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Batteries discharge overnight sorta


eilybird

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Hope I can get some help here. We bought WICHWAYUP's 18MA and have used the heck out of it. The boat had three Optima Blue tops when we bought it and they functioned flawlessly . The first to go was the cranking battery (its the older of the three) I always bump the motor before we leave the house just cause. Well this time the battery discharged from the house to the bay 2 hours. thought it was a fluke so I took the boat to my weekend place and plugged it in until the next tide. Bumped the motor before I left the house and when I got to the ramp 10 minutes battery was done. Still thinking I could not be losing this battery I bought it its own on board charger. So when I get home or back to the cottage I always plug in but even with its own charger the cranking battery died replaced it with a 6 year old everstart I had laying around lol. I had been bragging about this boat to my buddy since we got it (like all of us that own a maverick MA do) and finally got the chance to take him fishing. Got to the ramp boat started right up on the walmart battry lol. Got to my first stop and the trolling motor wouldn't work. Long story short I ended up nosing my buddy into all the spots and letting him fish that day. Got back home and checked all the wiring etc (because I knew my 2 year old blue tops were ok) turns out they both had 2 volts and I have tried all the tricks to bring them back. Soooo do you guys think that the on board charger for the trolling motors may have worked opposite and discharged the batteries. That's the only thing it could be I use the boat and bring it back and plug it in everytime.

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I've had two brand new Optima Blue tops die within one month of installing them in a 24 Volt trolling motor setup. They were always charged with the on-board charger at the end of each use. I think Optima has some issues with their Mexico production facility. My previous U.S. made Optimas lasted 8 years.

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so I did not turn off battery switch but to be honest im not sure its even tied into the trolling motor circuit. Why would the batteries drain if they are just hooked up to the trolling motor . Thanks for the replies. Update I thought I had recovered one battery but when I checked the voltage it was back to 5 volts. Im giving up going back to Walmart batteries lol.

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Batteries don't last forever.....

 

1.) If a battery is run down completely, the onboard charger will normally not restore the battery as they have circuits that prevent this...what you need to do is be sure you have sufficient water in battery, then using  a trickle charger, bring it back to life...it may take 36-48 hours to bring it back to where it can then be charged by the onboard.

2.) Blue tops are notorious for being great or bad as mentioned above....I suggest you either get some good AGM's and pay the $$$ or some Walmart water filled batteries...they do work but normally only last 2-3 years.

dc

 

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I don’t remember.  I just remember the folks at Master Repair mentioning they should be disconnected from power when not in use, so I have always done that.  Must be some slight power draw.....maybe the GPS is still functioning?

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On 1/7/2018 at 6:01 PM, eilybird said:

so I did not turn off battery switch but to be honest im not sure its even tied into the trolling motor circuit. Why would the batteries drain if they are just hooked up to the trolling motor . Thanks for the replies. Update I thought I had recovered one battery but when I checked the voltage it was back to 5 volts. Im giving up going back to Walmart batteries lol.

You should have a breaker between your tm and batts, but it all depends on how your boat is wired. Sometimes the tm batts are wired as a 12v backup to the switch as backup, jic batts. I'd try.to figure out how your boat is wired first then go from there.

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3 hours ago, JEM said:

I don’t remember.  I just remember the folks at Master Repair mentioning they should be disconnected from power when not in use, so I have always done that.  Must be some slight power draw.....maybe the GPS is still functioning?

Yes, I saw that on the FAQ on Minn Kotta...I sent them a note to see why?  You could be correct...there might be some type of voltage draw when turned off...for me it's simple, just unplug....but, I have not been doing so...but, will now...thank you for the info.

 

dc

 

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Thanks for all the replies. My motor is just a standard bow mount trolling motor. I plan on a re wire here shortly and will no better how the boat is wired. Just find it tough to swallow that 900.00 dollars worth of batteries that are only 2 to 3 years old are bad and a 7 year old everstart is still good .

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Wow you talking about living right. My neighbor bought a boat and it had a bow mount trolling motor. He went and bought 2 new batteries for his boat and never used them . I asked him if he wanted to sell them and he said no but he would give them to me. He gave me 2 brand new Duracell 27 group marine batteries. Save me a lot of money for sure.

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On 1/5/2018 at 11:10 AM, eilybird said:

Hope I can get some help here. We bought WICHWAYUP's 18MA and have used the heck out of it. The boat had three Optima Blue tops when we bought it and they functioned flawlessly . The first to go was the cranking battery (its the older of the three) I always bump the motor before we leave the house just cause. Well this time the battery discharged from the house to the bay 2 hours. thought it was a fluke so I took the boat to my weekend place and plugged it in until the next tide. Bumped the motor before I left the house and when I got to the ramp 10 minutes battery was done. Still thinking I could not be losing this battery I bought it its own on board charger. So when I get home or back to the cottage I always plug in but even with its own charger the cranking battery died replaced it with a 6 year old everstart I had laying around lol. I had been bragging about this boat to my buddy since we got it (like all of us that own a maverick MA do) and finally got the chance to take him fishing. Got to the ramp boat started right up on the walmart battry lol. Got to my first stop and the trolling motor wouldn't work. Long story short I ended up nosing my buddy into all the spots and letting him fish that day. Got back home and checked all the wiring etc (because I knew my 2 year old blue tops were ok) turns out they both had 2 volts and I have tried all the tricks to bring them back. Soooo do you guys think that the on board charger for the trolling motors may have worked opposite and discharged the batteries. That's the only thing it could be I use the boat and bring it back and plug it in everytime.

Hey Eilybird!  Glad to hear you are getting a lot of use out of my old MA!   I still love think happy thoughts about that boat!   What you are describing is new to me - I've never had an issue with discharge on it when I owned it and those Optima's were pretty new when I sold it to you so I'm very surprised they went bad - note to self next time I'm buying batteries!   Keep in mind that the boat only has a 2 bank charger so, unless you've changed the wiring, your house battery needs to be charged by an external charger if/when it gets low.    Also, check the charger indicator lights to make sure you don't have a fault.  The charger leads should have fuses in them - they could have blown, or you may have a broken wire (I had that issue on my new Maverick), or there may be something else going on - but I'd make sure you are checking the indicators on the charger when you plug it in if you haven't already.   

Like you, I rarely turned off the battery switch when I owned it and I never had this issue, so either the batteries got fried or the charger isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing.  Shoot me a PM or call me if you want - or heck, bring her down here and we'll check it out together and maybe go find some fish to "test it out" after we fix it.  :)

Glad to see you back on the forum!

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I added a on board charger when the cranking battery started giving me trouble . I have the wiring all opened up now I think Im going to re wire. I have been hooked on the show Dream Boats and I have a bunch of cool ideas from the show. Everything they work with is older. Looking into sea decking the ole girl (grey with black outlines) . Funny if we are pulling the boat out and anybody is around they always come ask about it and cant believe its a 87. Also going to add some stake out poles to it. Cant afford the power pole just yet.

I might take you up on a fishing trip when it warms a little .

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