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Posts: 21
| My Humminbird 959 is hooked up to the starter battery and a couple times after running the Humminbird for a couple hours, the started battery has drained to the point where my 150 hp E-Tech will not start. I had the battery checked and they said it was OK, only 1 yr. old. Can a depth finder drain the battery that much???  |
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Posts: 1087
Location: Hayward, WI | How many CCA is your battery? You should have a minimum of 800 CCA. |
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Posts: 229
| I know that in the past on some of my Lowrance units I had to install a switch on the GPS puck or it would have a low level power draw(even with locator/GPS off) that could eventually drain the battery.
Sometimes when I fish for many hours... Like 12 or more a day without using the big motor to run much and recharge battery- I can end up with a low battery that won't start the big motor. But that is after a few days of heavy use(multiple locators, lights, etc.) and little or no running. |
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Posts: 752
| Musky Pete - 10/28/2016 12:34 PM
My Humminbird 959 is hooked up to the starter battery and a couple times after running the Humminbird for a couple hours, the started battery has drained to the point where my 150 hp E-Tech will not start. I had the battery checked and they said it was OK, only 1 yr. old. Can a depth finder drain the battery that much??? :(
If you have an appropriately sized battery for your boat you should be able to run a couple of units all day with out compromising your battery. In late fall when its cold and your batteries take more of a beating its never a bad idea to fire the engine up for 10 minutes every now and then if you are not making long runs from spot to spot. A good friend just had a one year old starting battery crap out in his boat yesterday, it happens. I had a mechanic friend explain it it to me like this once; "batteries are a crap shoot. Sometimes you get a good one, sometimes a bad one. Regardless of price there is not much you can do to prevent getting a bad one"... |
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Posts: 229
| You need to figure out everything that is hooked up. Could be a number of things. Might even be the ETEC.
Did you recently change something and start having this problem? Then that would point in the direction of the recent change. |
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| I'm wondering if you charge the cranking battery when you put the boat in the garage after a day on the lake. Your motor may not be fully charging it just by driving it around, so you may NOT be starting the day off with a fully-charged battery. My cranking battery used to be fully re-charged by the motor when I just had one 5" B&W fish finder, but now with two fairly large color/GPS units it's not enough, even with lots of trolling around. So I bought an extra charger just to do the cranking battery... no more problems. |
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Posts: 76
| I had exactly the same problem. One year old battery that didn't cut the mustard. Did my research and discovered that my battery was the minimum for my setup that had been recommended by a marine dealer. So I upgraded my battery and no further problems have occurred. |
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Posts: 240
Location: Oconomowc, WI | One thing to consider is how it's hooked up to the battery. I did all the wiring in my boat and had one lead that went to my dash and I ran everything off of that. However I didn't use a large enough gauge wire and my new Lowrance would drain the battery quickly. I ended up giving the lowrance its own leads to the battery and solved the problem. |
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Posts: 1291
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | Over the past near 20 years, most of my batteries have lasted 8 years!! KEY was charging them EVERYTIME I got off the water, no matter how much they were used. And I never bought the high priced batteries either! |
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Posts: 668
Location: mercer wi | Charge after every use is a great idea if you can. I also put a power disconnect on my battery and turn it off if my boat sits for a week. |
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Posts: 228
Location: Tinley Park, IL | I was told I didn't need an on-board charger for my cranking battery. But after running my battery down in tournaments from running an aerator most of the day, I picked up a portable charger. I top it off whenever I get home. Gives me piece of mind.
I was told by a couple knowledgeable boaters that running the boat at idle hardly puts any charge back in the battery. |
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Posts: 1144
Location: Minnesota. | Pete, after you get your issue solved buy a set of smaller marine jumper cables just in case you need to use them.
I did b/c I'm a worry-wart when I began using two HDS units all day long. Not had to use it yet but it's in the boat.
For ex.:
http://adrenalineworld.com/yuasa-jumper-cables-8-yua00acc07/?gclid=... |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I've been running 3 HDS units off my starting battery all season. My dealer told me that my E-Tec will keep the battery charged and no onboard charger was necessary. Worked great all season, however on my last trip in October I fished an area for about 4 hours without starting the outboard. The battery drained enough that the motor would not start. I keep a set of jumper cables in the boat for this reason. Quick jump start, a lap around the lake at WOT, and the battery was good the remainder of the weekend. At this point, I still believe my dealer in that an additional charger for the cranking battery is not necessary.
