Terrova 80lb issues

Last week, after charging both batteries, I got to the lake and had only 2 of 4 red lights on the battery gauge on my Terrova. Sure enough, it died in short order. Figured I had a bad battery.
So today, I metered both batteries, and they were both around 12v. Sure enough, I have 23.5-24v at the plug, motor, and head of the motor. Under full load I was pulling 23.5v at all places as I took the head and base apart and metered all points I could. I even metered the lines going to the battery gauge and got good voltage there. I even took the iPilot head off and put my old compass back in, it made no difference.

Anyone have any idea what this could be? I’ve gotta get this taken care of….really need the motor to catch fish right now.

My buddy Garver says I should load test the batteries, which I think I’ll do tomorrow. That’s the only other thing I can think of at this point.

Anyone else have any suggestions or know something I don’t?

I think Garver has it right fully charged batteries should be minimum 12.5 volts. Easy way to tell is once charged let them sit a day or two and read the voltage should be minimum 12.5 volts any less then battery may have a bad cell.

Sounds like a battery issue :I would load test the batteries and I imagine you have a battery that is not performing. As you are probably aware a 24V is only as good as the worst battery that you have.

if you have a bad cell the voltage will not show this, but a load test will. i would have the batteries both load tested. the other cause would be the electric motor in the trolling motor having internal resistance or operating voltage issues causing a higher than normal draw. another thing is that your charger might not be working right but is unlikely. good luck

Thanks guy, looks like I better get that looked at tomorrow then. I’ve had batteries go bad before, and they’ll read significantly less than 12v, usually. So maybe this’ll be a new one. Thanks

When was the last time you checked the fluid levels of your battery cells.

You would be suprised how fast they evaporate even using minkota smart chargers.

Distilled water to cover the lead plates if needed.
-Mark

Good call, I have forgotten to do that. They’re not even 1 1/2 yrs old yet, but I’ll head out to the garage shortly and take a look.

One more thing that most probably know, but I’ll post as a reminder to those who do not.
The i-pilot is draining the batteries anytime it is plugged in. I’m not sure if this could account for half your battery life, but I make sure it is plugged in only when I’m on the water.

I always unplug my motor when not in use, just for the fact that I know it’s unplugged when the batteries are charging. Something everyone MUST do is have your motor unplugged when charging batteries.

I did not know this though….why would it still be draining the battery? When you have the Terrova in the stow position, the unit is off, as the light and remote indicate.

why do i need to unplug the trolling motor when charging???

The reason for unplugging the motor while charging is because there is a chance that the extra charge going to the batteries will travel up to the motor and its components, and cause damage to the boards. I’ve heard of it happening, and I know for a fact that it does as I had it happen to me once. Never again.

Load tested the batteries yesterday, and sure enough, one of them wouldn’t even test. I put a different battery in and was able to use the motor yesterday. Guess I learn something new from time to time.

Just because i am sure i will run into this at some point…how does a guy load test a battery?

I took my boat to Advance Auto, and the guy climbed up in, hooked up the tester and went to work. Check your local auto parts store (O’Reilly’s, Auto Zone, whathaveyou) and I bet they might do the same.

It was explained to me that it’s harder to load test deep cell batteries because they aren’t built the same way and perform differently than regular starting batteries, but it still seemed to work.