Battery is dead

went out to charge the boat battery after having stored it in the garage all winter and it wont charge. Was able to charge the trolling motor battery but the starter battery seems to be dead. Ill take it somewhere and get it tested but its a bummer. im a first year boat owner and i thought it would be good to just leave it in the garage and charge her up in the spring, but come to find out since talking with co-workers there is a lot of maintanance to go into keeping a battery healthy. They are almost down right complicated! over-charging, under charging gel, wet-cell, flooded cell, AGM… well lesson learned. next year i will bring the battery inside and put it on the charger once every 3-4 weeks. Get those batteries charged up boys its almost time!!!

I leave my batteries in the boat in an unheated garage all winter, no problem. I also have a two bank on board smart charger that keeps them topped off and ready to go. (I have the Minnkota MK210D). It’s a good investment. These newer chargers check the battery level and shut themselves down so you don’t over charge or boil the water out of the battery. They even check the air temperature and adjust accordingly. When I get home I plug in the charger and walk away; it’s that simple.

Sorry to her about your battery but at least you found it at home, it didn’t quit out on the water.

SR

I don’t think being outside is the problem, but did you make sure the battery had a full charge when you put the boat away?

nord wrote:

I don’t think being outside is the problem, but did you make sure the battery had a full charge when you put the boat away?

Not too sure about that. i am a novice boat owner and just learning the ropes. i took it to the dealer and had them winterize it and took it home to the garage and havent fiddled with it since. you saying aside from maybe making sure that the battery is fully charged before storing it i didnt do anything wrong?

I think you did everything else right. The only other thing I can think of is the age of the battery?

Also, was the battery disconnected? I’d always make sure it is disconnected before storage.

boat was purchased brand new last summer, battery came with the boat. i did not disconnect anything from the battery while it was in storage

crappie55369 wrote:

boat was purchased brand new last summer, battery came with the boat. i did not disconnect anything from the battery while it was in storage

That was most likely the problem. There’s a small load being placed on the battery, either by “always on” features on electronics or by a small short. It zapped your battery and damaged a cell. Game over.

Go visit everybody’s favorite store, Fleet Farm, and buy a terminal mounted disconnect switch for both your batteries. About $5 each. Throw the disconnect switch when you store the battery and it shuts everything down cold. End of problems.

Grouse

thanks for all of the suggestions guys. i just got off the phone with the marina and they offered to have me bring it in however he suggested that with the charger i am using, minkota MK 110P if the battery is completely dead it will not register that a battery is there to charge? he suggested i throw it on a car battery charger for an hour or so at 10V and then try to charge it. good advice? anyway i thought i would try his advice and see if that helps. If i do need to get a new battery anyplace you guys recommend? i do like me some fleet farm but i always heard interstate batteries was the best store to go battery shopping at.

Absolutely! Try the car charger. You have nothing to lose and with all the sensors and do-dads in chargers these days, the MK charger may be fritzing out because of some “safety” feature.

Hook ‘er up and see if it charges.

You have checked the water level in the cells, right?

Grouse

If I am not mistaken, you have an Alumacraft? I bought a 2014 Competitor last year, and found out the hard way that the radio has a constant draw. I had a dead battery when I got it home from the dealer the first day(They neglected to tell me about the radio). When I took it in for service at a different dealer, they told me about the radio issue. They said it will go dead if not used every 4-5 days. They suggested what Grouse said, to put a switch on it. I put a battery tender on, and plug it in when not in use. FYI, my battery was shot and Interstate replaced it for free.

Nut

My batteries come out of the boat every fall and down the basement. While I have a good 4 bank charging unit in the boat I don’t trust it. Even if fully charged, they might not make it through a really cold winter. Not a big fan of replacing all four batteries to often.

Use a smart battery charger. They are pretty simple actually. Initially they supply a high current to a somewhat discharged battery (or one in need of charge). Then they apply a very light charge once the battery is changed to maintain the level of charge. All batteries will self discharge if left uncharged, for a lengthy period of time. This is true even without any external loading.
As for the cold all it does is reduce the available charge the battery can supply. That’s why they have cranking amps and cold cranking amps rating. Notice the cold cranking amps is always lower the cranking amps rating. I bought my charger at Sears > 12 years ago it’s worked fine ever since.

joc wrote:

Use a smart battery charger.

