bulldogfandan Posted April 6, 2014 Posted April 6, 2014 Today I took my jon boat out for only the second time. I have a ever-start 27 dc battery hooked up to a Minn Kota C2 30 trolling motor. It was me and my friend in a ten foot Jon boat. We were out on the water for 3 hours. For about half the time we were on speeds 4 to 5 to get us to where we needed to be, 30% of the time we were slowly moving at speeds 1 and 2, and for about 20% of the time the trolling motor was stopped. Towards the end up the trip, the battery was really weak and hardly powering the trolling motor at all, even though we started the day with a full charge. I thought a deep cycle battery would last us a lot longer. Comments? Quote
Kevin22 Posted April 6, 2014 Posted April 6, 2014 How did you store it over winter? could have went bad on you if you did not keep it topped off and on a trickle. Quote
bulldogfandan Posted April 6, 2014 Author Posted April 6, 2014 Just got it about two weeks ago. Quote
Super User slonezp Posted April 6, 2014 Super User Posted April 6, 2014 If you are sure it was fully charged and all connections are clean and tight, take it back to walmart and have them test it. 2 Quote
Kevin22 Posted April 6, 2014 Posted April 6, 2014 Make sure your connections are not corroded. If so, then take it back. It should last A LOT longer than that. They will load test it for you and see if it is good. Quote
bulldogfandan Posted April 6, 2014 Author Posted April 6, 2014 What do you guys mean by connections? Are you talking about the bolts that hold the wires of the trolling motor to the battery. One of them was missing when I bought it, so u just used an old one I had laying around. Quote
Super User slonezp Posted April 6, 2014 Super User Posted April 6, 2014 I'm going to assume on the ends of the trolling motor wires you have ring connectors http://www.grainger.com/category/ring-terminals/wire-connectors/electrical/ecatalog/N-iq2 that fit over the 5/16 bolt on top of the battery and you tighten the nut down on top of that. Make sure these connectors, the battery posts, and the nuts are corrosion free. Any kind of loose or corroded connections will affect trolling motor performance. It's also recommended you install a fuse close to the + terminal on the battery. Minn Kota recommends a 50 amp fuse for your motor. 2 Quote
Super User Way2slow Posted April 6, 2014 Super User Posted April 6, 2014 Couple of things to look at. If there is a problem with the battery connections, they will be getting fairly hot after you run on high for a while. If they are even getting warm, they need to be cleaner and tighter. Check the date sticker on the battery, that's the day the battery went to the store. Most dealers use a round dot. some melt it into the battery, with a letter and number some use two numbers but the first one is the month starting with Jan being A, the second is the year. Make sure you didn't get a battery that has sat on the shelf too long. I will not buy one that has been on the shelf more than four months. I have seen them in the early part of the season that has been on the shelf since mid last year. Those a pure junk. Next you have to pay attention to your run time. That battery is not an infinite power source, actually very far from it. You can figure you have about 80 usable amp hours before it starts loosing significant speed. This is a break down of how much that motor is pulling on the different speeds. 1 - 8 amps motor is basically useless. 2 - 10 amps approx. 10 hours run time 3 - 14 amps approx. seven hours run time 4 - 20 amps approx. four hours run time 5 - 30 amps approx three hours run time You get a longer run time at the lower speeds because the battery is not working as hard and is more efficient. So, if you run on the 5 setting for two hours, you have used up 60 amp hours, that only leaves you 30 amp hours for the rest of the trip which would be about three hours on the 2 setting. If you want to fish eight hours, never go above the 3 setting. Of course, then you are going to be spending more time getting from point to point than fishing or learn to troll along the way. 2 Quote
Team_Dougherty Posted April 7, 2014 Posted April 7, 2014 Add another battery ... If you do. hook them in paralell. Each battery will provide half the current and you will get a longer run time than hooking up to one battery at a time and running it dead. 1 Quote
Super User F14A-B Posted April 7, 2014 Super User Posted April 7, 2014 Yes sir.... Running them parallel ..I shoulda made that clear.. Thank ya Team_Dougherty! That's a great way to run you're electric motor Quote
Gotfishyfingers? Posted April 8, 2014 Posted April 8, 2014 Just got it about two weeks ago. Have you charged it since you bought it? What type of charger are you using, does it have a trickle charge? Quote
Super User WIGuide Posted April 10, 2014 Super User Posted April 10, 2014 You need to look into the first few responses you got on here. Make sure it's charged, check you connections, make sure fluid level is full. If everything is good, take the batter back to Walmart and have them check it out. I had a very similar setup and I could run 6-8 hours on a 27 series. Yes there was a noticeable power drop by the end of the day, but it was basically like you dropped it down a speed. 1 Quote
kanasbassfisher08 Posted April 10, 2014 Posted April 10, 2014 yeah and this is fyi for every one with batteries. if you store your boat over winter make sure you fully charge them before because if it gets cold and its not charged the electrolites fail out and dont come back and you can be buying a new battery. but in your case i would check charge and maybe wait a day or two and see if its still charged or if it held at a high charge or even got to a high charge if not i wouldnt spend money on another everstart thats for sure! my buddy works at a walmart and sait they get 80% back off each pallet. Quote
tnriverluver Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 I'm going with you need to take it back. You can definitely get a bad battery from time to time. My Wallyworld Group 27 will run my 45lb MK all day no issue. My group 29 is good for 2 days in most cases if the wind isn't too bad. How was the wind on this day, that can make a very big difference especially with a jon boat. Quote
