Anyone ever have this battery problem?

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08-13-2018, 07:20 PM
duckhunter

Anyone ever have this battery problem?

I have 2 group 31 batteries. I checked the water a couple weeks ago, and it was good. I run a 24v Terrova off them. They are fairly new. Had an issue yesterday. After a few hours, I noticed my TM was needing more power. I checked the battery meter, and no lights. As I use one of those batteries for cranking, I could not crank the motor. I got home and charged them. When I checked the water, this particular battery was low on water in every cell. Weird. I have a MK 2 bank charger, and it has been operating normally....always in maintain mode when batteries are charged. Anyone have any ideas of what’s going on? Tho other battery was fine. Also, if I top it off with water, any chance it is still good? Thanks.
08-13-2018, 07:37 PM
"G"

I cannot tell you if it will be any good or not kinda depends on several things....how much water did you add ? The water is on top of the acid...it is sacrifical ...purpose is to keep from losing acid to evaporation. when the water is all gone you lose acid then and if you lose much acid then when you fill back up with water....your battery is still weaker because of acid loss. You really need one battery for cranking, and your electronics, and everything in your boat except your TM...You need two dedicated group 31 batterys same brand same age for your 24 volt Terrova only. what you doing now is useing one of your TM batterys to run your 12 volt stuff and then pulling that one down even more when running your TM. So...one battery was being over worked....takes it longer to charge than the other one...so between chargeing harder and the hot weather...you had more water loss in that one.
08-13-2018, 07:40 PM
Dutchman

If you put this on the mechanics board , there is a guy , I can't remember his name. But, he's a battery guy . He will likely give you some very sound advice. Only thing I know is used distilled water in batteries . This is 1 of the reasons I've gone to sealed AGM batteries. No maintenance.
08-13-2018, 08:22 PM
Redge

What G says makes lots of sense!!

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08-13-2018, 08:26 PM
Snubby

Had the same exact problem a couple months ago with one of two trolling motor batteries, same group, same age, same charger 2 bank MK. I tried numerous times to refill the battery, even individually charged it to no avail. Turns out it was bad battery plain and simple. Other is still holding charge and used as the cranking battery now. Put same size and group as well as age batteries in the trolling motor 24v lineup. Also switched to a Noco Genius smart charger. Funny how you can get a bad battery every now and then that I'd same brand, size and manufactured on the same date. Also, I agree with G, you need a separate cranking battery and a designated 24v system for your TM three batteries total.

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08-13-2018, 08:28 PM
duckhunter

Thanks, G. The plates were barely showing, so not much water loss. Gonna add water and try them again. This is my Wareagle boat, and in no way will 3 batteries fit. Barely enough for 2 and the gas tank. The 1648 is really tight. I have been using only 2 batteries for a couple of years. Always could pull cranks for more than 8 hours, and still plenty of juice for crankng. Something went haywire lately, lol.
08-13-2018, 08:34 PM
strmwalker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutchman

If you put this on the mechanics board , there is a guy , I can't remember his name. But, he's a battery guy . He will likely give you some very sound advice. Only thing I know is used distilled water in batteries . This is 1 of the reasons I've gone to sealed AGM batteries. No maintenance.

that would be ; CatFan and he knows is stuff for sure !!! but what G said has a lot truth to it too !!!
08-13-2018, 08:37 PM
FurFlyin

If you MUST use one of the batteries as a cranking battery, I'd rotate which one started the outboard every month or so to try and keep both batteries even...

On a side note, I just lost the water in one of my batteries. The other one was low too, but not nearly as low as the one was. MK 3 bank charger. I went out one day and fished in the tailrace for hours. Came home, charged the batteries overnight like normal. Went back the next day and had a dead battery within an hour. Checked the water and it was very low. Both were 5 month old batteries. I got them replaced.
08-13-2018, 09:23 PM
Cray

Abe, that battery probably has a shorted cell. Fill it with water and hook up charger. That shorted cell tells charger to keep charging and it starts to over heat battery. That added heat cause the acid and water to start bubbling and it will evaporate pretty rapidly. Need to at least replace that one battery and like others I would recommend replacing both and using the one good one for cranking and electronics.
08-13-2018, 09:53 PM
duckhunter

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cray

Abe, that battery probably has a shorted cell. Fill it with water and hook up charger. That shorted cell tells charger to keep charging and it starts to over heat battery. That added heat cause the acid and water to start bubbling and it will evaporate pretty rapidly. Need to at least replace that one battery and like others I would recommend replacing both and using the one good one for cranking and electronics.

Thanks, Charlie. If that were the case, wouldn’t the charger, on that particular bank, show that it is charging all the time, with the light in the charging position? In my case, the light is solid green, in maintain state.
08-13-2018, 10:42 PM
Cray

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckhunter

Thanks, Charlie. If that were the case, wouldn’t the charger, on that particular bank, show that it is charging all the time, with the light in the charging position? In my case, the light is solid green, in maintain state.

Yes it should but I just had one a few months ago do same thing. It showed it was charged yet would boil water out. Try this first. Fill it with water hook it up by itself and let it charge, then take it to auto parts store and have them load test it. That should tell you pretty quick what shape it is in. My theory on mine was it had to be thinking on the electronics side it need maintained and kept a slight charge going to it. My charger does not have a light that indicates when it is in the mataince mode. Just charging or charged.
08-14-2018, 03:31 AM
Barnacle Bill

What Cray said. Load test both of them in case the factory had a bad run.
08-14-2018, 10:26 AM
duckhunter

Thanks for the replies, Guys!
08-14-2018, 01:29 PM
jimmydee1

Read most of he responses and may have missed it, but I have been told on many occasions to water your battery BEFORE you charge it. Seems to make a huge difference.
08-14-2018, 01:52 PM
CrappiePappy

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmydee1

Read most of he responses and may have missed it, but I have been told on many occasions to water your battery BEFORE you charge it. Seems to make a huge difference.

Actually that's NOT what is recommended .... if the plates are covered, charge the battery and THEN fill with distilled water. If the plates are not fully covered, add enough distilled water to cover plates & then charge it and finish filling.

I KNOW .... that sounds backwards, but it's what every battery maintenance website I've ever read says is the right way to do it.

(copied from Battery University)
"When low, add only enough water to cover the exposed plates before charging. Always fill to the correct level after charge. Never add acid."
08-14-2018, 02:33 PM
"G"

What CP said...If you fill them to full level before charging it could boil over
08-14-2018, 02:45 PM
duckhunter

Charged and filled. I have a load tester, but I'm gonna pull it out and take it to a parts store for professional testing.
08-15-2018, 07:13 AM
deltabull

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckhunter

Charged and filled. I have a load tester, but I'm gonna pull it out and take it to a parts store for professional testing.

Now that's funny right there!!! I work at AutoZone and I'll tell you for sure that 95% of the employees there don't know how to properly load test a battery and don'tt care to learn.
08-15-2018, 07:36 AM
EWS

Anyone ever have this battery problem?

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltabull

Now that's funny right there!!! I work at AutoZone and I'll tell you for sure that 95% of the employees there don't know how to properly load test a battery and don'tt care to learn.

I agree with deltabull, as to be careful where you take it. My truck battery was going dead, so I went to AutoZone. They "had to" test it, so I went with the program. They tried to tell me the variable output alternator was bad, and the 7-year-old battery was good.

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08-15-2018, 10:43 AM
duckhunter

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltabull

Now that's funny right there!!! I work at AutoZone and I'll tell you for sure that 95% of the employees there don't know how to properly load test a battery and don'tt care to learn.

LOL, true! We have a good guy here, though, lol.