Burned up Batteries

[Bank Shot]

Had two fourteen month old Delco Voyager Marine Series 27 batteries just go completely dead in my 1996 Champ 221 Elite. I have an on-board full time charger that has always been excellent. I plug it in as soon as I get home each time. Always strong. Then went fishing and the troller just wouldn't work at all. When I got home both batts were dead. Had them checked at dealer--they were cooked. Dealer replaced them under prorate.

Then checked out the Pro-Mariner 20 charger, and it was putting out just 4 volts on one and 0 v on the other. Called Pro-Mariner and they are replacing it under warranty also.

My question is, what happened. One week I go to Fork and they are strong as can be, and the next week, everything is cooked. What could it be? I did notice that the trolling motor was still plugged in at the front while it charged for the week on the trailer. Always have tried to unplug it when I put it away--but goofed. Could that have caused my problem.

Thanks for your help.

[Dspchamy]

do you have them plugged in to an efi outlet? or run a surge protector? the only thing I could think of is a lighting strike that zapped the charger which cooked the battries. Unless the charge had a fault in it that just showed its head.

[Lpolk]

I always charge my batteries with my Troll Motor plug but, with the switch off, which didn't have a affect on the charging anyway. Those chargers do fail because mine failed on me after 2 years of service. Judging by what you said, my bet would be on the charger. I would also check the voltage at the A/C end, to not over look anything.

[Bank Shot]

Thank you for your replies. I'm just trying not to make a simple mistake again.

I would think that if lightning had come through my AC line, that it would have burned one of several fuses in the charging system, or at least a wire. Everything is fine.

I have checked the AC line current and it is 120v. My last set of batteries like these lasted four years, and I used them even more them. So you are saying that it doesn't make any difference if the motor is plugged in while you are charging? That makes sense to me, since the motor is switched off and is not drawing a load. Just had always heard that it should be unplugged.

Paul

[CountyCop]

Unplug your trolling motor. Can't hurt

Good Luck