Battery issues

[MAXXIE]

When I bought my boat it had a smaller battery in it & looked old, so I went to wal mart & got a new dual purpose battery. I never got around to taking to old one back in for the core exchange & it's been sitting on a block of wood in the garage. The new one was perfect all last summer, I was out on the water a few times every week & it never gave me a problem. I hooked up a battery charger/maintainer once or twice over the winter to keep it charged up in the garage. This past Saturday I put the new battery back into the boat & slapped the charger/maintainer it's been several days now & it doesn't seem to want to charge back up, the charger/maintainer reads charging (yellow light) but won't go to the charged (green) light. I pulled the battery & put the charger/maintainer on the old one to check to see if it was the charger or the battery not functioning. The old battery went to fully charged (green light) in about 2 hours, but the new one won't. What could have happened to this battery? Do I return it? Just buy a new one? Or, put it on a "real" battery charger & see what happens? Could this battery be shot already? Just confused.

 

[jhebert]

Re: Battery issues

What is the terminal voltage of the WAL-MART battery after it has rested from being charged for three hours with no other loads attached? Please measure the voltage with a voltmeter that has an accuracy of three-percent or higher.

 

[dccordell]

Re: Battery issues

Still have your receipt? Not sure but it sounds like the battery is less than 2 years old? I would take it back to Walmart and let them do their thing to determine if it's bad or not. They will put it on their charging machine for a while, however long it takes to fully charge, then that machine will load test the battery to determine if it's still good or not. The last time I did that, it took just over an hour for the charging/testing, but it did verify that the battery was no longer putting out the CCA it listed as, so they gave me a new battery for free.

Btw, what is the charging rate of your charger?

Always always always save the receipt!!!

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: Battery issues

I do still have the receipt, I tossed it in the toolbox for when I got around to bringing back the old one for core exchange. I've had the new one out of the boat & on charge for about 3 hours now with the same results. The charger I'm using is only a small maintainer/charger, not a real charger. I think I'll give the return a shot this afternoon & see what they say. I don't have a volt meter & wouldn't know how to use or read it anyway, don't know jack about this power stuff. Just like natural gas...If it can kill me & I can't see it or touch it, I don't screw around with it. I'll see what the guy/lady at Wal-Mart says.

 

[dccordell]

Re: Battery issues

The problem could be that your small charger simply isn't putting out enough amps to charge up the deep cycle battery... either way, the people at walmart will figure it out. If the battery turns out good, well at least now you have a fully charged battery!

 

[Boatist]

Re: Battery issues

Battery maintainer can take several days to charge a discharged battery. That one reason I recomend smart charger of 10 amps or More. Even a 10 amp charger can take more than 12 hours to charge a group 27 battery.

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: Battery issues

Boatist, Thanks, I'll look into a better one than I have. I'm not sure what amp it is. Anyway, just wanted to update my situation. I got the "real" battery charger off my father-inlaw & in about 2 hours, maybe less, it was full. I slapped it in the boat yesterday afternoon & it fired right up. I plan on splashing this morning when the rain stops, so we'll see what happens. I plan on warming the motor up in the driveway today, just to be sure things are ready to go at the launch. I hope it's just that the maintainer wasn't strong enough & I have no more issues. I was looking at a new dual purpose at wal mart & for $55.00 They have a battery that's quite a bit larger than the one I have now. I might go up & buy it & set up a dual battery system. Still up in the air on that one. I just wanted to update.

 

[jhebert]

Re: Battery issues

Maxxie--Again, what is the terminal voltage of the WAL-MART battery after it has rested from being charged for three hours with no other loads attached? Please measure the voltage with a voltmeter that has an accuracy of three-percent or higher.