Battery Charger Problems...and Report!

Was a cool morning unloading the boat right after daylight but had the hunting clothes still in the truck so I was prepared. In the 30's this morning! Made it to my fishing spot in a few minutes after unloading and getting dressed and got lines in the water around 7:30AM.

Found the bite had slowed ALOT! Still picking up a good fish every now and again though so it was enough to keep me there. Trolled for approx. 2 hours before the 3 mph forecasted wind started....but it got more like 15 mph winds!:mad: Cant they EVER get it right?!?

Anyways, still trolling come 10AM and noticed the remote said I was running on #6 to stay at .9 mph. Hmmm..

Wasn't much longer before 6.5....then 7....then 7.5....then the remote went out and I was "in the dark". Knowing the outcome to this since Ive been there before I rolled 'em in and called it a morning at 10:30AM. Wanted to fish but that's how it goes sometimes.:dono

This afternoon I did everything I could do finding the problem. I have a Pro Mariner 3-bank Pro20Plus charger and it has worked flawlessly...until recently. found out today that one bak is DEAD....and it was on one of my trolling batteries. Took the leads off the cranking battery and switched them to the trolling batters and now they will charge. I'm hoping the motor keeps the cranking battery charged. (I know it will as it's a brand new battery and there's only the bilge pumps for the livewells is all I'm running off it. 'Course the running lights are on it too...but I aint night fishing anymore so that shouldn't be a problem.

Anyhow...seems problem is fixed for now...and today wasn't a total disaster. Got the garden planted, boat batteries charging and, oh yea....fish cleaned. Almost forgot that. Hee's the few pictures I toolk fron the fishing trip today. Tight lines everybody!:ThumbsUp

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Lastly....the livewell.:)

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Pretty good for limping along down one battery.

Nice catch Butch were you on the hill. Was going to try it this morning up the SC little river but Jack checked it yesterday and said it was extremely muddy so we postponed the trip. Thanks for sharing

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Originally Posted by sinkermaker

Nice catch Butch were you on the hill. Was going to try it this morning up the SC little river but Jack checked it yesterday and said it was extremely muddy so we postponed the trip. Thanks for sharing

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Yea Don...I was on the hill. At most....maybe a foot of visibility for me. luckily...no trash to speak of though. I guess the wind took care of that.

Nice catch and pictures

Sent from my SM-G950U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

good job for a crippled t/m thanks for the pic and post
I had a problem with a 3 bank b/c from Cabela's few weeks ago it was only about 6 months old so I took it back
and they replaced it and told me to keep the box and if any thing happened to it they would replace it free as long as I had
the box it came in. maybe check that out when you replace your charger. just incase I did keep the receipt to head off any crappie they might come up with :ThumbsUp

Thanks guys. I didn't get the charger fixed but I did move the two banks that is working to my trolling batteries. The third bank I removed the two fuses from the lines and just hung the lines behind the batteries for now. After charging my trolling batteries now checked FULL CHARGE (and not like they was checking)! Meantime, I emailed Pro Mariner and told them about my issue, how I troubleshooted the problem, and my frustration with their products...especially since this is my second charger in the past 6 years. I wanna see if they even reply. (Last time they offered me a brand new charger for 1/2 price...which I took.)

Good catch Butch and fighting the wind seems to be a every day affair. Nice looking livewell shot.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Looks like it was a good thing the battery's petered out, that live well looks pretty close to capacity! lol Well done Butch!

My three bank Cabela's charger (made by ProMariner) started doing something odd, also. It will not fully charge the trolling batteries. It is supposed to put out just over 14V when charging and then back it down when they are charged to maintain them. It puts the full voltage out to the starting battery but only puts out just over 13V to the trolling batteries. I have another single battery manual charger and it can charge the trolling batteries up just fine. With just the three bank charger, they only charge to about 75% according to the trolling motor indicator. Strange. And annoying.

I too have had issues with the Pro Mariner chargers. I think most of us purchased them because of their price point. The last one I had made it one month past the warranty before failing. I called PM support and they sent me a 1/2 price replacement too. I then sold it and used the money towards a 3 bank Guest that is still in the boat working fine more than 7 years later. I find that most times you get what you pay for.
Also the Guest doesn't boil the water out of the batteries like the PM's did.

I was fishing the Hill Friday too. We caught 19 Hybrids.

Chris

Butch, I forgot to add..... You need to keep the starting battery fully charged at all times too. A partially charged battery will create sulfation on the plates and dramatically shorten its life. That's why its important to charge the batteries ASAP after each use.

