997+787=dead battery

Guys, I sent Greg at Hummnibird an email on this but I wanted your thoughts. Yesterday was my first full day I had to go out with my two new toys...a 787 and a 997. Both are linked to the same battery. After 4 hours I got low voltage warnings on both units almost simotaneously. Shorty after that both units shut off. When I got home and put the charger on the battery it was, indeed, low. Do these units draw too much power to have them on one battery for a full days fishing or could this just be a bad battery?

What model of battery and how old? Do you rely on the OB to charge it or do you keep it charged when off the water?

i would thing that you have a bad battery or it didn't get charged good
i run a 787 all day plus live well pumps and do not have any problems they are on my cranking battery

Yea i have same set up and have no problems.id check batterys rc

Brand new battery...new onboard charger. I charged all 3 bats (battery in question plus 2 trolling motor bats)the previous evening and had a green light on all three when I unplugged the charger.

What u got the units alarm voltage set at? Check it.

Cane Pole: Im not sure I understand you question. I'm new with these units. Whatever the alarm voltage is would be what it is set on when it came out of the box which I assume to be the default setting. How do I check this and what do I change?

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Originally Posted by CarpPoop

Cane Pole: Im not sure I understand you question. I'm new with these units. Whatever the alarm voltage is would be what it is set on when it came out of the box which I assume to be the default setting. How do I check this and what do I change?

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Default is alarm off.


go to alarm menu tab
arrow down to low battery alarm
arrow over to whatever you want set. (mine is off) nuisance noise

Carp,

I have the exact same setup as you. I also have an interlink box connecting the two units together. I also fished yesterday from around 7:00 to about 4:00 in the afternoon running both units all day. It sounds like you have a bad battery because when I came home I hooked my battery charger up and only took about an hour and a half to top the battery off. (@ 2amps) The same thing was happening to me with my last battery which was practically new but since I exchanged it, I've had no problems at all.

Hope this helps.

Buzz

id check my onboard charger. I had a bad one and took it back and have no problems now.

Is this the same battery you were using when the quality of the images started going south?
WarrenMN

The alarm voltage is set to off. I went out and checked it as suggested by Cane Pole. Warren..this is indeed that same battery. I guess I am reluctant to blame the battery because it is a brand new boat with brand new batteries. I guess a new battery can be bad....but the odds would be low I would think.

I would load test the new battery, and also check the charger as DTG and WarrenMn suggested. Could be either of the two causing the low voltage alarm problem.

I'd probably look for that screw that the factory dead centered through the wiring harness like they did on my new boat. Just enough to drain the batt. I load tested batt out of problem equation then found screw. Good luck.

Ok this is very strange. I charged all 3 batteries overnight and unplugged charger this morning before I went to work. It was showing 3 green lights meaning all were charged. Just a few minutes ago i plugged the charger back in and the battery in question is only at 50%. I have the 2 units...a bilge...and lights hooked to that battery and thats it. All 4 are off. This is driving me nuts.

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Originally Posted by justforfun

I'd probably look for that screw that the factory dead centered through the wiring harness like they did on my new boat. Just enough to drain the batt. I load tested batt out of problem equation then found screw. Good luck.

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sounds like dead battery or what Justforfun said.

Swap the suspect battery with one of the others. If the problem follows the battery, you'll know the batteries the problem. If the problem stays where the suspect battery was, then you have something drawing current there, or the charger is not really charging like it's telling you it is.

Dave

Just because the boat is new doesn't always mean you get new batteries. Look on the battery for a small sticker and it should have a date code telling when the battery was manufactured. There should be an alphabetical letter for the month and a number for the year. For example, H-07 or H-7, would mean that the battery was manufactured in August of 2007. A is Jan, B is Feb, and so on. Always be sure to check this when you buy a new battery off the shelf as well. Good luck and hope this helps! :D:D:D

I know someone told me years ago with my truck that if you loosen the positive cable and arc it on the battery post with everything off and you get a spark of any kind, something is drawing current. I've used this trick with many cars but should be the same with a boat. Something may be drawing current???


Buzz

That won't work on today's cars. Computer draws a little current at all times, even if the key is in your pocket.

I called the boat dealer today. Im going to take the boat in tommorrow and let them sort it out. He said its possible the GPS is the problem. Said something about the GPS needing a switch on it or else it would draw constantly from the battery. I dont get that...but thats what he said. I took the boat out after work...and like clockwork, 3 hours into the trip the low voltage warning came up again on the 997. The voltage alarm IS set to off so the problem isnt in the unit adjustments. So I come home...plug the on-board charger in..and in 20 minutes it indicates that battery is fully charged! I am done with it. Im going to let them sort it out tommorrow.

Another if it were me. I'd charge the batteries up, unhook the positive side of each battery and wait a day. Then the next day I'd take a volt meter and check the voltage of each battery to see if any read lower than the other two. I think thats where Cane Poles chart would come in handy.

WarrenMN

Problem diagnosed. The new battery was bad...after all that...a bad battery! Im sorry guys. I should have checked this before I posted it here. I may have wasted some peoples time on this post but thanks for your input.

Bet more than a few lurkers were watching close. Good lesson learned is not time wasted.
WarrenMN

Yep there are a lot that reads these problems so they know what to do in the future "IF" they can remember. Always remember there are no stupid questions. I don't think anyone minded chipping in their 2 cents and trying to help. There are several things that could have caused your problem. We are just glad you got it resolved and can get on the water. Ferdi aka Fred DON'T EVER BE AFRAID TO ASK

My high school principal had a picture on his wall that stated the only dumb question is the question not asked.

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Originally Posted by CarpPoop

Problem diagnosed. Im sorry guys. I should have checked this before I posted it here. I may have wasted some peoples time on this post but thanks for your input.

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Don't worry about it. This is good info. Everyone at some point is going to have to troubleshoot a battery situation.. Thanks for all the info guys.