battery opinion

[drainplug]

I have 24 V Fortrex with 2 dedicated flooded 31 series Duracell's that were purchased June 2017. Charger: MinnKota 315, (only 5 amps per channel). Charge after each use, it takes more than 24 hours to get a solid "green", then I unplug it then plug in night before I fish. I use boat, (garaged), March-Nov; 1-2 a weekend plus vacation 2 weeks with longer use daily. I don't fish tourney's, so 4-6 hours a day; do not crush them. Since I have been just local this last year, they do not run down. Here is the question. I am leaving for our place in Canada next week, (unless poop hits the fan before the 9th), for two months with daily fishing, so the batteries will not always be full, "green lighted", just flashing. My next batteries i think will be AGM, (maintenance & location pain on my Sabre). Do you think I am on "thin ice" with 4 year old batteries with my long vacation use coming up? If I had to replace them up there, "ouch" and availability of AGM might be tough. Opinions or thoughts appreciated.

[Bassman Ia.]

This year or next year—— you are still going to replace them. Cheaper to do it here

[King31]

I personally think you will be fine unless you plan on fishing 8-10hrs a day

[Dave A]

Yes i'd say your batteries are on their last leg, if it was me i would get new ones before the trip. You may also want to consider going with a charger with 10 amps per bank as it will charge them quicker, nothing wrong with flooded cell batteries just need to check the water level occasionally.

[Fishysam]

I say upgrade the charger to something with 10 amps per bank, and capable of charging lithium's. 2, 12v 50amp hour weigh 15.4 pounds each and your boat will love the loss of 70 pounds from the back. These will charge in less than two hours. And the new charger this year will keep you full with current batteries in Canada. Ohh and the 50 amp hour ionic brand batteries were cheaper than big agm s batteries this summer, and can probably be had for 349$ again soon. Check in with "drewcraft" or drewtech here on this sight for some great information and prices

[Tom B]

i would change them now vs having to deal with trying to find a replacement in Canada
Thought mine were fine on a trip to the St Lawrence in June and by mid day they were pretty much done - so i spent a entire afternoon pulling the boat, heading to Sams Club (luckily they had the ones i wanted) and swapping them out in the parking lot which i did in record time. Was back on the water 4 hours later

[Real L]

It's time.

[E-rude_Dude]

I agree with above. If they are gonna go it will be on vacation. Just replace them now. One less thing to worry about

[tajchauvin]

I had this problem at the end of last year and wish I’d replaced the batteries at the first sight of the problem.

[Eric13579]

"An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure".

[mactlman]

not sure canada will let you in anytime soon either??

[skeeterator]

Upgrade the charger to at least 10 amps per battery, keep the batteries.

[drainplug]

not sure canada will let you in anytime soon either??

AUG 9

[FrancoCialone]

My MK 315 D charges my 3 group 27 Deka wet cell in about 3-4 hours and the original Dekas lasted 7 years, only replaced all 3 because 1 battery would not take a charge. Like Clint Eastwood used to say, "do you feel lucky" ? In Canada we don't have the selection/supply of products that the U.S. fisherman have, ( tackle, boat, etc). And now with the pandemic, supply is worse. If it was me, i'd buy some new AGMs before crossing the border. The charger is up to you , but mine is over 9 years old and still going strong.

[mactlman]

AUG 9

blue cites here are locking down and masking up so I bet canada will join the bandwagon soon?? hopefully not!

[billnorman1]

Upgrade the charger to at least 10 amps per battery, keep the batteries.

Seems a good option.

[Riverrocket1]

They have to be replaced....... and as far as the batteries I would replace them too lol

[Jeff Hahn]

blue cites here are locking down and masking up so I bet canada will join the bandwagon soon?? hopefully not!

Ontario is coming out of a long lockdown. The delta variant has been the dominant strain there for sometime. They are about to enter stage 3 of coming out of lockdown. I just read the other day that when the province enters stage 3, masks will still be mandatory in indoor public places.

[drainplug]

Man, chargers hard to come by too! Minn Kota 330 hard to come by as is Noco Genius 3x10, found 1 $299 is ballpark on that?

[PolarKraft195]

I have 24 V Fortrex with 2 dedicated flooded 31 series Duracell's that were purchased June 2017. Charger: MinnKota 315, (only 5 amps per channel). Charge after each use, it takes more than 24 hours to get a solid "green", then I unplug it then plug in night before I fish. I use boat, (garaged), March-Nov; 1-2 a weekend plus vacation 2 weeks with longer use daily. I don't fish tourney's, so 4-6 hours a day; do not crush them. Since I have been just local this last year, they do not run down. Here is the question. I am leaving for our place in Canada next week, (unless poop hits the fan before the 9th), for two months with daily fishing, so the batteries will not always be full, "green lighted", just flashing. My next batteries i think will be AGM, (maintenance & location pain on my Sabre). Do you think I am on "thin ice" with 4 year old batteries with my long vacation use coming up? If I had to replace them up there, "ouch" and availability of AGM might be tough. Opinions or thoughts appreciated.

Flashing green means fully charged!!! I've been using Minn Kota onboard Chargers for around 30 years.

A flashing GREEN LED is lit to indicate the battery is in Maintenance Mode and ready to use. After 24 hours, the charger automatically turns off and a steady GREEN LED is lit to indicate the battery is in long term Maintenance Mode and ready to use.