2004 Ranger 185VS with 150 Evinrude

[NHbassfisherman]

So I been having this issue where after like 4-6 Hrs of running the TM, (2) HDS12 units, the HDS12 units will start to flicker off and on. Once this happens, my starting motor battery will not crank over my engine. I had it happen today as well. Took it up to my buddys house and we checked a few different things including putting a volt meter on the starting battery and it read 12.5V. So we looked around and he noticed that one of the leads that hooked to one of my main breakers was pretty loose. So he tighten that up and the other lead and figured that's probably not helping. Went to turn the engine over and it turned over faster than it ever has. So decided to go fishing for a few hrs to check and see if it cured the problem. After a couple hrs of using the TM, the 2 units started to flash again. Went to start the engine and sure enough, nothing. But the Bilge pumps works fine as did the Livewells. So I believe we have eliminated the thought of a bad starting battery. Heres the strange part. So after the motor wouldn't even turn over, we decided to still continue fishing and turned off both units as well. after running the TM for a couple hours, we decided to move to another spot and was getting ready to hook up my WeeGo Battery pack to start the engine, which I have had to do 4-5 times over the last couple trips out. My buddy for the hell of it, before I hooked up the WeeGo, hit the ignition switch and the motor took right off, and we had no problems the rest of the trip out. Please, ANY suggestions on what could be causing this intermittent current issue for my starter/starting battery.

[Murph McB]

Those two 12’s are sucking down your Cranking battery. Shouldn’t have anything to do with your trolling motor.

[NHbassfisherman]

Murph McB, Maybe i didn't word it right. Its the starting battery that i thought was getting drawn down by the (2) 12's. After further investigation, the battery is NOT getting drawn down, nor is it the problem. After fishing for a few hours (anywheres from 2-6 hrs), while fishing with the TM, the 2 units will start flashing off and on. At that time, if I try to start my BIG motor, there is NO juice going to the ignition switch. Livewells pump water, Bilge works etc. The other day, when this happened, we decided to turn off the units while they were flashing and continued to use the TM to fish a couple more hours. Got ready to leave and was going to hook up my Battery pack to jump start it but my buddy decided for the hell of it, he'd try to start it first. Took right off like there was nothing wrong and I had no more problems that day. The starting battery is an Interstate 31 series with I believe 800 or 900 CCA. I took off both terminals on the starting battery when I got home and checked them for corrosion etc and put them back on and tightened them up again. My buddy and I are going to chase some wires and see where the other end of the negative lead from the starting battery goes. Could be corroded or loose etc. We checked the battery with a volt meter and its putting out 12.5V. Its not like, the battery is barely turning over the engine due to low voltage. The ignition is not getting any juice and obviously its intermittent, as after its off for not any specific time, the ignition switch is getting the proper voltage and motor starts right up like always. Thinking about hooking the 12's up to a different power source to start with. The boat was fine last season, it just started doing it this season. Going to check the wires on the ignition switch as well but again, why would that, affect the 2 units? Wondering if its a bad ground somewheres, but only affecting the 2 units and the ignition switch.

[Murph McB]

Hope you can find that loose or corroded wire.