Battery Drain Problem.....?

[cnccustom]

I charged my Battery (deep cycle Marine) for 25 minutes on a fast charge 30-35 amps last weekend after battery went dead out on the water after it would not start late in the day.....Today (Sat) took it out again and had a Great Charge when Launched,Drove around for 4-5 hours and shut it off for about 1/2 hr. and battery was low and would not Start and eventually Draining the battery.....Cables are Tight

What seems strange is if I shut it off for only a few minutes it starts right back up but if I let it sit 1/2 -45 min. its hard to start and drains battery quickly......I thought it was a bulb problem last week and put a new bulb (Stays firm now)and in the driveway I let it sit for 45 mins. and it started right back up (with muffs of course )

I have had the boat out about 4-5 times.now and last week was the first time I had to charge the battery

I know now I need a Battery maintainer of about 10 amps but thought the charge I put on it should have lasted at least 1 day out.....Does this sound like a Battery Drain Problem or did I just not get a good enough charge ?

Battery looks new but not sure how old it is

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

[colour=blue]I vote - not enough charge. If that is how you have been maintaining the batt, it is possible that it will not accept a full charge now.

Needs to be tested with a hydrometer to see if a cell is bad, Also, a load test is in order to determine general condition.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

Autozone can load test your battery. Need to see what the terminal voltage is with a 200 ampere load; at full (what you think is full) charge. A number like 11+ volts is what you want.

If the battery is good and you have a charger that reads amperes (which most do) you can watch it fill up and by the time it gets down to a couple of amps you should be good to go. That is how you tell a good battery is fully charged.

Then after sitting for 24 hrs (to stabilize from charging) the voltage should be around 12.75 volts.

However, if it is sulphated up the charge is there but it can't be delivered because it can't pump the required current.

Usually sulphating is associated with old age.

Also, unless it is sealed, check the water level.

HTH,

Mark

 

[cnccustom]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

thanks guys ...will get it load tested

 

[jpollman]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

thanks guys ...will get it load tested

I've got a link to a site with some very good battery information. It's got a nice FAQ section that covers a lot of area concerning the care, use, and maintenance of batteries. I don't know if I should post the link here or not. If you'd like to see it drop me an email and I'll send it to you.

Basically I always charge my deep cycles as soon as I get home from using them and top them off. I keep them topped off whenever they're not in use. A battery that is allowed to get discharged and stay that way for a long time will get sulfated. Deep cycle lead acid batteries don't develop "memory" like nicads. I hear people talking about that all the time. A lot of the info I have gotten from a couple of sites state that it's much better for the longevity of the battery to use it and recharge it as soon as possible after use. Oh yeah, I believe that it's also better to recharge a battery SLOWLY than fast. I almost always recharge my batteries on the 2 amp setting. Also if you try to throw a fast charge on a battery with a big dose of high amperage, it may look like it's fully charged but some of that is just a "float charge" that will dissipate very quickly when under load.

Again, just send me an email and I'll send you the link to that battery site.

Good luck!

John

 

[cnccustom]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

thanks guys ...will get it load tested

I've got a link to a site with some very good battery information. It's got a nice FAQ section that covers a lot of area concerning the care, use, and maintenance of batteries. I don't know if I should post the link here or not. If you'd like to see it drop me an email and I'll send it to you.

Basically I always charge my deep cycles as soon as I get home from using them and top them off. I keep them topped off whenever they're not in use. A battery that is allowed to get discharged and stay that way for a long time will get sulfated. Deep cycle lead acid batteries don't develop "memory" like nicads. I hear people talking about that all the time. A lot of the info I have gotten from a couple of sites state that it's much better for the longevity of the battery to use it and recharge it as soon as possible after use. Oh yeah, I believe that it's also better to recharge a battery SLOWLY than fast. I almost always recharge my batteries on the 2 amp setting. Also if you try to throw a fast charge on a battery with a big dose of high amperage, it may look like it's fully charged but some of that is just a "float charge" that will dissipate very quickly when under load.

Again, just send me an email and I'll send you the link to that battery site.

Good luck!

John

sent you a pm..thanks

 

[cnccustom]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

Bought a blue top Optima deep cycle today along with a 10 amp maintainer/charger.......put the charger on my old battery and it took 8 hrs to charge it...will use it for my bait tank.........Thanks guys

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Battery Drain Problem.....?

Glad you got your problem solved.

Mark