Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

[shaneb0422]

I just got a new pair of wakeboard bindings, way excited to get out there today and try them out...get my board setup, start the boat prep and realize the battery is dead...well I put it on the charger for about 20 minutes till it was holding 12ish volts...we get to the ramp, launch the boat. It won't start, first crank kills the battery. Okay, I brought jumper cables just in case of that. Brother in law pulls his truck down to the banks, I pull the boat in by hand backwards to get to battery compartment. I hook cables to boat, he hooks them to truck, can't figure out why its sparking so bad....We both have working knowledge of electricity. He's a Project manager and I do Electrical plan review and am an assistant field service engineer. First thing that crosses my mind, as anyone who ever jumps a car is. Put the cables on the proper battery posts.
Well, he doesn't...his truck is running, basically welded the Alligator Clips to the battery posts on both vehicles.
Needless to say, we switched them around and got the boat running....run it around for a while getting a charge going on the battery, I come back towards the shore and try cutting it off and turning it back on to make sure its worth really going out. It won't start. I immediately assume battery is fried, problem is, were about 80 feet from shore. I grab ski rope and docking ropes, tie them together and start swimming. Lame. Battery is trickle charging overnight tonight and I will have it tested in the morning.
Hopefully it's fine, if not, I get to spend 150 bucks in the morning so I can try out my freaking boots I have been waiting 2 days to get into to.

Double check what you are doing...always.

 

[Capt Jimbo]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

I saw the words "Brother In-law" and knew this was going to end badly. Actually you are lucky. Some stories with BIL in them end with someone dieing.

 

[Thajeffski]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

So you are both in the electrical business but you can't figure out how to jump start a boat? Man...

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

just a heads up, but you probably know that reversing polarity can destroy A LOT, often more than just the battery. Pretty much any component with an IC in it can be blown out, in either vehicle.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

Rectifier and stator can also get fried.

 

[Westport]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

If lucky, you may have blown some fuse, but I'd say the rectifier box was taken out. Stator should be fine.

 

[woosterken]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

WOW!!your lucky that neither one of the batteries didn't explode.probably didn't do BIL's truck electronics much good either.
you say it started off the jump, but then would not start again, your alternator may have taken a hit also

woosterken

 

[tnduc]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

Kind of remind me of when I installed new turn signals on my Ducati. When I tried them out, blow a fuse. Replace the fuse, goes out again. So, being the smart guy I am put a larger amp fuse in. Try again, melted the flasher box. Oh, wait I had the wiring backwards. Cost $35 for a new box :redface:.

 

[shaneb0422]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

So you are both in the electrical business but you can't figure out how to jump start a boat? Man...

Okay?

Trickle Charge all night...
Battery miraculously works, 7 hours boarding on the lake today.
I do believe it fried my Head Unit though, no tunes.
Stator works fine, seems like the only thing hurt was the HU.

 

[2dbit]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

Edited. I somehow missed your last post indicating that your HU got toasted.

If your lead acid went negative I would do a couple of things. First, I'd be checking the specific gravity of each cell....secondly, I'd bring that battery to an autozone/pepboys/etc and have it load tested. I am running on the assumption that you're using a deep cycle marine battery, which although it's called a deep cycle, even they become damaged when dropped below 20% charge.

Even if your battery voltage is good, that doesn't mean you don't have a cell or two overcharged to compensate for damaged/undercharged cells.

It all comes down to piece of mind. Don't want to get stranded out on the water because your battery can't handle a load.

 

[shaneb0422]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

Edited. I somehow missed your last post indicating that your HU got toasted.

If your lead acid went negative I would do a couple of things. First, I'd be checking the specific gravity of each cell....secondly, I'd bring that battery to an autozone/pepboys/etc and have it load tested. I am running on the assumption that you're using a deep cycle marine battery, which although it's called a deep cycle, even they become damaged when dropped below 20% charge.

Even if your battery voltage is good, that doesn't mean you don't have a cell or two overcharged to compensate for damaged/undercharged cells.

It all comes down to piece of mind. Don't want to get stranded out on the water because your battery can't handle a load.

It might be over charged, not completely sure yet. It ran fine for the weekend trips so I think it's good. I did run up to autozone, they said it was fine. But I also realized all they do is put a load on it? Not sure how they truly determine that the cells are good through that? Either way, I'm right there with you, it's all about peace of mind, I've been stranded in the middle from overheating issues...not fun.

 

[2dbit]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

Well, the load test would probably be that ultimate test to tell you your battery's health. Do you know how many amp hours its rated for vs how many it put out?

I had a severe overcharging incident with a backup sump pump battery (7.5Ah deep cycle) and it took all the cells from registering as <1.1 specific gravity to >1.4... When I'd check before the incident the needle on the hydrometer wouldn't even move...afterwards it floats like it's made of styrofoam.

The charger I had it charging with glitched and wouldn't stop cranking in the amps...8 hours later(we can post that story in stupid human tricks) the battery was so hot you could hardly touch it. There was acid all over the top of it and I was confident I toasted it.

Brought it to a pep boys where they load tested it on two different machines. that 7.5Ah battery registered over 1,000CCA on both their machines. Greatest output was 1,300amps. That's nuts.(tested 3 times total cause I refused to believe it could do that)

My opinion? Toasted or not....if that battery is able to put out more than 1,000 amps....it's good enough for me to trust it to run my backup sump pump

 

[shaneb0422]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

w0w. 1300a on a 7.5ah..

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

I have jumped boat batteries all my life without a problem (at least not an apparent problem) but recently read that boat motors' electrical systems are delicate and that jumping, or even charging a hooked up battery, can do bad things upstream. I think I am going to make good use of my red battery cut-off switch, when I can, to isolate batteries when jumping or charging.

 

[2dbit]

Re: Battery Charge Fail - Trip Fail

w0w. 1300a on a 7.5ah..

That's what i'm sayin'!!!! I REALLY expected like 50.