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| I have the regular (car battery) size battery for my 12 volt 50 lb powerdrive and it only lasts about 2 hours on the water. It is a nautilus deep cycle battery. (getting all around since i can't use an outboard on the lake) I figured it was shot (even though only 1 year old) and bought a new battery which is the bigger size everstart deep cycle trolling battery. Hopefully this new batter will be better. I use a 10 amp trickle charger to chage the batteries. How long should the battery actually last? |
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| Zach,
I can't tell you for sure how long it should last, but it's definitely longer than 2 hours. I have 50lb thrust MinnKota with 2 deep cycle batteries in series. I can literally get about 2 1/2 days use out of the combo.
Be sure your charger supports the "trickle" charging so that it won't overcharge the battery if you leave it plugged in.
MossFrog |
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| I bought a new 12 volt battery and it hasn't shown a sign of wear yet, so I guess exide nautilus deep clycle batteries just plain suck. They only have a 90 day replacement as well. My new everstart has a 12 month and 13-24 month low price deal or something. |
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| Zach, you may want to check the posts on your old battery for any corrosion. If they are corroded many times the charger will not deliver a full charge, grab a wire brush and clean them off and you will be fine. |
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| Absolutely no corrosion. I just can't believe a company can get away with calling that thing a 12 volt battery. May as well use a motorcycle battery. Would last longer. |
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| Schuler, get a good battery. My starting battery is original from 1999 and I am on my third season for my trolling motor battery. It must weigh 80lbs. Honking huge rating. Another thing. Where is the battery in relation to the motor? Up front? In the back? If it's far you may need bigger wire running from the battery to the motor. I recomend no smaller than 6 guage although I ran 4 guage. |
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| Just wanted to add a question to this previous post.
How can you tell what % of charge your battery is taking. I have a dual bank charger with 2 new battery for trolling motor and had it charging for a couple days. I got out on the water and the trolling motor batteries only lasted half a day. I also am having trouble with my starting battery. Don't know if it holding a charge. I thought it was fully charged, and when I went to start it, the battery was dead. I have 2 batteries in the back of the boat- one for starting only, the other for all bilge/live well/lights, etc. I have 2 batteries for trolling motor up front. Should I run the back (starter/etc) in series? Running 4 batteries I never thought I would have a problem, but that seems not to be the case lately.
Thanks
Doc |
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| Make sure you check the water level in your batteries often. They litterally boil on charge at times and can burn off a lot of their water. If you battery ever goes below full the exposed portion of the core will never hold a charge again. |
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| Doc - two ways to check the charge. One, they make a tester that works like the tester for your car's anti-freeze. You squeeze battery water in it and read where the needle goes. (flush it out good after each use with clean water or the bulb will rot). Auto parts stores have them. I think Radio Shack also makes one you clip onto your terminals that reads the % charge. Hope that helps, m[:bigsmile:] |
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| Mikie,
If I remember right you were running a Johnson/Evinrude electric. I had one of these and it would suck down 2 batteries in 2 hours or less. I hate to say it, but check out the sales and bite the bullet and get a 24 volt (not 12/24) trolling motor. Your boat is too heavy to get any amount of life out of a 12V system.
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| Walmart....Energizer deep cycle....get the biggest one....I have 2 that are on their 4th season and still going strong....good price too.
Keep your hooks sharp. |
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| The tester is called a hydrometer. It measures specific gravity of the electrolite. Also, a fully charged battery should measure 12.7 volts. |
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| Make sure you take them out of your boat and store them on a board. Do not put them on the cement in your basement. With a nice trickle charge and they will be ready for you in the spring. |
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| Haa,haa - Jason- Nice urban legend. That was true when batteries had wooden cases. There is one killer of batteries-> charging abuse by the owner. Charging abuse falls into two general catagories:
1.) Undercharging! Either not charging it for enough time to reach full charge (a "smart charger" with automatic shutoff or float cycle will solve this problem) or not recharging the battery immediately when you get home or back to the dock. Its not good to leave a battery set for days in a discharge condition. It causes the battery to lose capacity. (You are the solution to this problem)
2.) Overcharging! Overcharging can kill the battery much quicker. This falls into some basic sub-catagories.
a. Do you use a standard 10-15A automotive type charger and leave it connected for days? Then you're cooking your batteries- A deep cycle battery and 10A charger use should be recharged from a full discharge in ~ 24 hours or less
b. This one is a little more insidious- over charging the battery when ambient temperatures are high. Batteries are designed for an 77 degree Fahrenheit environment. They don't tolerate overcharging in a high ambient environment. Do you recharge your batteries when it's 85-100 degres F. outside or with sun beating down on the boat? (A "smart charger" with temperature compensation will solve this probelm) .
Smart chargers cost money- most times more than you may have paid for the battery- There is another solution- get yourself a battery state of charge meter or a cheap digital voltmeter from Rasio shack or where ever, just make sure it will read 4 digits when set to a 20 volt scale (12.70 not- just 12.7) They should be able to show you at the store before you purchase it. I prefer the digital voltmeter because I can use it to troubleshoot electrical problems in the boat, boat trailer or the truck. Here's a little chart you can use to determine the battery state of charge.
State
of Charge 12 Volt battery Volts per Cell
100% 12.70 2.12
90% 12.50 2.08
80% 12.42 2.07
70% 12.32 2.05
60% 12.20 2.03
50% 12.06 2.01
40% 11.90 1.98
30% 11.75 1.96
20% 11.58 1.93
10% 11.31 1.89
0 10.50 1.75
Measure the battery voltage before you turn on the charger. This will tell you what the battery state of charge actually is, i.e., how much power you've taken out. If the state of charge is 40%, you've taken out 60% of the battery's available energy. That also means that you can approximate how long it's going to take to recharge the battery. If it's takes 24Hrs to fully recharge it with a 10A charger it will take 24 x.6 = ~ 14.4Hrs to recharge it. Do not discharge your battery below 10.5 volts![:knockout:]
I wrote an article for Muskies Inc. late last year on this same subject(“Most batteries don’t just die, they’re usually murdered!”). Maybe I'll go dredge it out of the archives and knock the dust off of it and send it in for the articles section. Much to complex to delve into in depth here. There was also an very good article in Infisherman magazine. The only thing I disagreed with was a statement about "smart chargers" , it went something like "connect it and forget it". Really bad advice if the boat is going to be setting for more than a couple days.
Al Warner
www.spongebobwasseenatthenorthpole.com [:0] |
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| Here's the chart in a little nicer format.
Al Warner
www.spongebobissnowboundatthenorthpol.com[:((] |
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| I just finished up hooking up the charger to my batteries as it has been a month since they were used. It was recommneded to recharge them once a month during the winter by a battery expert.(They lose 1% per day but less if stored in the cold). |
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