battery / charger question

[ky_boater]

I have a question related to the setup of my onboard charger and also a question related to the starting battery.

1. The onboard charger question is related to a minn kota mk315D charger that I purchased new about 2 years ago and setting it up in a 24v setup. I have one set of cables going from the charger to a Die Hard Platinum 850 CCA battery, another set going to one battery setup in a 24v setup and the other set of cables going to the other battery in the 24v setup. I am wondering if there is an issue with this ?

2. I also have a question related to the Die Hard battery. I use this battery for starting the motor (120 hp) and it has already seemed to have gone bad. I charged the battery for about 6 hours the other day. When I stopped charging it, the meter showed that it was about 50%. I came back down 2 days later and it was now showing 10%. I don't know if this battery is already dead or if there is some other way to confirm before taking it back to get it replaced. I did try to crank the motor and it would barely crank the motor a few times.



Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: battery / charger question

1/ sounds correct for the minn kota mk315D as thats a 3 bank isolated charger so each battery gets one set of charger cables no matter what combination they are wired in

2/ either the battery is bad or there is a power drain on the boat. you can try to unhook the battery then charging it to see if it will hold a charge. As the battery has been seriously drained more than once the battery may be bad and will need to be tested at a auto-parts store (they do this for free). Your charger should indicate if the battery has a problem but it might be a good idea to check the water level if the battery is not a maintence free type.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: battery / charger question

Disconnect the positive lead on the battery but leave the charger hooked up. Now see if it charges fully. If it does, take it to any auto store and have it load tested. If it's bad, it's bad and there is nothing you can do about that. If the battery still doesn't charge, check the voltage at the battery with the charger connected and powered. It may be the charger output for that battery has gone south. Again, if it's bad, it's bad. But yes -- as was pointed out, something left powered in the boat will suck the battery flat.