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pchapin.
The last few Sundays, Ive noticed that Im losing trolling motor power after about 3 hours or so of fishing. Im not running the motor hard (its a 75lb Motorguide pro series, I usually run it on 3 out of 5) so it should be lasting for a longer day of fishing (and has earlier in the summer). My boat is a 2011 Sabre FTD that I bought used, has the 3 bank Noco charger and 2 Interstate Megatron batteries (wired for 24v). Im thinking these are the original batteries and if theyre 3 years old, its time to change them out, but a few of my buddies have said that it could be the charger. Any thoughts? My sense is that the Nocos a pretty high end charger and shouldnt be the problem, but maybe someone knows otherwise…Im going to try and get the boat to Auto Zone or someplace today and have the batteries checked and go from there.Any recommendations on batteries? I was thinking about just grabbing some group 29 Everstarts but have heard some bad things about them…2011 Sabre FTD w/ Mercury 150 Pro XS, Power Pole Sportsman 2s, Humminbird 898 w/ 360 and 858 at bow, 898 at ConsoleFor lots of BCB love, follow me on instagram: @professorbeard
Good idea to have the batteries checked out. It surely “could” be the charger. My charger went south after 5 years, it was a fore runner to Noco. I had to have it replaced a few months ago. I really dont think it makes much difference as to what brand of battery you buy. You will hear someone, somewhere, say bad things about every brand. I have had many different brands down through the years, I really dont think that one is any better than the other. I currently have Dekas in my Cougar. This was the 2nd season on them and they are doing fine.
To to Sears, Home Depot, Lowes or your local hardware store and purchase a small voltmeter (sub $20) if you dont have one. Charge your batteries and set the meter to 12v or 20v or 50 volt DC, or whichever range fits a 12 volt battery DC. After they have sat fully charged for 30 minutes check the level of voltage on each battery. If they are not around 12.8 to 13.4 volts you have an issue somewhere. If they are charged, then potentially you have a battery issue. A fully charged battery static idle should read 12.8 or better. Aging ones around 12.4 volts.If they are not charged to 12.8 volts then mark the voltage and plug in the charger, reread the voltage while charging and compare if they are changing and have more voltage than the static reading. If so then they probably are charging and something in the battery is at fault most likely. Water, terminals and everything connection wise should be checked regularly. Also check your circuit breakers as they could be robbing power and they corrode a lot and must be regularly replaced. After your done the voltmeter will come in handy around the house checking those AAA or AA batteries and every battery on the cabinet you think was bad. $20 well spent around any household, ESPECIALLY if you have kids and games.Last edited by Bass Cat Boats on September 8th, 2014, 1:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Probably the batteries. Last week I had one of my two fifteen month old batteries go bad. When I had it checked out, it didnt show too badly on the load tester. Then when he checked it with the hydrometer, one cell was really bad. Like BCB mentioned, my bad battery dropped to about 10.8 volts after about an hour coming off the charger, which was too low. Lots of guys over on BBC are using those Everstarts with good results, so you should be fine.
Only 3 makers of batteries in the U.S. — Ive got 3 years on a set of Everstarts , and no troubles . — Just keep them full of distilled water and charged . — Hoss
Ok, got my voltmeter…one battery reads 12.72 and the other 12.9, combined theyre at 25.6. This was after sitting an hour off of the Noco charger. Also getting a reading of 25.6 at the trolling motor plug up front. Checked the water levels, a few of the ports were a bit low, so I brought them up to the bottom of the port insert (on the Interstate Megatron, theres a tapered insert in the port that extends about 3/4″ into the battery). Might it be as simple as some low water levels? Do I need to bring them up higher?Plugged it back into the charger and the Noco showed the red light for a few minutes and then switched to the green ready light. So Im thinking the charger is ok as it stays in the red much longer after a day on the water. I know the one battery is reading a bit low, but it would seem that it shouldnt be causing the loss that Im experiencing.All connections are clean and tight….so its a mystery. I wonder if there is an issue with the trolling motor that is draining them too quickly. It was installed new right before I got it, but Ive already had to open the head and reset the pedal travel twice, when it seemed to jump the gears and changed my center/forward position and range of travel. Its the inexpensive Pro Series, so….2011 Sabre FTD w/ Mercury 150 Pro XS, Power Pole Sportsman 2s, Humminbird 898 w/ 360 and 858 at bow, 898 at ConsoleFor lots of BCB love, follow me on instagram: @professorbeard
The water levels should be good just covering the plates and voltage sound as if the charger is working fine. The plates appear to be sulfated and covered with corrosion. A good strong charger with some Umphff would help, such as from a charger with a ferroresonant transformer and they tend to hot charger cooking the plates and knocking the sulfate off. It eventually falls to the bottom and the life is reduced on either case. It sounds like battery issues and we would try hot charging them when they are dead a few cycles before we kicked them out for new ones. A $200 charger like a good 12 volt Lestermatic might just extend your life some. It sure would extend the life of your next set. If your a solid tournament angler then we would just spring for new batteries. BCB
Yeah, will probably just grab a new set. They died pretty quickly yesterday, got home and one battery read 12.? And the other read 3.89…so Im guessing that the low one is killing the better one. I was hoping to put it off until spring so that I didnt have new batteries sitting all winter but with a tournament this weekend and another month and a half of fishing, I think Ill just bite the bullet…2011 Sabre FTD w/ Mercury 150 Pro XS, Power Pole Sportsman 2s, Humminbird 898 w/ 360 and 858 at bow, 898 at ConsoleFor lots of BCB love, follow me on instagram: @professorbeard
Definitely at least one battery is shot, if it was reading that low. You are on the right track…replace both of them.
You have one good battery and one bad. Replace both if you like. The good one could die tomorrow or it could last another year or two. They dont all have the same lifespan. I have a friend with a 1999 Ford van that still has the original battery still in it.
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