Trolling motor/battery problems

[mrbadfish]

I have left my boat sitting for about 3 months, and seem to have trouble getting a charge on either battery, (I have one for the engine and electronics and 1 for the trolling motor). When I was usuing it frequently, I could run as long as i ever needed on the trolling motor, on a charged battery. I would throw it on the charger after every use. This is a motorguide 36#thrust foot control model. The reason my boat has been sitting is because it had some mechanical issues that I just got around to taking care of. After making the repairs that were needed, I went to crank the engine and noticed that it had a rough time getting fired, with typical symptoms of a weak battery, so I hooked the trolling motor battery up to the engine, and it was even worse. I charged both batteries for at least 8-12 hours each, because I recently bought a 30#thrust motorguide for my canoe, and ran it for the first time today. When i first hooked it up to the battery it ran just as strong as I suspected it would. So I splashed the canoe and went for a ride, just to kinda test it out, as I have never run this canoe/trolling motor rig before. This canoe is very basic, and the only real weight in it was myself and the battery. Though I was fighting a decent current, It seems to really start lagging after only an hour. After getting home i connected it to the battery one last time just to see, and it was definitely running weak. I am led to believe that my battery charger is where the problem lies because I have left the boat sitting before for a while, and charged the batteries and had no problem. Is there any way to tell if it is the batteries or the charger? I plan on taking both batteries to Advanced Auto tommorow and having them run a free test on them. Any ideas??

Thanks guys,
Mrbadfish

 

[mrbadfish]

Re: Trolling motor/battery problems

PS!!! the new trolling motor i bought is a motor guide 30#lb thrust model T34 transom mount.....What type of life should i expect on a fully charged battery??

Thanks

 

[jtexas]

Re: Trolling motor/battery problems

As you know, batteries will self-discharge. Sitting around in a discharged state leads to permanent sulfation. So, each time, they get progressively weaker.

The auto store test will tell you about these, but best practice is to charge 'em up every couple weeks. Or better yet put 'em on a smart charger that keeps 'em charged.

Let us know.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Trolling motor/battery problems

When the weather is warmer you need to charge them more offten to prevent damage.
In winter once a month is fine maybe even two month but in summer the self discharge is faster and damage starts faster so keep then charged.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Trolling motor/battery problems

How long a trolling motor will run on a full charge is very subjective. Size of the motor, the speed its run at, the size (capacity) of the battery, type of hull, size of hull, size of load, are critical factors in how hard the motor needs to work. The motor will run far longer on a canoe than it would on a regular boat. As was suggested, have the batteries load tested. If the trolling motor battery is not a Deep Cycle, you really need to replace it with one. The starting battery can be a Marine Starting battery, As for the trolling motor battery, buy the largest capacity you have room for. You can't have too much capacity, only too little.

 

[b.gagnon]

Re: Trolling motor/battery problems

Did you check the water level????