Batteries died yesterday on the lake

[LnCoyote]

My trolling motor batteries died yesterday. After removing them I notice the plastic from the securing strap was melted?? How does that happen. Did my battery explode? I have been noticing the past month that they no longer seem to take a full charge even if they have been plugged in for over 48 hrs. I can determine this by pressing the test button on my trolling motor.

I have had the batteries for 2 1/2 years. They have been recharged probably 50 to 75 times in that lifespan. Is this the expected end of life for these types of batteries? Are there better batteries that will last longer and withstand repeated charges.

I have done a little research and have found there are AGM and gel deep cycle marine batteries. Holy cow they are expensive. I am looking at spending approximately 130.00 per battery.

I was planning on taking both of the batteries to autozone for testing. Also I have a picture of a 50 amp fuse...how can I tell if it is blown besides checking continuity with a meter.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

looking at the pics it looks like you were boiling the batt(s) when charging... my bet is that in 2 1/2 years you weren't maintaining the water level in the batts and one of both got low
The "fuse" you show LOOKS to me to be a circuit breaker
I didn't see any hold down straps or anything melted in your pics... I DID see something potentially very dangerous... a metal seat post stored with the batts.... the wrong unexpected wake and it could land on top of them causing a dead short and possibly an explosion. (unless of course they normally mount in another separated compartment)

 

[Grandad]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Also I have a picture of a 50 amp fuse...how can I tell if it is blown besides checking continuity with a meter.

There really is no better way to test a fuse than a continuity check with an ohmmeter. A voltmeter test for power showing proper voltage on one side and no voltage on the other is also reliable. The voltage test also confirms the integrity of the fuseholder as well.

 

[LnCoyote]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Thanks smoke! Yep they are stored in a separate compartment. I have never put water in the batteries. Nor have I ever put water in my truck battery. How often and how much watermark I supposed to add? I took all three (two deep cycle and one cranking) to autozone. They are attempting to charge them.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

when cycled fully, a deep cycle battery is subject to MUCH more charging (and water loss) than a starting battery and you should check the water level every few months... at least spring and fall.... you need to keep the water level above the plates at all times... 1/4-1/2 inch will do.... top off with distilled water only... do not fully fill the battery though as you need a little expansion room in there to allow gasses to escape without making acid leak out

 

[spdracr39]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

The circuit breaker in the picture is in the good position and should be letting voltage pass. When it is tripped that little yellow bar will stick out and to reset it you just push it back in.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

when cycled fully, a deep cycle battery is subject to MUCH more charging (and water loss) than a starting battery and you should check the water level every few months... at least spring and fall.... you need to keep the water level above the plates (you can see them looking in the holes) at all times... 1/4-1/2 inch will do.... top off with distilled water only

 

[tomn916]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

top off with distilled water only

+20!

A friend of mine was a live aboard and she would top her house batteries with dock water, which often ran brown from the hose, because "it was too hard to go out and buy distilled water". I never could get her to understand why those batteries would only last a year or two.

 

[pckeen]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Is your charger working properly? Is it a smart charger - one of the ones that will prevent overcharging and overheating the battery?

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Im new to this forum but not new to batteries. First you got 2.5 years out of trolling batteriers your doing better than me. I do tend to overcharge them because when its time for me to use trolling batteries I will cycle them to death and then there ignored. i concidered 2 years sometimes 3 seasons good. I rairly of ever use them any more. I did not see the melted points your talking about

Gel batteries in my opion are for mounting in non tradtional positions only. They are slow to recover a charge in fact I have seen them not come back to life with poor jumper cables and require 20 minutes on a fast booster to bring them back to even enough state of charge to turn and engine over so run from them for boating purposes. I like Interstate. And if you can move to 6 volt batteriers assuming you need 12 volts not 24 or 36 for your trolling motor you will get longer use and longer life span. When you pick your first 6 volt battery up you will know why they work long last longer and cost more. They are heavy. RVs use 6 volt batteriers and they perform better than 12 volt for complete charging cycles. As far as chargers go more money isnt always the cure slower less abusive chargers can extend the life of a battery a year or two but I dont have time for that I have a hand full of chargers I also keep my batteries in a heated shop over the winter and charge them with my trickle charger a couple times when not in use and off the ground on a wood shelf I have heard the left and rights of this I still dont keep my batteries on the floor.