I’ve become a fan of smart chargers also. Use a four bank all season long.

BUT, when winter comes, if i’m not going to fish the dam, i pull it in the basement and set it on a trickle charger down there all winter long. i built a timer that turns on the trickle for 1/2 hour a day.

This has worked for me. i learned the year i had to replace all four batteries at once. $500 lesson…

Totally agree with Stu. Cold storage may or may not harm your batteries, but it sure doesn’t do anything GOOD for them either.

I put all my boat, lawn tractor, etc batteries under my workbench in the basement. Each gets a full charge first. They sleep in climate controlled comfort all winter. I don’t even bother to trickle charge them or top them up, but again it wouldn’t hurt.

In the spring, none of them needs more than a 10 minute top-up to be ready.

Grouse

Grouse

Everyone learns once.

BOAT = BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND

Batteries take a lot of care to get the best out of them.
The 4 in my boat were hooked up to smartchargers all winter, keeping them maintained. Cranked it over tuesday and everything is good to go. $500+ in batteries is almost like buying tires…You gotta take care of them to get maximum mileage!

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Everyone learns once.

BOAT = BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND

Batteries take a lot of care to get the best out of them.
The 4 in my boat were hooked up to smartchargers all winter, keeping them maintained. Cranked it over tuesday and everything is good to go. $500+ in batteries is almost like buying tires…You gotta take care of them to get maximum mileage!

i sure am learning that lesson!

I would hope if your boat was only a year old and if your battery was shot it would be covered under warranty.

All new boat with EFI and fish locators like lowrance HDS or the New hummingbirds draw minute amounts of electricity all the time even when off and will kill your battery. My dealer installed a battery kill switch on my system when he installed nema 2000 system for my multiple Lowrance units as it draws power even when off. And my batteries are hooked to on board charger whenever boat is not in the water. I know a guy in the battery industry. Batteries are stored in cold storage. Cold is not the enemy if they are fully charged. Heat and vibration are much worse. There is no need to bring them inside as they would be kept topped off and refrigerated by the manufacturer. He worked for interstate. He said best thing is a battery tender or onboard charger and a battery killswitch to prevent draw when not in use.

Mwal

crappie55369 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
Everyone learns once.

BOAT = BUST OUT ANOTHER THOUSAND

Batteries take a lot of care to get the best out of them.
The 4 in my boat were hooked up to smartchargers all winter, keeping them maintained. Cranked it over tuesday and everything is good to go. $500+ in batteries is almost like buying tires…You gotta take care of them to get maximum mileage!

i sure am learning that lesson!

Really not a lot of care. Just remove from boat and but on trickle or preferable a smart charger.
Take a car battery let it sit for 4 months and try and turn over the engine with it. Chances are it will have self discharged to much to do this. If a battery has self discharged to a certain point it cannot be recharged properly due to buildup on the internal plates.
Good luck

Must be the age of the battery. This has happened to me too. I had stored the boat at a boat storage service as I have been doing for a few years now, and when I took it out after winter I found that the battery is dead. The age of the battery was the reason for this. Disconnecting the battery when you put it in storage is also a good step. There are many such things for de-winterizing the boat, this article will tell you more about it http://www.migsonstorage.com/blog/jumping-back-in-the-water-how-to-de-winterize-your-boat/

sold batteries for years, it happens that batteries go bad. usually they have a good wwarranty as long as you have proof of purchase. most people think cold weather hurts a battery, its the heat but you normally see them go bad because the cold weather your cranking harder on them than in the summer.

Crappie, that sucks but there’s more to come so don’t quit your job. I sold my last boat and opted for a canoe and it’s no different. I have well over $3000 into it and accessories and about to pull the trigger on a canoe trailer and hitch for the car, and likely another pair of batteries myself. Hint #1: never tell your wife about any of the money you spend fixing your boat or upgrades and you’ll get years of enjoyment both out of the boat and your wife Hint #2: Any floatable fishing device is nothing more than a hole in the water you throw money into.

I used to go through batteries every couple of years
till I traced my draw down to the radio station memory wire.
Once I put a switch in to remove the draw down when parked,
I never bought another battery for that boat.
several years.
I did keep it charged up, including at least once a month during off season.
This boat was stored outside and the battery was not disconnected.
just eliminated all the draw downs.