12 v trolling motor battery doesn’t seem to be taking a charge. early in the third year of the battery. fuse is good. just got a new bow mount locator. going away for the weekend. should i get a new one? any ideas?
Can you try another charger, or a different bank if you have a multi-bank? Might be the charger. I would expect a battery to go more than 3 years, but if it has had a lot of charges, it could be toast. Electrical systems and me go together about as well as making toast in the bathtub, but I know there are ways to test where your problem is. I just don’t know how. Somebody around here will I’m sure. There is always somebody here that knows the answer to every question. 
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12 v trolling motor battery doesn’t seem to be taking a charge. early in the third year of the battery. fuse is good. just got a new bow mount locator. going away for the weekend. should i get a new one? any ideas?
Pull it and have it load tested. Just about any place that sells batteries will throw it on a tester for you… no charge. If the battery is shot you’ll know and it will only cost you the effort spent pulling it out of the boat.
Depending on the battery and how well you take care of it, it could be bad after only a couple of seasons. Did you store it inside over the winter, or did you let it freeze? If it discharged and froze it is probably done for. You could also check the fluid levels, as this could also cause the battery to not hold a charge if the levels are too low. If you have an onboard charger and you suspect it is not working, you might also try a different charger. Another thing to look at would be to make sure the battery posts and leads are solidly connected and clean (not corroded). I normally have my boat dealer check my batteries each spring before I take the boat out, so that is my recommendation if you have time.
An easy way to check your charger is turn it on and check voltage at the battery. If it is 13.5 or higher charger is good. It would be a good idea to try a different charger. Some automatic chargers don`t charge as well as they claim.
To check battery is check voltage with volt meter. Charge the battery and let it sit for a few days volts thould read 12.4 or better. If it reads below 12 volts it`s toast.
Yup you can test them for free like James said, I went to battery plus by me.
Also make sure the “water levels” are good in your battery if there is water lavels.
thanks. i will pull and have checked. i always take my batteries out and store them in the basement every winter. i charged before a trip on Sunday. I’m leaving for the ‘sconni opener on Friday and wanted to do a charge before I left. my trolling motor battery gauge says it is only up to “good”. three out of the four lights.
I second the “checking the fluid level” Most wet batteries that size usually just take distilled water to fill. That still doesnt guarantee it will be good though. As mentioned, get it load tested. The thing I have found with batteries, both cheap and expensive, is if there is a warranty stated, that might as well be the use life. If they will warranty it for 24 months, I have learned not to trust it past 24 months, etc. Of course there are batteries that will last longer than the stated months, but I am just not going to risk a day of fishing on it. In the overall scheme of things, if you own a boat, new batteries are the cheapest way to guarantee a day on the water. I just never understood,”Oh, it should be fine” when it comes to batteries, if I am not 100% sure, it is replaced. My $.02
had the test done and everything is a o.k.
lots cheaper than buying a new battery. should get another year or two out of it.
Something else you could try, depending on your charger situation, is what I have. I bought an automatic charger from Vector that has a function called “battery recondition”. I don’t know what exactly it does, and I do know that it takes 24 hours to run through a cycle, and it may take 2 cycles to clear up a borderline battery, but…. I have had batteries in the past, and now, that wouldn’t take and/or hold a charge. I ran them through a cycle or two of the “battery recondition”, and they are acting like brand new.
Like I said, I don’t know what the feature does, although I have put a meter across the terminals at times while the cycle was running and it has read some very odd voltages (11.3, 7.8, stuff like that). It is some sort of de-sulfation process. Someone smarter than I can probably explain what it goes on, all I know is that it has worked for me in that past!
[quote I bought an automatic charger from Vector that has a function called “battery recondition”.
Like I said, I don’t know what the feature does, although I have put a meter across the terminals at times while the cycle was running and it has read some very odd voltages (11.3, 7.8, stuff like that). It is some sort of de-sulfation process.
Yep your right a slow low voltage,low amp charge will help out a borderline batt by desulfating the plates in the batt.
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I bought an automatic charger from Vector that has a function called “battery recondition”.
I have one of these too, called a ‘smart charger’. I laugh at the name, because it doesn’t always charge a dead battery…I just get an error code. Maybe this is when I need to do the ‘battery recondition’??
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Load test it…
I load test my batteries myself with this:
Its a nice tool to have around as you can check your charging system too. Harbor Freight sells them for around $20, or google battery load tester.
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