Some tips one is get some thick rubber mats for under your batteries I have access to the really thick car floor mats as i am in the Auto field. hard jarring of battiers does shorten there lifespans. I have found some genuine Subaru back seat floor mats to be very cushy and about the right size for the smaller series boat batteries and two fit on one mat almost perfect.

next I do not use BUTT HEAD CONNECTORS ( crimp connectors) solder eyelets where ever possible. A propane torch on its lowest flame possible put a board or something under it to protect your boat make sure you have no gas fumes and solder everything possible smaller than 10 gauge wire, can be done with a solder gun 8 gauge or larger a torch is best. After soldering i put a small dab of silicone ( the glue no lube) on the wire and edge of connector then wrap them with electrical tape i use red glue and tape for positive and black for negative;. After you practiced this youll know how much silicone is just right you want it to just spread out of the first wrap. I have soldered connectors done this way in the water line that are 15 years old without issues. Butt head connectors are good for amature car stereo installers. So any place you can solder solder. Next marine connectors are not the same as Auto connectors dip one of each in salt water and then let them sit a week. Youll know which one wont work in a boat.

Testing circuit breakers if you have one of those tube inflators on your boat ( the air pump that makes so much noise you think your under attack from a dozen jet airplaines) this draws enough current if it fires off your circuits good. A test light will light even if the connection or breaker wont carry a true load so its a poor way to test a circuit. We like to use headlight bulbs in the Automotive field but we have access to them.

topping a battery use RO or distilled water if possible and the plates should have 1/8 to 1/4 coverage. More than that and they will vent gasses with liquid vapors all over the place when charging or bouncing around, if the plates are exposed its never good. Water with heavy metal or mineral content is bad RO water is the best distilling does not remove some metals while it purifies water its not as good as RO water and most grocery stores sell it now. Most of your bottled water is just RO water as long as they have not added minerals back to it after filtering it with an RO water filter.

I also like to build my own battery cables and replace any cable ends powering anything I also do way with those heat shrink sections because the crack and strecth and allow water in then prevent it from evaporating which is how you kill a connection let water get into something and then prevent it from evorating. The silicone mething i mentiond does not do this. I also like to make my cables because they then fit without putting stress on the wire the terminal or the battery posts. most generic cables are allways a foot to long or 3 inches short. Custom made cables you make to fit your boat. My main battery cable is double 00 I do not like dead batteries we have fast current and rocks not to mentiion some of the fishing i do is combat marine style drifting into another boat because today was the day my cable ends failed me is not on the menu.

 

[LnCoyote]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Thanks for all the helpful information everyone! First of all I took all three batteries to autozone. Two of them were giving a reading to "check cables" and one of the deep cycle batteries seemed to test "good". I left all batteries at autozone for 2 hours for a quick charge. All three batteries took a full charge and tested good!

After getting the batteries home I tested them again with my mm. The cranking battery and one of the deep cycle batteries tested above 12.6 v while the other deep cycle tested at 12.4 v. Hmmm.... I guess I could have one bad battery thAt is pulling down the other two or.... A bad battery charger. I currently have a Promariner 3bank 20 Amp onboard smart charger. After tons of research today I found several poor reviews on the ProMariner that described early battery failure and even battery boiling. ouch!!

I do believe one of my DEep cycle batteries boiled because I found melted/disintegrated battery strap.

I added distiller water to all three batteries and rewired. I will be keeping a close eye on voltages over the next 3-4 days and then I plan on hooking it back up to the charger and keeping an even closer eye on it.

I am worried I will be investing in another inboard charger soon.

 

[Fed]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Thoroughly clean the top of the batteries to prevent leakage.
Get the battery terminals where the lugs sit shiny clean & apply a tiny amount of vasalene to the lugs.
Replace the terminal wingnuts with proper nuts & washers.

 

[LnCoyote]

Re: Batteries died yesterday on the lake

Resolution:

The battery charger had 1 bank that was fried. Soooo, I guess the one bad bank was not charging one battery which it turn, depleted my other two batteries which were trying to compensate.

I replaced the ProMariner charger with a new Pro Sportsmen 3 bank charger and it's working well. All three batteries survived the fallout and are displaying full charge after being pulled off the charger for 3 days. They are Interstate flooded Marine batteries by the way.

A happy but expensive ending....I guess it could always be worse.