Good luck with your rig. |
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Posts: 228
| I disagree with your dealer. I always have a bank of my battery charger used for the starting battery. I have a 24 Volt trolling motor so I have a 3 bank charger!
Bob |
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Posts: 612
| Cold Cranking AMPS (CCA) is the maximum amperes that can be continuously removed from a battery for 30 seconds at 0°F before its voltage drops to 1.2 volts per cell (7.2 volts for a 12 volt battery).A 550 CCA battery can supply 550 amperes for 30 seconds at 0°F. This rating is only useful in the selection of engine starting batteries only.
The necessary CCA for a giving outboard changes with HP and even vendor. Consult your owner’s manual to see the minimum and make sure you exceed this by > x2, typically at least 550 amps will be needed depending on the size of the motor.
Run only minor low current assosories off the main engine starting battery. It’s highly recommended to run all accessories off the trolling motor battery if possible (leaving the stating battery for stating only) to avoid low voltage issues. Particularly in the cooler weather when batteries tend to hold less charge.
Charge both the starting and the trolling motor battery separately after each outing. As was mentioned this does not mean running the lake for a few miles in high throttle performing a quick charge, not a full charge.
BTW if needed I’ve had great luck with Interstates 29 and 31 series: they last long hold charge and are reasonably priced.
Good luck
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | I run interstates. Have had good success for many years with them.
I've always had a 24V system so a 3 bank onboard worked well to charge my Trolling Motor batteries and Cranking Battery on those boats. Based on that experience is why I questioned my dealer when my new boat with a 36V System only had a 3-bank onboard charger, which obviously only charged the TM batteries. This reputable dealer rigs many boats, so I trusted their input and did not add another charger for the cranking battery.
Does my one experience of running the cranking battery down too low to start the outboard discredit my dealer? I don't think so considering the circumstances. My boat sat on the trailer for 5 days before I arrived, I did not run the outboard much before setting up camp on a spot for an extended period of time during cold weather. Once I started running the boat after that... nary a problem. Time will tell if a change is needed to my set up... but for now I'll be going to the lake with confidence until another failure occurs.
I'm interested in this thread, however, and would like to know If my dealer is in the minority or if others are rigging their boat like mine with no onboard charger for their cranking battery. If it matters, I have a 225HP E-Tec. |
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Posts: 612
| I would suspect that you would best have a charger for each individual battery "like your older setup, with a 24v trolling motor using 2 batteries and 1 starting battery totaling 3 batteries and 3 dedicated chargers". This way it's a sure bet. BTW I'm not sure about the starting requirements for that motor but it should be in the manual or possible available on line. It really varies from motor to motor.
Edited by NPike 11/4/2016 7:52 AM
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Location: Contrarian Island | as others have said, I would always keep a charger on all batteries between outings... |
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Posts: 228
| Why take a chance? Someday you will be out in your boat and it will not start. To top that off, you have been using the trolling motor all day and now there is not enough power in them to jump start your big motor!!! |
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Posts: 612
| One shouldn't rely on jump starting the gas motor with the trolling motors deep cycle battery after it has been used to run the trolling motor for some time. This battery may be discharged below the 12 Vdc level needed to start most electric start gas out outboard motors.
Trolling motors are made to continue running even below 11 Vdc. This is why they use deep cycle batteries, they can be deeply discharged and fully recover upon a recharge. |
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Location: Eagle Lake Vermilion Bay, Ontario | running big tillers with hydro pumps and lots of accs i have run into probs before also. but it will be the same with any type of boat just worse or most noticable with any mtr like verados which use pumps ( even at trolling speeds under 1500 rpms will draw the batts down by days end as the alternator will not charge good till over 1000-1500 rpms)and any big tillers with the steering pumps.the starting batt should have ONLY the mtr on it. the accs should be on a sep batt and trolling mtr should be on thier own batts. accs batt should be deep cycle and the biggest you can fit. this means a 3 bank charger for 24v and 4 bank for 36 v.
12" big screens can draw up to 13 amps per hr so ya they can drain a starting non deep cycle batt down thru the day unless you are doing alot of long runs inbetween spots.
good luck it can be aggravating but it is solveable.
herbie |
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Dead Battery