Odd trolling batt issues

[CatFan]

So, after sitting all night (without charger plugged in), the batts now show 13.10 & 13.11 with a meter.

I've let the trolling motor run a few minutes, will it hurt it to turn it on "constant on" and let it run for an hour or so? I'm assuming the motor is cooled by the housing being underwater so I didn't know if it would build too much heat running dry.

I do plan to load test when I can get to it just to see what it shows.

Your motor would be destroyed in an hour. Don't run more than brief bursts to avoid overheating.

It doesn't make sense that your voltage would rise overnight. 12.65V is full charge on JCI batteries. When you first unplug the charger you'll see a surface charge, which will be about the output voltage of the charger, for several hours, but it will decrease to 12.65V over that time.

In your first post, you mentioned the Optima which made me think the TM batteries were Optimas, which have a 13.1V full charge voltage.

Have you checked the electrolyte level in your TM batteries?

[JOEALLY]

Your motor would be destroyed in an hour. Don't run more than brief bursts to avoid overheating.

It doesn't make sense that your voltage would rise overnight. 12.65V is full charge on JCI batteries. When you first unplug the charger you'll see a surface charge, which will be about the output voltage of the charger, for several hours, but it will decrease to 12.65V over that time.

In your first post, you mentioned the Optima which made me think the TM batteries were Optimas, which have a 13.1V full charge voltage.

Have you checked the electrolyte level in your TM batteries?

The AC Delco voyagers (trolling batteries) have the green indicators showing as”green” for good on the levels. I have not removed the caps.

The 12.7 readings were a few minutes after running the trolling motor for a few minutes. The13.10 readings were this morning after it sat at rest all night.

[CatFan]

The AC Delco voyagers (trolling batteries) have the green indicators showing as”green” for good on the levels. I have not removed the caps.

The 12.7 readings were a few minutes after running the trolling motor for a few minutes. The13.10 readings were this morning after it sat at rest all night.

If you have the indicators, your battery is probably an Exide and probably sealed so you can't remove the caps.

For your batteries to measure more than 13V after setting overnight, especially after running the TM some, something has to be wrong with your charging system or your meter. I'd check again this evening.

[JOEALLY]

So, this is what I've found tonight. The stealth gauge shows 25.7 V which is what I'm assuming it should show.

But, when I use a meter to check each battery, they show 13.10 and 13.11.

So, I think my meter is off so I check my truck battery, it shows 12.7. Then I check the optima cranking battery and it shows 13.13.

I checked all of them a couple of times to verify the readings and it was the same each time.

I just get the feeling my cheap meter is not consistent.

[NOTGSXR]

So, this is what I've found tonight. The stealth gauge shows 25.7 V which is what I'm assuming it should show.

But, when I use a meter to check each battery, they show 13.10 and 13.11.

So, I think my meter is off so I check my truck battery, it shows 12.7. Then I check the optima cranking battery and it shows 13.13.

I checked all of them a couple of times to verify the readings and it was the same each time.

I just get the feeling my cheap meter is not consistent.

Joe. Get a new Volt meter and Call Danny @ Stealth1. I spooke to him today since i switched to AGM's so i had some questions. Let me tell you.. This guy had me do some tests between all 3 batteries (with a good volt meter) and was so extremely helpful.... he also tried to educate me on the workings of the system and such... Couldn't ask for a better and more productive phone call. He has a good understanding of battery science and can help you out!

[JOEALLY]

Joe. Get a new Volt meter and Call Danny @ Stealth1. I spooke to him today since i switched to AGM's so i had some questions. Let me tell you.. This guy had me do some tests between all 3 batteries (with a good volt meter) and was so extremely helpful.... he also tried to educate me on the workings of the system and such... Couldn't ask for a better and more productive phone call. He has a good understanding of battery science and can help you out!

Yes sir, a good quality volt meter is in my future.

I'm also starting to think that maybe I just drained the batteries harder than I thought I did. I took the charger off Sunday morning and they still show 25.7 volts on the stealth gauge.

[NOTGSXR]

I have to get that gauge too... in bet it's helpful

[hooken203]

I don’t think I would let the trolling motor run for an hour. By what you describe I don’t think you have a breaker problem but I would check them anyway just to make sure one isn’t popped. There’s 2 of them right near the charger just see if you can reset either one. I have had one pop for no apparent reason. Reset it and never have another problem. You really need to get them out fully charge them and have them tested. Any auto parts store can do it. Either load test or impedance test will show you a bad one. Delco voyager batteries want a charger with a higher finish voltage than most so a lot of guys never get them fully charged.

[JOEALLY]

I don’t think I would let the trolling motor run for an hour. By what you describe I don’t think you have a breaker problem but I would check them anyway just to make sure one isn’t popped. There’s 2 of them right near the charger just see if you can reset either one. I have had one pop for no apparent reason. Reset it and never have another problem. You really need to get them out fully charge them and have them tested. Any auto parts store can do it. Either load test or impedance test will show you a bad one. Delco voyager batteries want a charger with a higher finish voltage than most so a lot of guys never get them fully charged.

