Battery is allways dying....

[stack08]

1989 force 125 and 1990 17' invader
Well here is the problem if I take the boat out it will have power to run but then come home.the next day I go to start it at home to make sure it runs before I head out and the batt. Is almost dead.I checked to make sure everything was off the day before when I got home.

Could it be that while it sits at home something is draining the batt.how would you find something like that.

The batt. Is new.
I was thinking of putting a batt. Selector and shutoff to stop the draining.anybody else have this problem?

Your input would be great.

 

[IMPATIENT 1]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

a parasitic draw is easy to find if ya have a multimeter or amp gauge handy. if you have a fluke or digital multimeter, set it on the dc amp setting, disconnect the negative side of the battery, use 1 lead of the meter to the battery negative cable, and use the other meter lead to the negative post. if its drawing amps, you should see it as amps on the meter. you can do the same thing with a amp gauge by just installing it between the battery negative and negative cable. ok, now you're seeing your draw as a actual amp value, it may show 2amps, whatever, but that's the amps that's being pulled outta the battery. start unplugging stuff 1 at a time tell that amp reading shows 0. whenever you unplug something and see the amp draw go away, well that's the component drawing the battery down

fyi, most mulitmeters only have a internal 10amp fuse to protect itself from amp overload, so don't try starting the thing with the meter in between the battery and the cable, it'll smoke your meter faster than the 10amp fuse can blow. tried to teach a new guy at the dealership how to draw test monday, and sure enough he reaches over and bumps the starter, lets the smoke outta his 300 buck meter brightened my monday up,lol.

 

[IMPATIENT 1]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

a lower tech way to do the same test is to use a regular ole 12volt test lamp, disconnect the battery , clamp the ground end of the test lamp to the negative post on the battery, stick the lite end into the negative cable clamp so it holds on. if its drawing the test lamp will lite up, start unpluggin stuff until the lite goes out, whatever makes the lite go out is the part drawing.

i don't use that much anymore cause most radios pull alil amperage to maintaint presets, stuff like that and will give off a real weak lite on the test lite.plus 99% of what i work on is newer than 2006, and there's 10-20 computers drawing a bit to keep their memories

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

Look under the dash and check to be certain that the gauges are drawing power from the "I" terminal of the ignition switch, not the battery itself or the "B" terminal to which the red battery wire should be attached. Gauges (Tach, voltmeter, temp gauge) must be powered from the "I" terminal which only has power while the switch is in the on or run position.

The gauges draw so little power that you will normally not notice the draining of the battery during the day, unless you picnic for at least several hours. Leave it overnight or longer and the battery will be drained.

If you have an automatic bilge pump, and the boat is kept in the water, hull leakage will cause it to run and drain the battery.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

IF you try the procedure stated above withe the negative battery terminal and find nothing. Do the same with the positive side. If you touch the positive terminal with a test light to the disconnectedf positive cable and it lights, you have a short somewhere. Procede disconnecting things one at a time as prescribed above to pinpoint.
Of course, you also want to measure what the motor is putting into the battery to make sure it is charging.
A cut off switch is not a bad idea (in general).

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

are you sure your motor is charging. the force did not have the best output for charging. if you are running other equipment off the starting battery, the motor will not keep up.

 

[stack08]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

well I got the radio but I don't even use anything on it.I go out find my spot anchor and then head back the next day if I go out it's almost dead.

I got the bigger battery that says it's for starting and to use with onboard electronics.

I'm gonna do the switch with 2 batt.now should I get a starting batt. Or use the one I got for starting and the other for electronics.

How do I check to see if the motor is charging the battery.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

You need to do two things. You have not yet determined why the battery is going dead and unless I missed it, you have not determined if the battery is good. Something is killing it. The only way to determine WHAT is killing it is to start disconnecting things one at a time. Simply turning things off is not a test. OR, as was pointed out, use a test light inserted between the ground cable and the negative post on the battery. Then disconnect stuff. Have you had the battery load tested? A bad battery will not hold a charge.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

You need to do two things. You have not yet determined why the battery is going dead and unless I missed it, you have not determined if the battery is good. Something is killing it. The only way to determine WHAT is killing it is to start disconnecting things one at a time. Simply turning things off is not a test. OR, as was pointed out, use a test light inserted between the ground cable and the negative post on the battery. Then disconnect stuff. Have you had the battery load tested? A bad battery will not hold a charge. To see if the engine is charging the battery, you need a voltmeter. Measure the battery voltage with the engine running at 1500 RPM. You should see anything over 12.6 (preferably in the 13+ range). Less than 12.6 volts says the engine is not charging and you likely have a bad diode in the rectifier/regulator that is allowing reverse current flow. Without re-reading every response here, I think all of these things have been pointed out so unless you actually do some checking you won't know what's up and we've done about as much as we can do.

 

[stack08]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

Ok I'm gonna start by doing the stuff above and well get back with what I've found...thanks guys great help......

Thanks

 

[jlinder]

Re: Battery is allways dying....

When you run your engine let us know what the voltage was under 2 conditions:

1. Turn off everything you can and read the voltage.
2. Turn on a number of accessories (lights, radio, etc) and measure again.

Let us know