03 optimax 200 #ot651454 my battery reads 11.6 I go to start and battery drops down to 4.60. This is a new boat to me so I'm trying to figure out the gremlins with that said what battery should I buy for the Opti? So if the battery doesn't take care of it what should I look for next thanks
BOB check out the 3.0L section and do a search on batt for optis also look in stickies at top, deka/sears pm batts are good uns
.................................................. ...the scariest thing in life is the unknown ...................................
It takes both voltage and amps to start a motor. Normally voltage for a fully charged battery is ~ 12.6 volts. During the time the starter motor is cranking the motor the voltage should not drop to any less than approximately 10.5 volts.
What you are experiencing is referred to a "voltage drop". Excessive voltage drop. Could be the battery is kaput or could be a defect in the wiring between the battery and the starter motor or between the starter motor and the ground terminal on the battery.
By the way, a battery that reads 11.6 volts at rest, prior to cranking the motor, is all but completely discharged.
This^Originally Posted by jethro1
Your battery is dead.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
DEPENDS on how the voltage is being measured. If it is measured from (say) the FRONT sonar unit, 11.6 might be perfectly OK. You really want to measure a battery's condition at the battery posts, not at some distant point not knowing what the voltage drop might be.
2008 Bass Cat Pantera Classic
2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
While the voltage at the battery posts is important it is not as important as it is at the point where it is to do its work. That is, at the sonar unit or at the starter motor. Depending upon the distance from the battery to the device that is to use the current, the wire sizing varies so as to not allow more than X amount of voltage drop. The further the distance the greater the wire size. To minimize voltage drop at the device. In an ideal world the voltage would be the same at the battery that it is at the device that is using the battery power.
Ok I did a load test on the battery and yes it was definitely a junk battery so I replaced with a new one today thanks everyone for help and also pointing me in the right direction
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