Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Trolling Motor Battery/Charger Help Please (Resolved)
Cassbass.
First, Ill give you some history. The boat is a 2011 P2 with a 75# MG, batteries are 27size group. Charger is a NOCO Genius 3-bank. I bought this boat used in Nov 2012. I was fishing a tournament in May 2013, and the batteries went bad about half way through the day, so I replaced them with Walmart batteries. Almost a year later in early May 2014, the batteries got really weak towards the end of the day in a tournament. So, I took them back and got free replacements. So, here we are 4 months later and I was fishing a tournament yesterday and I barely had any juice left during the last 30 minutes of the tourney.I just hooked them up to a multimeter and one is 12.83 and the other is 12.94 (after being unplugged for 4 hours). While charging they are reading 13.53 and 13.35.I plug in the charger after every fishing trip and leave it plugged in for 24 hours, then Ill plug them in the night before I go fishing.Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated as this is getting frustrating. Im wondering if the 27 size group isnt sufficient enough to handle a full day of windy conditions. Anyone else have this trolling motor with 27 group batteries that can comment?Thanks!CassLast edited by Cassbass on October 13th, 2014, 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Anyone? I mainly need to know if anyone else has a MG 75# that is not lasting a full day on 27 group batteries.Thanks!
I fished a small 6 hour jackpot yesterday in my buddys 98 Jag. He has a new 80lb Minnkota with nearly new 27 group batteries. We were fishing in a little bit of current and I kept his troller between 50 and 80 all day. In the last hour, we had to fish with the current because the batteries were toast. If I had a 19-20 boat with a 24V system, I would run 29s or maybe even 31″s. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the reply. Im beginning to think that my problem is the 27 group batteries.
Yup, I really do not understand why any dealer installs a group 27 series in any bass boat. 29s / 31s ive never had an issue with.
I have a MG 71FW digital and it does fine with Group 27 batteries on my Sabre. Im a little lighter than your PII, but not an appreciable amount. Also know that my Group 27 batteries are 200RC batteries – and most 31s peak at 225RC. The only time the batteries dont get it done, is when theyre either older or low on water – both kill the reserve capacity. If you test above 12.8V after the skin charge has dropped off your batteries, they are fully charged. Fully charged and reserve capacity are two different things.Im on my 3rd set of batteries since buying the boat. First set got very low on water and I topped them off with tap water – huge mistake. They started nosing off at that point. Yes – they were fully charged before Id start the day. Then theyd be limping by 1pm. Tap water and sulfation killed the batteries.I replaced these with Walmart batteries. I took good care of this set – distilled water only, on the charger as soon as I got home, yada yada….. Within one year -they were getting weak. Again – fully charged at the start, limping by 1pm. This is an issue Ive read a lot about with Walmart batteries – the capacity drops rapidly when theyre put into service and doesnt hold up. Even with mediocre performance – they take forever to just die. Then I bought the best specing set that was at Battery Outfitters. I bought two of the Pro Guide tourney series. They are thirsty and I have to add water monthly. It takes a higher amp charger to charge them fully. After 30 months – they test as good as a brand new set. I can spend 11 hours on the water, and they still feel as fresh as when I started. Full day running on high in Arkansas River current doesnt phase them…..I agree with DB – given the marginal weight difference, group 31s should be standard. If you are running the 27s – get a quality pair.
Actually we feel group 27s are fine for most applications. Group 31 if your really serious and most are not that serious. On a smaller boat 19 down they work great for most.
Thanks for all of the info. After posting this on a few forums and talking to a couple of trolling motor shops, my main problem seems to be that my 75#MG is a 5-speed, and they pull the same amount of voltage no matter what setting they are on, unlike digital motors. On top of that, Im using cheap 27 group batteries. The trolling motor shop said that I should be good even with these batteries if I upgrade to a digital TM. So, I guess Ill start searching for a good deal.
I ran Optima D34Ms in my previous boat with an MG 82 Tour DigitalMy current Sabre FTD has Optima D27M batteries with an MG 82 Tour Digital. Going on 4 years on that set. The Digital definitely makes a difference
Just wanted to put the post to bed and close the loop in case anyone else has the same issue. After a lot of reading/asking questions and calling Jones Trolling motor, it was suspected that my problem was that the 75# Motorguide Freshwater Series (non-digital) is a battery hog, and 27 group batteries cant handle a full day of steady use with this trolling motor.So, I made the switch back to MK and bought a Fortrex. I fished a very windy tournament last Saturday and the trolling motor/batteries ended the day as strong as they started. Same batteries that were drained after 7.5 hours of use with the other trolling motor.The difference in the trolling motors is night and day, but thats for another post. Thanks for all of your help! Last edited by Cassbass on October 13th, 2014, 11:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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