"Ruined" battery....dealer's fault?

[pond monkey]

I just picked up my boat from being winterized by a local reputable dealer the other day. When I took it in, the battery was fully charged and working fine as far as I know.....I use it weekly.
The motor is an '05 Yammy 60 hp with efi. I have used it two seasons now....it's the battery's second season too. I have a battery tender and I used it the 5 month "off season" last year and it has been performing perfectly all season .
When I went to hook the boat up to leave the salesman informed me that the battery was dead and he "wondered" why. He said the key must have been left on and said that I should throw a charge on it when I get home. Then a few minutes later the counter guy was walking by and "apologized" for the dead battery as if he knew something about it.
I went home and pulled out the battery and hooked up my "Vector Smart Automatic " charger and it indicated that the battery now has either an "internal open cell" or a "sulfated condition" and needs to be replaced.
Does this makes sense? Coincedence or should I press them on it? What do you think?
Thanks in advance....Pond Monkey

 

[gss036]

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I think you should go buy a new battery. The one you have will probably have a warranty on it from the mfg and if you get the same make/model battery, it may not cost you anything if under warranty. Batteries go bad, open cell is a common failure and should be covered.

 

[Texasmark]

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I have had problems with these new hot dog electronic battery chargers with all their fancy sensors and monitors.

If the battery is more than slightly discharged you can get all kinds of funny readings. I have tried 3 of them and had similar problems. I have a farm with 7 tractors plus battery operated fence chargers, 4 trucks, and a boat with 3 batteries. I have plenty of batteries to support my response.

I currently have a Schumacher marine charger rated at 10 amperes that is as simplistic as I can find and it seems to be working fine. Does everything I need. The boat has a built in charger and is 5/5 amperes....seems to be doing it's job. If I needed to charge the engine's battery , I'd use the Schumacher......after I disconnected the engine from it.

2 seasons is a little short on battery life. If the guy left the key on it was more than likely an accident that could happen to anyone.

Doubt that you will sulfate a battery in 2 years and a dead sell is usually due to sulfates falling to the bottom of the battery and getting across + and- plates. Higher the current rating of the battery, the larger the surface area meaning that the plates stick farther down into the case which makes them more succeptible to sulfate scale however.

My 2c

Mark

 

[steelespike]

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Be sure you are connected directly to the battery post and unhooked from the system.See if there is a basic charge function on the charger or a boost setting If the battery was stone dead the charger may be confused until the battery reaches a partial charge.If the battery is stone dead you may need to use boost to get the charger to work and after a short time change back to the regular setting.Sometimes if there is a bad cell the charger will remain on an abnormally high charge rate
a sure indication of a problem battery.

 

[Fl_Richard]

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I have seen completely dead batteries not charge with the fancy chargers. If the charge current is almost nil as witha really dead batttery they willnot charge. I've had to "jump start " my charger with a 12 battery so it reads a charge current. After a few minutes the fancy charger can charge on it's own and the battery will be fine.

 

[DJ]

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Batteries quite frequently just "die" for no apparent reason.

If it's sulfated, you MAY be able to resurrect it. You've got all winter to try.8)

Put a small load on it, like a 12 volt light. Let it go 100% dead. Charge it and repeat the process several times.

It may come back.

 

[pond monkey]

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Thanks alot everyone..
Pond Monkey

 

[wbeaton]

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Pondmonkey,

You might be ok since this battery was only fully discharged once, it will probably come back after you equalise it. It sounds like your charger thinks you have a bad battery and won't attempt to charge it. You are right to have a good marine charger. A good charger can prolong the life of your batteries. I like the ones that continuously charge at 10A and then automatically switch to 2A once the battery reaches 80-90% full charge. I don't care for "smart chargers" that diagnose. Either way, you need to get this battery on charge ASAP.

If you equalise your battery it may come back in one charge. However, you may need to beg, borrow or steal a manual or otherwise constantly outputing battery charger. Even an automotive charger will work for the first step. Whatever charger you use, do not charge at over 15 amps. I prefer 10A. Allow the battery to slightly overcharge for a while. Stop charging after the battery fluid has bubbled for a while, but before it starts to boil. At this point, switch the charger to trickle charge at 2A with a good trickle charger overnight. (Your battery charger would be good for this step). The next day, remove the battery from the charger and let it sit for about 3 hours. After the battery has sat for 3 hours or so take a voltmeter and read the battery voltage. If it's over 12.8V you are golden. Anything less than 12.4V and you should discharge the battery by putting it under load and recharging using the previous steps. You don't need to recharge your batteries like this all the time, but you should do it occassionally to avoid sulphation. Also, use a voltmeter to take readings. Don't trust what the battery charger says the voltage is.

 

[pond monkey]

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Thanks alot everyone.
I was finally able to use my "Vector" to fully charge the battery and it's right at 12.8 volts now. I don't know why it was showing an" internal open cell" at first, but that was evidently wrong. The instructions are a bit confusing and I was doing something wrong initially, I guess.
I do have a battery minder to maintatin my 2 batteries thru the next 4- 5 months of down time. So I think that all is welll...

Thanks again......Pond Monkey

 

[Texasmark]

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Yeah I think Vector was the name of the chargers I threw across the shop.....got them at Wallyworld.

Mark

 

[deejaycee_2000]

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I didn't know you are a farmer mark? What do you farm with? ....

 

[MrBigStuff]

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>I currently have a Schumacher marine charger rated at 10 amperes that is as simplistic as I can find and it seems to be working fine.

I'll second this!! I bought one of those "smart" chargers and it was a piece of junk. It claimed to have fully charged the battery and my "stupid" charger that has worked flawlessly for 15 years charged it for an additional 3 hours to top it off. I had that new charger for three days before I took it back. At $100+ I can buy three of the simple chargers but they are getting harder to find.