Chris

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Originally Posted by MidHillbilly

My three bank Cabela's charger (made by ProMariner) started doing something odd, also. It will not fully charge the trolling batteries. It is supposed to put out just over 14V when charging and then back it down when they are charged to maintain them. It puts the full voltage out to the starting battery but only puts out just over 13V to the trolling batteries. I have another single battery manual charger and it can charge the trolling batteries up just fine. With just the three bank charger, they only charge to about 75% according to the trolling motor indicator. Strange. And annoying.

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MHB, I too was only getting 3 lights on my trolling motor after charging but didn't check the batteries....until last Friday when they died. I have 3 brand new batteries so this should not have happened. After finding that one of the banks wasn't charging (connected to one of my trolling batts) I switched the leads and got both trolling batts connected to leads that were putting out and now I have all 4 lights on the trolling motor. I checked both trolling batts and theyre both above 12.8 volts fully charged now. Matter of fact...the battery that wasn't charging is now at 13.2 volts.

Chris....just for future reference...which Guest charger did you purchase? And how fast does it charge all 3 of your batteries after a full day of fishing? Thanks for your info.;)

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Originally Posted by gabowman

MHB, I too was only getting 3 lights on my trolling motor after charging but didn't check the batteries....until last Friday when they died. I have 3 brand new batteries so this should not have happened. After finding that one of the banks wasn't charging (connected to one of my trolling batts) I switched the leads and got both trolling batts connected to leads that were putting out and now I have all 4 lights on the trolling motor. I checked both trolling batts and theyre both above 12.8 volts fully charged now. Matter of fact...the battery that wasn't charging is now at 13.2 volts.

Chris....just for future reference...which Guest charger did you purchase? And how fast does it charge all 3 of your batteries after a full day of fishing? Thanks for your info.;)

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My issue sounds different from yours but with the same result - partially charged trolling batteries. I can tell I don't have a dead bank because the voltage at both trolling batteries goes up when they are charging to around 13V. They just never get up to 14V and never fully charge unless I put them on a different charger. I may try calling Pro Mariner and see if they have any ideas. If not, I may want to look at the Guest charger, also.

The one I have is a 2631. It has (3) 10 amp circuits. The batteries are always at 100% (green lights on) the next morning after a trip. I'm not sure how long during the night it took them to get there. I always leave the charger plugged in and the float charge function keeps them up and ready for the next use.

MHB, some of them have a "pill" you can change for different battery types (wet, AGM, ect). The pill changes the voltage a which it charges. A call to PM support will probably get you on the right path.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/74...es.html?page=5

There's even a picture there that shows what it looks like. Hopefully this will help.

Chris

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Originally Posted by NCkenner

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/74...es.html?page=5

There's even a picture there that shows what it looks like. Hopefully this will help.

Chris

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Thanks for the info, but I don't think that is my problem. I have the right "cap" for the AGM batteries that I have (all 3) and it indicates that. Also, I have not changed it or the batteries from when it was working fine. If you look at the charge profile in the manual link you provided, it shows the voltage should ramp up to 14.6V and it does on the cranking battery, just not the trolling batteries. It will give the green "ready" LED showing they are fully charged but they aren't.

The 2 bank chargers I had on my last 2 boats were BPS models and they worked fine for a long time. However it said you could not mix type of batteries. It had a single setting for either lead acid or GEL Always wondered why, but I think after reading this I know why.
On a side note. I went to a smaller boat last year and only have a single Cranking/Trolling combo GEL battery. I have an 8 amp"Smart" charger and it apparently adjusts internally because it has no setting for type battery. Manual just states it works for all type 12 volt batteries. Been fine for the last few months at least.

I’ve had good luck with Guest chargers over the years. I have two 2620 units on my center console running strong since 2002 knock on wood. I fish 3-10 times a month.

However, I do NOT recommend leaving onboard battery chargers continuously plugged in. Have had chargers go bad and almost catch fire. Not a good feeling seeing black smoke rolling out of your boat!

Also I feel leaving them continuously plugged in shortens the chargers useable life by exposing them to every voltage spike and voltage dip that occurs on your local grid (lightning, tree limbs, switching, HVAC starts, pump backs, etc).

I recharge my batts promptly after each fishing trip. Then top them off before next trip or when I am around to monitor the chargers. Has worked well for me. Getting good life out of my batts too.