I checked the breakers, they were not tripped.

I have access to a load tester but it will be end of the week before I can get to it.

Thanks for all the help guys.

[mgeod]

I think its the batteries as well , I had a set in my boat when I got it . Charged them .. checked with fluke meter.. good one if you know meters.. load tested .. all checked good .. lasted about 30 minutes on water.. Load tested again and they were very weak.. tested with meter .. 3 volts ..

[JOEALLY]

Well the battery issue finally showed itself yesterday.

I have not had a chance to take the batteries out and have them load tested since I first had the issue, my wife and I both in grad school, new job, son's highschool football, blah blah blah.

Anyway, I went fishing a couple of weeks ago local but only for a few hours and the stealth gauge never dropped below 25V except for a brief moment or two.

Well yesterday, we took the boat out and I stayed on the trolling motor a decent amount of time. After 5 hours of fishing, I put the trolling motor on high to cross the lake & it did what it did the first day, the volts started dropping from 25V down to 18V. So, I pulled out my meter and checked the batteries. 12.7V on 1 battery & 5.7V on the other.

So, as suspected, one is weak after a short run time. Now, the question is what to replace them with? I've given a lot of thought to a single 24V lithium but I think I may just go back with AGMs this time due to the $$$ factor, but haven't decided yet.

My son has a high school tournament at Guntersville this weekend so I've got to get new batts this week.

The scenario I have now:

Johnny added a new Optima Blue Top D27M for the crank battery just before I bought the boat. The current trolling batts are AC Delco Voyagers.

I've thought about moving the optima D27M to the troller & buying another to match it, then buying a larger 31 series battery for the crank, pumps & electronics.

I've always heard not to add a new battery with an old battery for the troller & I think the crank battery is recommended to be a minimum of 800 CCA to crank an optimax and more if running pumps and electronics. I don't have large electronics so I'm only running HDS5s & the livewell pump so I have had any starting issue so far. But, if I'm going to spring for batts, I'm trying to make the best moves.

The cheapest option (without adding a new batt to the old) is to keep the optima as crank and buy 2 traditional trolling batts but I think I'll at least buy AGMs & buy the lithium later. But I'm still kicking around a single 24V for the trolling motor.

Any thoughts?

[CatFan]

Wouldn’t even consider an Optima 27 in a 24V TM system. Very tiny capacity compared to almost any other battery.

[CPA Basser]

Check out the Northstar AGMs if you decide to stay AGM. They have more than enough CCAs and excellent reserve capacity. They are not cheap, but they compare very favorably to most AGM alternatives.

[JOEALLY]

Wouldn’t even consider an Optima 27 in a 24V TM system. Very tiny capacity compared to almost any other battery.

Understood & Thanks.

Well, now there is more to the story. Either I need glasses or a better flash light because I thought the water levels were ok but tonight I pulled the caps after I got the "bad" battery (the one that fell to 5.7V during use Saturday) out of the boat and all three of the reservoirs on one side of the battery were pretty low. Then I double checked the levels in the "good" battery and they were also low.

The "bad" battery is already in my truck so I'm going to have it load tested tomorrow just to see but I filled the water levels & it took a charge fine.

My question is, what's the chances that the "bad" battery was just low on water and that's why it ran ok for a 3-4 hours? In other words, what's the chances just adding water will help it last a normal length of time?

I don't have a lot of knowledge on batts so I apologize if that's a dumb question.

I'm also still not sure which is the date code. On the battery (not the label) is stenciled "13JHM" into the battery itelf and on the label there is serial "56707", there is "1961044" and "M 123R"

[JOEALLY]

The battery load tested "good" of course

[CatFan]

Well, now there is more to the story. Either I need glasses or a better flash light because I thought the water levels were ok but tonight I pulled the caps after I got the "bad" battery (the one that fell to 5.7V during use Saturday) out of the boat and all three of the reservoirs on one side of the battery were pretty low. Then I double checked the levels in the "good" battery and they were also low.

You had said earlier that your batteries had floating "eye" condition indicators. I don't know of anybody that makes one of those or even has ever made on that had removable vent caps.

[Johnny Maxwell]

The battery load tested "good" of course

That is great news Joe. Even with the aggravation it is a lot cheaper than new batts! You've been running that boat so fast you blew the water out of the batteries!

[JOEALLY]

You had said earlier that your batteries had floating "eye" condition indicators. I don't know of anybody that makes one of those or even has ever made on that had removable vent caps.

This is the battery, the indicator I'm talking about is right by the blue label. The caps of both batteries popped off with barely any effort at all, I assumed they were the normal type to check water levels.

[JOEALLY]

That is great news Joe. Even with the aggravation it is a lot cheaper than new batts! You've been running that boat so fast you blew the water out of the batteries!

Well I'm not convinced that the battery is ok but it's all just part of owning a boat so I'm not sweating it!