Something Draining My Battery?

[kinggabbo]

Hey guys. I think I have something draining my cranking battery. Two times in a row is has not had enough juice to crank the battery at the boat ramp. Also, after trying to crank it the battery poles were extremely hot to the tough. At home the night before, it cranked fine, then I put it back on the charger for a while too. After the first time I check the battery with a hydrometer and it fully floated all the balls. Any suggestions? Is it a bad battery? Could something be draining it? How could I check if something is draining it?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Something Draining My Battery?

Hot battery posts during starting means you have very poor battery cable connections, bad cables (corrosion in the terminal ends), or a starter that is drawing too much current. By the way, you don't crank the battery -- you crank the engine. Don't take offense at that. When dealing with forums using correct terminology helps those help you because we don't have to spend time trying to figure out what one is asking. I suggest you start by disconnectiing the battery cables at both ends. Clean them thoroughly and then reconnect them securely. Make sure you inspect those battery cables very closely. Any lumps or bumps you see in the insulation is a sign that there is internal corrosion. Be especially observant around the cable ends where the cable is crimped. Cut them off and install new ends or replace the cables if they are bad.

 

[kinggabbo]

Re: Something Draining My Battery?

Thanks for the tips Silvertip. I will check on the connections. Here's a stupid question though, when you say disconnect the battery cables at both ends, do you mean the neg and pos at the battery? Or the cables at the battery and then somewhere else as well?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Something Draining My Battery?

He means disconnect both ends of both cables and clean 'em up. Inspect both cables end-to-end for defects and damage.

After you reassemble, make sure everything is off in the boat, and touch a cable to the battery. If you see a spark, you have a serious short.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Something Draining My Battery?

Yes -- I mean at the battery and since a battery cable has another end, it does no good to clean one end and not the other. The other end of the negative cable is bolted to the engine block. The other end of the positive cable is connected to the starter solenoid. WARNING: Disconnect the cables at the battery FIRST! Why? To avoid being called "Sparky" in the future.

 

[ebry710]

Re: Something Draining My Battery?

Battery poles are sometimes call battery terminals.....and they need to be cleaned.