought the boat as a leftover in '05 but it is an '04 boat. How many dealers do you think actually pull the batteries and put a charge on them. Especially since I know the boat travelled to a few fly shows and what not during that timeframe. I am going to call the dealer to see what they will do for me but I'm not a big fan of having to tow it up there right now.

Bob,

The batteries are on a Perko switch so they are always used independently and I generally switch each outing. Wouldn't both batteries have an issue if there was a bad ground somewhere? I have been running the boat for weeks now and put 260 hours on it last season. I'm just surprised this would show up now if it was something other than a bad battery.

Sean

[DaleH]

FWIW I've had great luck with the dual-pupose combo deep-cycle/starting batteries that Boater's World sells, believe they are Exide brands.

Best advise: Buy a battery made within the past few months. Keep them clean, topped off (with distilled water) and charged. Many people allow the electrolyte level to drop below a plate and that causes the plate to sulfate and once it sulfates, it cannot recover - if the battery went to 90% due to sulfation, it will never get past 90% again.

I keep a small 16-ounce bottle of distilled water on board and make sure to top them off during the heat of the summer, say late July to August. Note - you need to allow the water to be absorbed into the electrolyte before charging so I'll do this at the end of a weekend, but only to one battery at a time.

Like others, I stagger the replacement of my batteries so I always have a newer one on board. And I run battery #1 on odd days of the week and #2 on the even days, helps to somewhat equalize their usage. When charging (@ start, mid, or end of season) note that for the most accurate results, you need to let the battery to sit for a few days to allow the surface charge to dissipate. I see too many people say "Geeezz, it read 12.6/12.7 the other day when charged, but now it won't crank the motor."

In regards to capacity, I'd go by whatever your OB needs, like 2-stroke OBs up to V6 needs a good quality G24. Some newer motors need more amps to power the ECM (computer) as if the starting voltage drops below 10 volts when cranking ... they won't fire ...

[Smcdermott]

Well, looks like I may have jumped to conclusions as I had the battery tested at WM today and it passed with flying colors. Kind of wish it had been the battery. I just gave all the contacts a good cleaning and applied electrical grease to all the connections this spring but I am going to give it another once over and go from there.

Sean

[DaleH]

Sean:

What HP, type, and year OB? How old are the battery CABLES going from the OB to the battery? Do you have a BATTERY switch, if so, how old?

Reasoning ... old cables with any corrosion in them will build up resistance. Also, I've even seen battery switches "go bad". Best bet now, to be sure, would be to get a multimeter and do a resistance check on the cables and then the connected poles of the b-switch (common to #1 and common to #2). The resistance values should be minimal on all.

[Smcdermott]

Dale,

Boat is only a season old. It is an '04 Yamaha F150 that was bought as a new leftover last year. The battery switch is the Perko 8501 that has the "1", "All", "2" setup.

Sean

[DaleH]

Wow ... now I'm stunned ...

[Smcdermott]

Wow ... now I'm stunned ...


Can't say I am happy about this. Just glad battery "1" worked so we could get home.

Sean

[CaptSuperfly]

Did you try tightening the terminals first? It's often the simple things. Most of the time, when I've had sudden battery issues on the water, after a moment of panic, and assuming critical failure, I take my pliars and give the wing nuts on the terminals a good tighten. Sometimes, after a real pounding and if the battery strap wasn't real tight, they'll losen up. It doesn't take much play to make a difference.

More than once I've come across people who've flagged me down because their battery was "dead" and a quick tighten of the terminal nuts got them going again.

Obviously, now that you've had it out to get it checked, you'll re-rig it and tighten them again. Have you tried cranking it again?

good luck.

[Smcdermott]

Capt,

I haven't gotten them back in again with this weather but hoping for some clear skies over the next few days to get back in there and clean the terminals and re-install. When I removed the batteries all the leads seemed flush and tight but I will pay special attention to it when I install. Hoping to get out on Saturday so I will get at it first chance I get and let you know how I make out.

Sean

[DaleH]

... give the wing nuts on the terminals a good tighten ...
This would be the time to THROW AWAY any wing-nuts on the battery. If loosened, they cannot only prevent starting but can damage your voltage system, i.e., pull down your rectifier or stator or other expensive OB part.

Good call Capt ... but THROW away your wing-nuts and replace them with Nylok fasteners.

[FireFly]

So why can't I find Nylok wing nuts? Do they make them?

2 years ago I had the dreaded battery problem and it turned out to be corrosion build up.

This would be the time to THROW AWAY any wing-nuts on the battery. If loosened, they cannot only prevent starting but can damage your voltage system, i.e., pull down your rectifier or stator or other expensive OB part.

Good call Capt ... but THROW away your wing-nuts and replace them with Nylok fasteners.

[moxie]

Don't forget the DIA-LECTRIC grease. I use internal star locks on my
terminals, never had them loosen up.
MOXIE

[lemaymiami]

Here's why I originally said to check all primary and secondary circuits... Although you've got common circuits between motor and both batts, there are a few that only come into play when one battery or the other is in use, particularly the primary from the battery switch to each battery. The advice given to toss out the wing nuts is right on the money. Replace them with standard stainless lock nuts, tighten properly with wrench and your battery connections will never again be an issue. Wing nuts just loosen over time from vibration (ask me how I know...), they'll appear secure when they're just not tight enough to guarantee that solid connection.

As far as secondary circuits, it's possible to have a slight drain somewhere that would run down whatever battery is hooked into the circuit.... If you commonly store your rig with one battery still on line (the same one all the time for most of us) that's the batt that would fail first since it's just not holding enough juice. A quick check to see if you've got a drain somewhere is to shut everything off, then loosen and remove the ground on the battery that's still on line. If you notice a spark when re-attaching the ground (it helps to be in low light conditions) something's using power somewhere... Two choices here, check circuit by circuit for the drain, or make a practice of leaving your battery switch off whenever the rig's on the trailer. The first choice is the one to take if possible. Good luck, post your results if you can, this type of problem is a common one.

[FireFly]

Good advice. My problem is I have a Carbon Monoxide detector which is wired directly to the battery and it's always on.

[Smcdermott]

I always leave the battery switch off when the boat is parked as its in my driveway on a trailer. My understanding was that I don't want any draw on the batteries which not only preserves them but also helps prevent corrosion on things like the GPS hookup etc...I did have one wing nut on battery "2" but it was on the negative terminal which is hooked up via a slave cable running back to battery "1". It was pretty tight when I removed it. I am going to stop and get the second battery tested on the way home tonight and pick up some stainless nylock nuts for the re-install. I also had the connections well lubed with the Di-electric grease. Hopefully it was just a loose connection as I am headed to Mexico on Sunday and don't really have a ton of time to devote to this.

Sean

[TC23]

#1 I agree with the ban the wing nut crowd, I use hex nuts with star washers underneath.
#2 I assume you have give the battery a full charge and then load tested it. Bought a load tester 3 years ago, best money I ever spent. If the battery passes all that then I would think you have a short somewhere in the system that is draining the battery down. Happy hunting --126-3-

[Smcdermott]

Well, I re-installed the batteries tonight and everything is working fine. It did not appear that there is a draw on the batteries with the switch off as there was no spark when connecting the ground leads. The second battery also tested fine. I got the nylock nuts and used them instead of the standard nuts I had. I am guessing that I just drew the battery down too much with the constant starting and stopping we were doing while fishing the flats or there was a loose connection. I am leaning toward the loose connection as when I went to put a charge on them after pulling them both showed as fully charged. Thanks for all your help guys. Hopefully this issue doesn't rear its ugly head again.

Sean