Pro-Guide Cranking Battery Failure

[KennyVexus]

Got my new Vexus mid June this year. Since our club hasn't been fishing tournaments this year I haven't used my live well. Saturday I went out and fished like I was in a tournament, had three fish in the well and after 3 hours the cranking battery was dead. 11.5v on Vessel View. Took it home and let the Dual Pro charge it up. After the cool down stage...next morning...the battery only had 12.43v. Pro-Guide spec is min 12.65v at cool state fully charged. So the battery was half discharged after charging.
Did some checking on the boat:
Boat Parasitic draw - .3A
Aerator Pump - .7A no load, 2.1A with load. Max Rating 3.5A

Pro-Guide (Owned by Battery Outfitters) batteries made by Johnson Controls so it says on the MSDS sheet.
Called Pro-Guide and they offered a full cash refund. Said the battery was shot. They were helpful and shared a lot of tech info.

Has anyone else had a problem with their Pro-Guides if you got them?

[James 10]

I had to add water to mine after a 1yr and half but no issues as some on here are having

[ifishinxs]

That’s the batteries I have in my boat no issue so far. Unfortunately batteries go bad. I switched up to AGM’s in my last boat and will do the same once these wet cell batteries die.

[Cbump]

Did y’alls boats come with optima blue top trolling motor batteries?

[Chuck Pickel]

Mine did, but I specifically requested the dealer to put them in. I ordered the victor package with mine which includes the batteries. They were interstates, they credited me $400, towards the $900 cost of the Optimas. So it cost me another $500 for the Optimas. They are also made by Johnson Controls. I have used these on several boats over the last 20 years. Never had one go bad. I worked for Johnson Controls and they offered employee purchase program, $55 each. I must have bought 20 of them for friends to put in their boats. I think my UPS guy hated me for a while.

[Cbump]

Mine also did but I didn’t request them. I was pretty pumped when I saw that. I’m sure I unknowingly paid for them in the price but wasn’t expecting it.

[Wild Heethen]

Been using Battery Outfitters and Pro Guide batteries forever. The BEST. If you don't have a battery 'cut off' switch to use when boat not in use, just unhook pos. cable to prevent ANY residual draw. And keep batteries top off with full charge. Batteries will last for years.

[VexusEarl]

Any company can have a bad battery! However I will say this after running Pro Guides for YEARS, their customer service is head and shoulders above anyone else out there that I have seen. Either with my personal batteries or when I worked at the boat dealership for 10 years. From the Owner down to the delivery driver they are always top notch and willing to help in anyway possible.

I also understand if you don't live locally they could be hard to get warranty replaced, but as you stated you called them and they were willing to take care of it right away!!!

[crankwv]

Good to hear about the customer service. My trolling motor battery died on me during a vacation at a electric motor only lake. I replaced them and sent them the receipt. I was told the will send me a check.

[Grizzly]

I'll never use wet cells batteries in a aluminum boat again. I had a spill on my last boat and alumuminum and battery acid mix very well.

I have been using Optimum Blue tops for years now. I have four batteries. Two for the trolling motor, one for the motor and one for electronics.

I use the OPT8016-103 D34M which are for starting and deep cycle and I am on my 4th season with these batteries and they are just starting to show signs of getting old.

I use a cuttoff switch on both my trolling motor and my electronics.

They are $289.98 a battery on Amazon which works out to $289.98 a year for four batteries if I replace them every four years.

[Lou22]

I remembered this thread, so I decided to share my most recent experience. My Pro-Guide Cranking Battery failed with just having the battery for a year. My dealer notified me the battery was no longer under warranty, but that due to a Customer Satisfaction clause with Vexus, my dealer replaced the battery, with an Interstate battery instead.

The Pro-Guide battery showed 0 signs of having any issues. It was working one outing, and failure the next. Charger showed full charge, a separate charger showed full charge, voltage was good, but the dealer said the battery had failed.

Just wanted to pass this info along. Fortunately, Vexus and my dealership, changed out the 1 year old Pro-Guide battery at no cost.

[KennyVexus]

Hey Lou!
So what was your voltage after cool down?

[Lou22]

Hey Lou!
So what was your voltage after cool down?

Apologies, I don't own a digital voltmeter to provide you with that data, I have a very basic non-digital voltmeter, and based on this experience I'm going to invest into purchasing a voltmeter with a digital read out.

[Guntucky]

I had the same issue 4 weeks ago, I called the dealer, they contacted Pro Guide, then called me with a number to call since I am 3 hours from dealer. Pro Guide tells me they have a 3 year no BS warranty, and I replaced my Cranking battery with a 31 series Blue top for 4 hundred. My Trolling Batteries have been great. I am sending Pro Guide pics of the bad battery and a receipt copy of the new one I bought, we will see what they do.

[sandman7925]

Boat Parasitic draw - .3A

How does one go about checking the parasitic draw on their boat?

[KennyVexus]

How does one go about checking the parasitic draw on their boat?

Make sure all accessories on boat are turned off. Disconnect the positive battery cable and connect meter leads between the cable and the battery. Meter set on amps. That will show you the draw.
If you have a main battery cutoff switch or breaker that you normally throw when you park your boat you can check draw with it off and then on. So if you have a 100 amp/hr battery and a 1 amp draw it will be dead in 100 hours.

[sandman7925]

Make sure all accessories on boat are turned off. Disconnect the positive battery cable and connect meter leads between the cable and the battery. Meter set on amps. That will show you the draw.
If you have a main battery cutoff switch or breaker that you normally throw when you park your boat you can check draw with it off and then on. So if you have a 100 amp/hr battery and a 1 amp draw it will be dead in 100 hours.

10-4

[swampdog]

Picked my AVX1980 up at factory in August 2018 and replaced cranking proline with a D31 optima in fall 2019due to failure. Now both trolling batteries(proline) have run their course and getting ready to replace them before spring. Im not impressed with these batteries.

[Jimbug]

I have had the three Vexus factory installed Pro-Guide batteries in my 2019 Vexus AVX1980 since 03/25/2019 with no problems. Trolling Motor batteries have never gotten close to running low of charge, and I’ve had no issues with the starting battery either. I see the customer ratings at their many Battery Outfitters locations are all around 4.5 or above, so that says most people are happy with them. Seems like Vexus is standing by the few issues there have been.

[CGraz]

I bought my AVX 1980 in July. Trolling batteries have been awesome. Cranking battery went bad by October. I called the dealership for warranty info. Seemed like a PIA to get it replaced, so on there recommendation, I went with a group 31 AGM which has been great. However, my DualPro does not like it at all. It usually does not recognize it. Has anyone else had this problem? Sometimes it will pick it up if I put a separate charger on it, other times not and on a rare ocasion it will charge right off the bat. I always travel with a separate charger. Would really like to find a solution.