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kobassattack.
My Cat an 08 cougar has recently started draining the cranking battery. I replaced the battery that was in it when I got the boat (Continental) With a Interstate 24m-XHD two weeks ago. It was fine for a week and then I used the boat last Fri. and plugged in the charger when we put it up Fri. eve. went out to the storage the next day and unplugged the charger and was showing the boat to a buddy that is thinking of buying a new boat, I made sure the main power switch was off prior to leaving. Today I got to the boat storage with the thought of fishing in my head and low and behold the cranking batt. is dead it has been 7 days since I had a full charge on it When I plugged in the charger (MK345) the red check connection light came on for the starting batt. I unhooked both + &- posts and cleaned them up and rehooked them and it would still not show that it was charging. I got out my manaul charger and took the battery completely out of the boat and hooked it up to the manual and it would go into fault mode. I tried the manul on one of the trolling batteries and it showed to be working fine. I went ahead and put the cranking batt. in the back of the pickup to exchange for a new one tomorrow. Would any of yall have any advice as to what could be going on as the cont. batt. I took out was less than a year old itself. I have only had this boat for a little over a month and this is the 3rd time that this has happened but the battery recharged the first time but hasnt the last two. I did have an old Fiberglass Tracker that used to do this and didnt have a main power switch so I would disconnect the battery after every use, I really dont want to have to do this on a 50,000 dollar rig but will if something dont give. I live in West Tx. and the nearest Cat dealer is over four hours away. If anyone can help me feel free to offer up some advice. Thanks, Kurt aka KOBASSATTACK Over the past several months (over 1 year) we have repetitively spoken about increasing the battery size from the accepted amperage. We like AGM batteries and the larger 30-31 series units. There is a direct correlation to size, quality and durability. This also helps with parasitic voltage drain like you are experiencing. If you have a stereo, that is the first culprit, and if you have more items they drain also. You can hook a milliamp monitor in line and see where the amp drain is. BCBLast edited by kobassattack on June 30th, 2009, 3:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Its a fairly simple problem to figure out……………….either you have a bad battery or a bad charger. Since youre alreay enroute to get a new battery, you can eliminate that. There is constant draw from by the engine, though small. You need to plug in the charger at least every other week or more even if sitting up in the garage. Check the battery with a volt meter or smart craft (if mercury) and make sure youre showing at least 12.5 volts. If not showing 12.5 after charging then your charger is the culprit. Good luck!
Thanks, Phil so now let me ask do think that is a big enough battery for this motor ?
Mercury recommends a battery with a minimum of 100 cca.
Make sure you do not have a GPS that was added after the factory installation, if so it should have a cut off switch as the GPS draws power even when not turned on. I made that mistake on my old boat when I added the GPS. Good Luck. Bruce
Thanks HawgDawg this one is 800cca and 1000mha I guess I better ask for the next biggest or even bigger than that. It still doesnt make sense as to why it will charge up and then be stone cold dead. When I check it with that little battery checker it does not register at all. I also have never had a three bank charger and just would use a reg. type charger to maintain my crankin batt. on any boat that I have owned previous to now. Would it be alright to just not hook up the #1 batt. or would that throw everything off ? If the Charger is already gone bad as Phil suggested earlier this would be very disheartening as well as costly to replace. I had a Dual -Pro and it was good for the 8yrs. I had it and still working for my brother who still has that boat.
Phil is right on checking the charger. Mercury recomends a minimum 1000 Marine Cranking Amps (MCA) or 750 Cold Cranking AMPS (CCA) for 3.0 Optis. Your Interstate 24m-XHD is an 800 CCA so it is just above the recomended minimum.
Go as big as you can afford or will fit in your battery tray. I had an issue with a bad battery that had 1200/1000 cranking amps. When i replaced it i spent an extra 30 bucks to get the 1550/1250 Cranking amp Battery. Small price to pay for piece of mind. Good Luck
Im not sure what the root cause of your problem is, but if you are switching out batteries anyway, I would do whatever it takes to get a series 30 marine cranking or dual purpose battery in that system. If I had to swap out trays–fine, do it. We pull a bunch of amps off marine batteries now, and size does matter. I use 30 series SCS 225 Trojans in my BCBs and have never had a minutes problem from batteries. The new AGM batteries are probably even better—and are what BCB recommends. Be prepared for sticker shock. Get away from 24 series batteries. Mike Whitten/Germantown, TN
Thanks for all this good advice, Ive had a bass boat for over 30 yrs. but this is all new to me as the last one I had was a 96 Javelin 389 that I bought brand new and gave to my brother up by Tulsa after getting my new (to me) 08 Cougar FTD that belonged to Jimmy Rozells boy out of Bowdens in Houston,Im not so sure some of these Prostaffers treat these boats as well as they should knowing they are getting new ones every year. Thats just my opinion and I also know that it is why they are also more affordable and these guys are going to do what they have to do to be competitive. I put a 24 series batt back in cuz that is what I took out and my old boat was a Johnson150 carb. I know DUH !! Now if that other post talking about a added GPS what do I need to do as there are 2 hummingbirds the one in the dash is a 900 series and the one in the bow is a 700 series. I dont know if they were stock are add ons.
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