Defective battery?

[N Florida Mike]

A friend gave me this battery for Christmas. Used it once with no problem, but when I got back after the second trip , I saw that the base of the terminal  had melted down and the terminal   sank down with it. Somehow  I didn’t notice it when in use. Thankful it didn’t blow up …

I’ve  used or been around trolling motors and batteries for 40 + years and never had a battery do this. The last battery I had was the same kind and I had no problem. I had it hooked up correctly, and the nut tightened down. I use it on a 40 PT minn kota. I don’t have the receipt from walmart either because it was a gift. Hoping they’ll credit me anyway…

Anyone ever had this happen?

[padlin]

It was new when you got it? You have a 1 year warranty, give it a shot, WM is usually good about returns.
 

looks like a bad/loose connection or just plain faulty.

[N Florida Mike]

Yeah, it was brand new. 

[WRB]

If your friend is still around have him go with you.

Exchanging the battery is a lot easier then trying to refund it for credit.

The positive post grounded over heating it.

Tom

 

[GaryH]

They would almost certainly give you a store credit. Good luck Mike

[Dogface]

Most if not all newly manufactured batteries have a date stamp on them. If it is a Walmart EverStart made specifically for them and the date indicates the battery is less than one year old you should not have a problem.   

[airshot]

Probably a flawed battery, I gave used WM batteries for years with great sucess/ value for the dollar spent

[N Florida Mike]

10 hours ago, airshot said:

Probably a flawed battery, I gave used WM batteries for years with great sucess/ value for the dollar spent

I had one just like it before that was fine but only lasted a couple years. It seems like batteries used to last longer…

I still haven’t had a chance to take it back yet…

[GaryH]

4 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

 

I still haven’t had a chance to take it back yet…

I guess not with the size of the bass you’ve been catching. Looking forward for more pics 

[N Florida Mike]

10 hours ago, GaryH said:

I guess not with the size of the bass you’ve been catching. Looking forward for more pics 

Thanks , but I feel a little behind on my fishing this year. Hopefully I’ll have a good spring. 

[Woody B]

Be careful handling that battery.  Due to the damage it could short inside causing a (small) explosion.  Put it in a sealed plastic bag until you get rid of it.  It doesn't have to be sealed air tight, just to keep acid from splashing out.  

[Dogface]

On 2/15/2023 at 7:05 AM, N Florida Mike said:

I had one just like it before that was fine but only lasted a couple years. It seems like batteries used to last longer…

 

 

They did.

 

I was in Sam's Club last summer getting a car battery replaced under a warranty. The battery failed in less than a year so I got a free replacement. 

 

The battery salesman was in there stocking Sam's shelves. He worked for a big company that made batteries under a number of labels. He told me that the latest batteries being manufactured are junk. He cited a couple of reasons and one of them being that China was buying up the lead driving prices up. In response, manufacturers were making batteries with thinner plates and as a result, they were failing sooner.  

[gim]

3 minutes ago, Dogface said:

He cited a couple of reasons and one of them being that China was buying up the lead driving prices up. In response, manufacturers were making batteries with thinner plates and as a result, they were failing sooner. 

What other problems can China cause right now.  Covid, a spy balloon, worse batteries.  It just never ends with that country, does it.

[GaryH]

15 minutes ago, gimruis said:

What other problems can China cause right now.  Covid, a spy balloon, worse batteries.  It just never ends with that country, does it.

Things I’d like to say. ? 

[gim]

24 minutes ago, GaryH said:

Things I’d like to say.

Some things are just better unspoken.  Let's leave it at that on this one.

[N Florida Mike]

I took the battery back to the store it was bought at , and they didn’t have any of the same kind ?.  They didn’t even ask for a receipt though, and said I could return it at any wal mart in exchange for a new one of the same kind. 

[Deleted account]

On 2/16/2023 at 4:14 PM, gimruis said:

Some things are just better unspoken. 

Sure, but the 7 days not on here does wonders for organizing the garage...

[GaryH]

2 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

I took the battery back to the store it was bought at , and they didn’t have any of the same kind ?.  They didn’t even ask for a receipt though, and said I could return it at any wal mart in exchange for a new one of the same kind. 

Glad it worked out Mike

[N Florida Mike]

Now I’ve been to 3 different wal marts and they are out of that battery. I’m going to keep trying…

[Johnbt]

From the financial pages, "China’s lead surplus to offset shortages in US and Europe"  Reuters | June 14, 2022

The article also says Russia exported 110,000 tons in 2021 and half of it went to Europe. 

 

[N Florida Mike]

I finally found the battery at the 4th wal mart.

I tried it out on saturday, and It did fine. 

Before the thread closes though, I have another question.

Ive noticed that on my 40 lb thrust minn kota the gears don’t do much until I get to 5th. In other words 1-4 there isn’t much difference. When going from 4 to 5 though, there is a big jump. The last 2 40s I had were like that.

Have y’all experienced that as well?

[GaryH]

Rodman reservoir fish beware Mike is back. ?

[Bankc]

1 hour ago, N Florida Mike said:

I finally found the battery at the 4th wal mart.

I tried it out on saturday, and It did fine. 

Before the thread closes though, I have another question.

Ive noticed that on my 40 lb thrust minn kota the gears don’t do much until I get to 5th. In other words 1-4 there isn’t much difference. When going from 4 to 5 though, there is a big jump. The last 2 40s I had were like that.

Have y’all experienced that as well?

What kind of boat are you pushing with that?  

 

Honestly, I've never used a 40#, but on my Minn Kota 30#, it did the opposite.  Big jumps from 1-4, but the difference between 4 and 5 was minimal.  Though my kayak is kind of hull limited at around 6mph.  So that makes a bit of sense.  A leisure paddle pace will get me to 4mph pretty easily, but those last 2mph take some serious effort.  

 

If your boat is fairly light and doesn't have much drag in the water, I could see it doing this.  Basically, at each step on the TM, you effectively double the power sent to the TM.  So usually 5 is 100%, 4 is 50%, 3 is 25%, 2 is 12% and 1 is 6%, or thereabouts.  Speed gains are usually logarithmic to prop speed, meaning the faster you go, the more drag you create, and the more power needed to go even faster.  But if your boat isn't creating much drag, then I could see how you would experience this, as the difference in raw power between speeds 4 and 5 is more than the difference between speeds 1 and 4.  

[N Florida Mike]

I usually use it on my 12 foot J boat, or sometimes the 10 foot bass hunter. It seems to be the same on either one…

10 hours ago, GaryH said:

Rodman reservoir fish beware Mike is back. ?

I wish.

Havent had time to go there in a WHILE…

[Bankbeater]

I had a battery terminal get so hot that I couldn't pull the cable off of it barehanded, but I have never seen one melt down like that before.

I have a 40-pound Minn Kota that I bought back in 2016.  I can notice an increase all settings except 3 to 4.  5 really moves a 14-foot jon boat.