batteries!

[etommy28]

ok so I have a problem! I keep killing my cranking battery. I fish alot of lakes where I will set down in 1 or 2 spots and fish all day and catch fish early so my live wells have to go on. this keeps killing my cranking battery. I am looking to see if any one has ever heard of putting a 2nd battery on a swith or something of the sort to make it so if my first one dies I have a 2nd one.

[Hot Rod]

How old is your craking battery?

I run my wells all day in the heat of summer plus all the other accessories and have never had an issue even when only firing up the motor once or twice a day to change spots. 

The only exception for me is when it needs to be replaced, which for me is about every 3 years on the crankin' battery.

[fishfordollars]

i run my livewells and all electronics all day and it never affects my battery.

you must have a weak battery or something is causing a drain that keeps it at a lower state of charge. Have you noticed your electronics shuting down when you start the outboard? this can be a sign of a weak battery or a bad connection.

[Carrington]

you may want to look at your battery and get a new one.  i run my livewells all day but i leave my electronics connected to one of my 2 trolling batterys.  if it dies on the water hook your engine to a trolling battery thats what ive done.

[Fishing Rhino]

Check your connections.

My starting battery failed today.  Started fine at the ramp.  Started fine two or three other times.

Got to the far end of the pond I was fishing, which was the downwind end of the pond, and the motor barely turned over.

Pulled up to a dock with the tm, disconnected the cables from one of the tm batteries and connected the starting cables to it.  Started right up.

The volt meter was showing 14 volts when I was up on plane.

But, when I disconnected the cables, all held in place by wing nuts, the surfaces were black, not making good contact.

Went to the ramp, got the jumpers from my truck and reconnected the batteries as they were, after I did a little scraping of the contact areas.

Jumped the starting battery with one of the tm batteries.  Fished the rest of the day w/o a problem.

[slonezp]

Check your connections.

My starting battery failed today. Started fine at the ramp. Started fine two or three other times.

Got to the far end of the pond I was fishing, which was the downwind end of the pond, and the motor barely turned over.

Pulled up to a dock with the tm, disconnected the cables from one of the tm batteries and connected the starting cables to it. Started right up.

The volt meter was showing 14 volts when I was up on plane.

But, when I disconnected the cables, all held in place by wing nuts, the surfaces were black, not making good contact.

Went to the ramp, got the jumpers from my truck and reconnected the batteries as they were, after I did a little scraping of the contact areas.

Jumped the starting battery with one of the tm batteries. Fished the rest of the day w/o a problem.

X2 plus maybe you're not running long enough to charge the battery.

[Fishing Rhino]

Check your connections.

My starting battery failed today. Started fine at the ramp. Started fine two or three other times.

Got to the far end of the pond I was fishing, which was the downwind end of the pond, and the motor barely turned over.

Pulled up to a dock with the tm, disconnected the cables from one of the tm batteries and connected the starting cables to it. Started right up.

The volt meter was showing 14 volts when I was up on plane.

But, when I disconnected the cables, all held in place by wing nuts, the surfaces were black, not making good contact.

Went to the ramp, got the jumpers from my truck and reconnected the batteries as they were, after I did a little scraping of the contact areas.

Jumped the starting battery with one of the tm batteries. Fished the rest of the day w/o a problem.

X2 plus maybe you're not running long enough to charge the battery.

It's never been a problem before today.  But, you are right that I only make short runs on the small ponds around here.

I had been having one other electronic problem that now makes sense to me.

The Humminbird 898 started having depth reading problems when the motor was shut off.  Sometimes it was accurate, other times it showed depths exceeding 1000 feet.

The other two sounders had zero problems.

When I'd start the engine, the 898 would quickly acquire the correct depth reading, which made me suspect it was some type of voltage drop with the engine shut off.

Tomorrow, I clean up all the cable connections, including those for the trolling motors.  Will then give all the terminals a good coat of the anti corrosion gunk, and make sure all connections are good and tight.

[Wayne P.]

When you get a new starting battery, get a Dual Purpose type and a size larger than you use now.

Check the connections often and keep them clean.

[buzzjet2]

I suspect you have a group 24 series cranking battery.  If you do end up buying another battery, look at the Interstate 24mxhd.  I have a DFI motor which requires more power plus I am running a ton of electronics.  This thing has never let me down.  It is still a group 24 but it has quite a bit more power.  The other option is to step up to a 27 series for the same reason.  You can never have too much battery power.  Dead batteries have ruined days on the water for all of us.

[etommy28]

what I will most likely do is buy 2 new batteries. and set up a systeam where if one does die I can flip on a 2nd battery. plus that will allow me to turn my power off where I cant not.

[Clyde]

If your gonna use two batteries on the starting engine why not just hook them parallel to one another. Then you will have twice the battery power but no need to involve switches and things. Just dont hook them in a series. Make sure to hook +to+ and neg.-neg.

That would simplify things.

[etommy28]

I want a switch so I can turn the power off when in storage.