Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Greetings,
Little background first. When I bought the boat used last year(Ranger 690T), he had a new starting battery just installed. After about the 4th outing I installed a new 3 bank charger(dual pro pro series) as the starting bank on old one failed. Then, I started to notice my starting battery would be fairly drawn down after a week or so of sitting and not being plugged in. Well, by May(bought the boat in March) the starting batery was shot, even after staying on top of charging it, etc. I got a new starting battery(Trojan from Gander, under warranty), and all has been well until a few days ago an hour before a guide trip....DOGGHH!! The starting battery was dead dead, wouldn't take a charge with the 3 bank, or my portable charger. I quickly took the starting battery from my other rig, and swapped them out, and where I stand now.
Now, I know that my Lowrance puck will draw while in storage, but I turn this off with the main breaker switch every day. I do have an aftermarket stereo installed but memory is only draw(not unlike car radio). Also, with the breaker off, I can leave the boat sit for a couple weeks and it doesn't seem to draw much. If I leave the breaker on, the battery will become drawn after a week or so. My other boat has the same Lowrance puck, and I can leave it sit for over a month, and it doesn't need charging. In fact, I only have a 2 bank charger in that boat for my trolling motor batteries and rarely charge the starter, as my alternator seems to keep it charged pretty well. Will a puck draw more power if it needs to search for sattelites harder?
I think the battery was another lemon, but something tells me something else could be up. With the new battery in now, the charger shows red lights for a spell, then goes to green like it should, or charge a bit longer if a long day using electronics or radio had ensued. With the last battery(the trojan), even after a day oif trolling, the battery would take an innordinate amount of time to come to full charge, and quite often some red lights would still be on the next morning, which is unusual with a 15 amp charger, and an outboard pumping 25 amps.
I am perplexed by this. I plan to take my battery back tommorrow, and get a new one, but am wondering what else this could be... I wonder how to find out if there is a current draw from something else unknown. I don't see any sparking of lead wires when I hook them up, unless I have the breaker on, or key for outboard partly on. Speaking of key partly on. Should my outboard draw the battery down with the key accidentily in the accessory on position? Sorry for the long explanation, but this one has me stumped.
Edited by Reef Hawg 9/1/2008 1:11 PM
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