| Well Ken, You have to remember that typically, all boat manufacturers wire their boats
so that EVERYTHING runs off the starting battery with the exception of the
trolling motor. So, that means that your livewell pumps, bilge pumps, radio, locators,
accessories, etc., run off the starting battery. Then, if you're like most
anglers, you run the boat for 5-10 minutes, and start fishing. So, each
time you move, you're discharging the battery as you start the motor. IF
you keep any fish in the livewell, you're running the livewell pumps, which
is discharging the battery even more. If you have a radio in the boat, and
play that, or a gps, or any other 12 volt accessories, you're running the
battery down even further. You then come home and dutifully hook up the battery charger to the trolling
motor battery, topping that off. But I'll bet you never charge up the
starting battery. Unless you're running long distances, your alternator
(assuming it's operating properly) never has a chance to re-charge the
battery. Have the battery checked for dead cells and make certain it's fully charged.
Then, if the battery is all right, check how your boat is wired. I'd be
willing to bet that everything is hooked to the starting battery.
Disconnect everything but the leads for starting the outboard and connect
all these accessories to the deep cycle battery. This way, all the things that will run down your starting battery are
running off the deep cycle and that battery is getting charged after each
trip. Also, if these accessories do drain the battery (batteries), the
worst that will happen is that your trip is cut short. But at least you'll
be able to get back to the landing. I did this with my prior boat, the ProCraft, and that worked great! On the
Cobra, I have the starting battery connected to the on-board charger so that
all batteries in the boat are fully charged after every trip. Good luck and let me know how things turn out. |
Steve
May 18
|
| Ken, A three bank charger is a good idea, but if you're going to leave everything
hooked to the starting battery, it would be another good idea to keep a set
of jumper cables in the boat with you. In the fall, I guide a lot for muskies and we drag suckers while casting
lures for muskies. At anywhere between $2.50 -$5.00 each, I hate to see any
of them die in the livewell, so I leave the aeration pump on the timer.
There's been times that I had to use the jumper cables because the starting
battery was pulled down enough from just the aerator pump that it wouldn't
start the outboard. If I remember correctly, Warren had this happen during
a tournament and missed weigh-in because of a drained starting battery. |
Steve
May 19
|