Super User Way2slow Posted April 11, 2014 Super User Posted April 11, 2014 yeah and this is fyi for every one with batteries. if you store your boat over winter make sure you fully charge them before because if it gets cold and its not charged the electrolites fail out and dont come back and you can be buying a new battery. but in your case i would check charge and maybe wait a day or two and see if its still charged or if it held at a high charge or even got to a high charge if not i wouldnt spend money on another everstart thats for sure! my buddy works at a walmart and sait they get 80% back off each pallet. Well, I thought I had heard it all over they years of dealing with batteries, but that's one I've never heard.. To store a battery over the winter, it's always best to keep it on a good maintainer, like in many onboard chargers or a Battery Minder, and check the levels every two or three month if it has removable caps. If you don't have a maintainer, the battery should be stored in a cool place and have a top off charge every six to eight weeks. High quality batteries have a much lower self discharge rate than lower line batteries, such as the Wal-Mart battery. Improper storage will let the battery self discharge below that magic 80% charge level where the plates start to sulfate, over time they can become so sulfated, there is no bare lead plate surface to transfer electrons. A mildly sulfated battery can be desulfated by on of the high frequency maintainers like the Battery Minder, but once it has had time to get heavily sulfated, the only thing that going to get it off then is caustic soda. I'm not going into go into that because it can be a dangerous process for the layman. Now, as the battery discharges the specific gravity drops, going more to the water state than acid. The acid and water stratify, with the acid being heavier, going to the bottom level and the water above it. That's also why a discharged battery will freeze a barely below freezing temps and a fully charge battery will take some extreme cold. So, what it boils down to, let a battery sit discharged for a month or even a few weeks, it's total junk. Quote
kanasbassfisher08 Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 Well, Well thanks for the in depth addition but yeah that's what I ment lol I thought I had heard it all over they years of dealing with batteries, but that's one I've never heard.. To store a battery over the winter, it's always best to keep it on a good maintainer, like in many onboard chargers or a Battery Minder, and check the levels every two or three month if it has removable caps. If you don't have a maintainer, the battery should be stored in a cool place and have a top off charge every six to eight weeks. High quality batteries have a much lower self discharge rate than lower line batteries, such as the Wal-Mart battery. Improper storage will let the battery self discharge below that magic 80% charge level where the plates start to sulfate, over time they can become so sulfated, there is no bare lead plate surface to transfer electrons. A mildly sulfated battery can be desulfated by on of the high frequency maintainers like the Battery Minder, but once it has had time to get heavily sulfated, the only thing that going to get it off then is caustic soda. I'm not going into go into that because it can be a dangerous process for the layman. Now, as the battery discharges the specific gravity drops, going more to the water state than acid. The acid and water stratify, with the acid being heavier, going to the bottom level and the water above it. That's also why a discharged battery will freeze a barely below freezing temps and a fully charge battery will take some extreme cold. So, what it boils down to, let a battery sit discharged for a month or even a few weeks, it's total junk. Quote
kanasbassfisher08 Posted April 11, 2014 Posted April 11, 2014 Sorry didn't mean to repost like that stupid phone but yeah thanks for the in depth explanation. I think most guys don't realize how easy it is to f up your own batteries I've done it my self being lazy and costed me money! Quote
Super User Sam Posted April 13, 2014 Super User Posted April 13, 2014 Alonerankin2, on 06 Apr 2014 - 11:50, said:Add another battery ... Agree. Always try to take a second battery as a backup. If you think there is something wrong with the battery take it back with your receipt and get another one. Quote
bulldogfandan Posted April 13, 2014 Author Posted April 13, 2014 I took it to Wal-Mart a couple of days ago. They load tested it and it said "Good Battery" We returned it anyways though and I tried the new one out and it performed in the same manner. Quote
kanasbassfisher08 Posted April 13, 2014 Posted April 13, 2014 yeah i would say twin up batteries 24 volt system and your problems will be solved or get away from walmart stuff. run. as fast as you can. i promise had the same issue as you are haveing and switched to interstate went to basspro batts and cabelas batts. no more issues but those are 3 to 5 year batteries and thats what i learned about walmart batteries. Quote
Super User Way2slow Posted April 13, 2014 Super User Posted April 13, 2014 You can't run a 12 volt TM on batteries connected to make 24 volt system, which would be connecting the batteries in series.He would need to connect the batteries in parallel, positive to positive, negative to negative, and keep it as a 12 Volt system but with twice the run time. Of course then you have almost 100 pounds of batteries to deal with. For what you are trying to do, I'm not sure why you didn't get the group 29, but that water over the dam now. I'm afraid you are just asking more from that one battery then it's capable of giving. I've have paddle back a many a time after just fishing a few hours and running across the lake on high a couple times on just one battery. They just don't last long when running around on high. Quote
Traveler2586 Posted April 13, 2014 Posted April 13, 2014 Two items no one has touched on is: When adding water to a battery, only use distilled water and don't over fill the cells. second, make sure all electrical connections are shiny clean and use dielectric tune-up grease on all connections to help prevent oxidation. Just my two cents... TIP: Here is a very good link for learning about batteries. http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/index.htm Quote
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