Battery drainage

[Hook1]

A few times now during an outing I go to start my motor and it is DEAD! emoBang One incident was a 5 hour dogfight I was in and hardly ran the motor and luckily I was a few hundred yards away from the ramp and had time to troll over. This never happened when I had my cheap graph up front but I recently upgraded to a Humminbird 788 ci HD. My thought is if I dont preriodicly run the motor do my two HBs draw enough juice to drain the cranking battery. I can always jump start the motor from my trolling batteries but on one occasion all batteries were too weak to jump it off emoBang All the trips I've taken and ran the motor once in a while, theres no problem. The motor is charging because when I crank it and idle up my guage reads 12.5 to 14 volts. emoScratch Should I take my electronics off the cranking battery and connect to my trollers? Really confused and tired of worrying about getting stranded. Had the battery tested and it was good and the water level was good. Out of ideas. Please chime in everyone and emoThanks

 

[rodbuilder2]

Your electronics should not drain the battery they pull only a small anount of amps i would have the starter checked and make sure it is not getting hot and not working also when they checked the battery did they put it under a load if not it could have a bad cell and not holding charge hope this helps

 

[Oldman]

sounds like battery needs to be checked.i just went through the same thing.i went to interstate and bought the 119 pound monster battery.i hope my problems are over.

 

[EricM]

Rodbuilder2 and Oldman are correct. The amp draw on those electromics is miniscule and there is no way that they are the cause of the problem. I agree that the battery is the most likely culprit. I have had batteries that charged up and checked good, but would lose their charge. I have no idea why.

 

[jbh3]

You probably need to upgrade your cranking battery. You should also make sure it is fully charged after every trip. Do not depend on your outboard to keep your cranking battery fully charged. Check out the Sears Platinum or similar AGM's.

 

[stratos21xl]

I can't speak for HB's but the Lowrance HDS units pull 3 to 4 times more current than a standard or analog graph. I have a HDS-5 and 8 with structure scan and my first night trip out with them last year left my group 27 battery dead. I upgraded the battery to a Group 31 and haven't had anymore issues.

 

[EricM]

Your H-bird specs suggest that with about a 650 milliamp draw, a good battery of 110 amp hours would theoretically run it for 169 hours. If you are having any battery trouble, it's NOT because of the power draw of your sonar unit (Lowrance included).

 

[Oldman]

ditto

 

[stratos21xl]

EricM - 6/17/2011 9:41 PM

Your H-bird specs suggest that with about a 650 milliamp draw, a good battery of 110 amp hours would theoretically run it for 169 hours. If you are having any battery trouble, it's NOT because of the power draw of your sonar unit (Lowrance included).

not arguing with you but I had been out several times before I added the HDS units and never had an issue nor have I since I went from a group 27 to a group 31 battery. I don't see how these units won't pull more current. It's like saying an old analog TV will use the same amount of electricity/current that a High Definition TV will use.

 

[Hook1]

I recently had the battery tested and they said it was ok but they may not have put a load on it. The battery is charged before every trip. It just seems like if it dies if I dont use the big motor much. WHen I run it on and off there are no issues.

 

[mheat911]

What starting battery are u using. I just went the same problem that u are dealing with. I would fish a dog fight and by the end, would have to jump my motor off to get it started. Had my alternator tested and it was fine. Then I started thinking that my 2 HDS units and structure scan may be draining it as they were new to me. After having Ty at Nichols check it out, he found the culprit to be my battery. I had a dual purpose battery as a starting battery. I was informed that even though it was a big battery, it just didn't have the initial burst of juice to start the battery after I had fished for several hours. I went and bought a plain cranking battery (27) and can fish a 10 hour tourney with livewells on and not have a problem. Hope this helps. I know how frustrated u are getting as I felt the same way

 

[go blue]

i has the same problem so i charged the battery and took it to auto zone and had them put a load test on it and find out that the battery was no good. the battery was only 10 months old. try this first

 

[bluewingjb]

Hey Blue I like your idea, I too am having battery issues. I am about 90% sure its the battery. Where and what brand is a good battery that wont break the bank???

 

[TOMMY 20RXD]

The problem may be your batt. is sulfated.

 

[shadow2]

if you are running a Pro XS you need to check the reserve capicity of your batteries. . The proxs is a power hawg when starting.

 

[digitalcb]

I have a similar problem. I traced it to leakage in the electronics. so I just put in a $3.00 battery disconnect switch.</p>

You may have an electrical leak too. With everything off disconnect a battery cable. If it sparks when you touch the cable terminal to the post you have a leak. It's just a tiny spark and I done it scores of times in the last 50 years without a battery explosion. You can always attach one long wire to the battery post and one to the cable terminal and then touch the wires together outside of the boat.
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I tried putting on a 12 volt solenoid but since it had to hold closed the whole time I was running it got real hot.</p>

I worked in maintenance type stuff for years and the first rule is "it's usually the simplest thing".
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