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Posts: 50
| Last year I bought a new 2011 tuffy esox mag. In Ontario that year on day #4 my starting battery was dead. After a recharge, the same would happen 3 or 4 days later. Went back to the dealer and they replaced the battery. Just got back from Ontario and again the same has happened. I have done some troubleshooting and the outboard is charging the battery. I have been told that my humminbird locators (998 & 788) draw a bunch of current. I find this hard to believe. Anyone else out there have a voltage issue like this from running the newer electronics.
thanks
brian |
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Posts: 68
| i have an x-190 with 2 humminbirds, i've never had a cranking battery issue. are you turning off the master switch after you get finished with the boat? i don't know if that would matter or not if you have everything shut down anyway. sounds like it's going somewhere though. let us know what it is when you figure it out.
Edited by Dave F 8/24/2012 8:05 PM
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Posts: 50
| Yes, the master switch is turned off each nite and the only time it is on is when we are fishing/using the locators. I don't see much of a voltage drop when the boat is stored in the garage. I would say I loose maybe a hundreth of a volt each day when the boat is just sitting in the garage with everything off. The marine told me that guys are starting to run a 3 bank charger for the starting battery. I found this hard to believe. |
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Posts: 68
| hopefully somebody smarter than me will chime in here. i don't suppose the replacement battery is also defective? |
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Posts: 5874
| secretbuck - 8/24/2012 8:06 PM
Yes, the master switch is turned off each nite and the only time it is on is when we are fishing/using the locators. I don't see much of a voltage drop when the boat is stored in the garage. I would say I loose maybe a hundreth of a volt each day when the boat is just sitting in the garage with everything off. The marine told me that guys are starting to run a 3 bank charger for the starting battery. I found this hard to believe.
I've run a 3 bank charger since 99, and know lots of guys that have run on board chargers for their cranking battery. So this is nothing new.
I had one problem with my cranking battery, and that was when the charger took a dump just before a tourney, and I didn't know it. I made it most of the day, and then no start on big motor. Bummer.
A couple things. What size/make cranking battery do you have?
Hbirds go off with the master power?
How about the GPS puck? Lowrance pucks are powered, and need to be on a switched circuit.
What else are you running? |
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Posts: 50
| battery is Northern premium marine series, model 24 M-HD, marine crank 725. Last nite I took a voltage reading (with everything turned off) and I just took another voltage reading. In 14 hours, the voltage dropped 8 hundreths of a volt. That seems to me too much. My birds are run off of 2 switches. A master then 2 others switches. The gps puck is powered up thru the locater, thus the 2 switches need to be on. As far as other running equipment, for the most part none. Once in a while if I fish late, the lights will be run or if it rains, the bilge. |
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Posts: 5874
| What motor? I'll assume it's not a direct injected, so there should not be any drain from an ECU. .08 volts isn't much, but if you have something draining your battery, over time, it will go dead. I would try to determine what is the drain. Get a multimeter, and connect in series with the Pos bat lead to measure and record any current. one by one, disconnect all your loads, and record your current. You should eventually find the one that is draining your battery. |
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Location: Hayward WI | I would say that the outboard isn't running long enough to charge up the starter battery. I've had that issue when I fish spots for hours, then a short boat ride to another area and fish another couple of hours. Never enough so that the battery is dead, but could see the volt drop. I've got a 997 on the console and a seperate gps and graph on the bow. This year I added a seperate 5amp auto charger just for the starter.
When on the long trips, I would make sure you charge the starter every day and I bet you won't have anymore issues. |
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Posts: 373
Location: Maine Township, MN | Shep - 8/27/2012 9:05 AM
Get a multimeter, and connect in series with the Pos bat lead to measure and record any current. one by one, disconnect all your loads, and record your current. You should eventually find the one that is draining your battery.
Yep. |
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Posts: 50
| As far as long boat rides. The battery has failed me when up for a week in canada. Up there we put on quite a few miles. For instance this year I put on just short 270 miles in a week. I would sure think that these runs would keep a battery charged. It always did before when I had my 2003 esox mag. The motor is a 2011 yamaha 60hp tiller. I did check and the voltage when running is over 14 volts (so it is charging). |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | It's possible you have a problem with your alternator? |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | I agree w/Shep. 0.08V isn't much drop in a 14 hr period. You probably have a cracked inter-cell weld inside of the battery. This can cause exactly the symptoms you describe- random dead battery syndrome- not able to start the boat motor. yet voltage looks OK. A little vibration is all it takes to make or break the connection. It may run the electronics just fine, then not start the motor. The battery in a boat can go through some pretty high shock levels in traveling to & from your fishing hole's, there are no shock absorber's on boat trailers.
Take the battery into a battery shop and ask them to do a cold cranking amps (CCA) test on the battery. Be sure to tell them you suspect a cracked inter-cell weld so they can take appropriate safety precautions. It could explode if it was recently recharged. If its a wet-cell they will probably remove the vent caps to allow any accumulated hydrogen gas to escape.
If that's not the problem, it could also be a intermittent fault in the wiring - much harder to find.
Good luck!
Al |
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starting battery voltage drop - humminbirds??