battery question

[DYNATRAK]

my boat hasn't been out in a while. i cleaned her up yesterday, put the batts on my schumacher charger, the one walmart sells that has gotten a lot of good publicity a while back.

i put it on, my starter battery was at about 10%. charged all night, it's a trickle charger, etc.

went out the next morning and it was flashing 'bad batt', which i thought was odd, the batter is not old, maybe a year or two.

so i unplugged. that night threw it back on the charger and it charged normally up to 100%

question: could that have been just a weird anomally? anyone have experience with schumacher and this situation?

not concerned too much, just curious. the battery is an everstart i believe from walmart, i don't mind taking it back, just thought it might have been an anomally.

[walkeraviator]

you may have simply not had a good contact on the terminals...

[coombro]

you may have simply not had a good contact on the terminals...

Lots of people make this mistake and its easy to do. Only to be dissapointed when ready to head out. The clamps on the charger wires also will loosen up after time an overlooked situation. May charge fine one time,but not the next.

[billm_usa1]

The schumacher charger is pretty funky with low charged batteries. I have to hook up another charger for about 10 minutes and then the schmacher will charge correctly. There has to be something in the software that shuts it down due to exteamly low voltage.

[Duayne]

Batteries can get so low that a charger will go into protect mode. I had one that did that. Moved the battery to a different charger for a while, then moved it back to the other charger and it charged it right up.

[DYNATRAK]

Makes sense to me.

[AndyG]

I have the same charger. If something happens and the battery gets unhooked or if the power goes out in the middle of charging, it will say 100% when I hook it back up. I actually have to run some of the charge down to get it back where it left off. Caring for marine batteries is confusing to me anyway, even after reading all the internet says about it.

However, the pair of walmart batteries Ive had have been doing fine since spring of 09. Thats with killing them about 3 times a week. So Im satisfied.

[elnutsmalljaws]

Much better on the batteries to keep them charged to full capacity even when not taking the boat out. Not saying they must stay on a charger all the time but periodically charging them will help. Every so often, I will even click my trolling motor on "Continuous" mode and let the batteries drain over the night with the trolling motor running, then plug up the on board charger the next morning to re charge from time to time.

[Raydaver]

Much better on the batteries to keep them charged to full capacity even when not taking the boat out. Not saying they must stay on a charger all the time but periodically charging them will help. Every so often, I will even click my trolling motor on "Continuous" mode and let the batteries drain over the night with the trolling motor running, then plug up the on board charger the next morning to re charge from time to time.

Aren't you afraid of burning your seals out? My motorguide manual says not to be running it out of the water because it could damage the seals and added wear to the armature/ brushes.

[elnutsmalljaws]

Aren't you afraid of burning your seals out? My motorguide manual says not to be running it out of the water because it could damage the seals and added wear to the armature/ brushes.

I don't do it that often but if my boat is out of the water for more than a couple of months I will do it. I have a Minn Kota with variable speed and put it on the slowest speed as possible as to not build up much heat. Been doing it for several years and never had a problem. Maybe I should investigate it further before doing it next time but it has worked well. I also hook up a black light from time to time and leave it on for a couple of days and they discharge as well. Works the same but takes a lot longer to discharge the batteries. I guess it is better to change a blacklight bulb than seals in the motor.

[Raydaver]

I don't do it that often but if my boat is out of the water for more than a couple of months I will do it. I have a Minn Kota with variable speed and put it on the slowest speed as possible as to not build up much heat. Been doing it for several years and never had a problem. Maybe I should investigate it further before doing it next time but it has worked well. I also hook up a black light from time to time and leave it on for a couple of days and they discharge as well. Works the same but takes a lot longer to discharge the batteries. I guess it is better to change a blacklight bulb than seals in the motor.

I just bought a new one for $700 and they're not getting any cheaper. So anything that can be done to extend the life is a good thing. It's even tougher trying to explain to the wife WHY we need it. HA! HA!

[elnutsmalljaws]

I just bought a new one for $700 and they're not getting any cheaper. So anything that can be done to extend the life is a good thing. It's even tougher trying to explain to the wife WHY we need it. HA! HA!

My wife knows I am SICK. I am a confessed Smallaholic. The first step is admitting that you have a problem.