Battery Recharging

[andrew399]

Accidently left my radio in the boat on for a few weeks so now have a flat battery. Am i right just to use a normal car battery recharger to recharge it? And is it advised to disconnect from the terminals? thanks

[BFB]

A normal car battery charger should do the job.

It is always best to have the battery disconnected from the boat's electrics whilst charging although I have charged batteries without disconnecting electrics and have not had any problems but that could be sheer luck.

[Anroco]

Have heard that it is best to disconnect the battery as voltage spikes may occur and frazzle electrical systems / components, so thats what i do.

CHeeRS

Ant

[Dusky]

Yep always best to disconnect battery from system as mentioned above, you risk frying your electrics in either motor or console. Also consider; if your battery is deep cycle or not as I think you may need a voltage sensing charger to cut of charge when battery full or risk overcharging (boiling the acid) & shortening the life of your battery

R

[roosterman]

mate do yaself a favour and get a good quality multi stage charger..

this will charge batteries correctly and give longer troublefree life..

overcharging with cheapo chargers kill batteries real quick..

i got mine cheap (couple hundred) and is a ctek brand thats 5 stage..

has ability to check level and charge apropriately then once full it trickle charges to keep topped up...

well worth the coin in my opinion..

as others have said,dissconnect and loosen caps before charging... just remember to tighten caps before going out not like i did recently ...

give me a buzz if ya need any more info as i did alot of research into this quiet awhile ago..

cheers...steve.....

[fishingrod]

Gday Dicko

Good information from everyone else here so far.

You will probably find that if you have completely flattened the battery so far that the radio doesnt switch on or your lights dont even glow the battery might now be totally cactus. It might charge up, see how it goes. Batteries dont like being flattened below 30-50% capacity and its life might be shortened big time. (even deep cycles dont like very deep discharges)

Check your fluid level while your at it. If there are caps you can unscrew on the battery put distilled water in until the plates are "at least" 5-6 mm under water. (they should have done this when they serviced the motor the other month anyway) Wash your hands afterwoods and dont touch your clothes or rub your eyes as its acid inside the battery.

Can you pull start your motor ?

I think you have a Yammy 50/60 so it may not have a pull start cord fitted, but you might be able to lift the hood and wrap a rope around the flywheel. There might be a emergency cord hiding stuck under the hood too. Its good to learn how to pull start incase you ever need to because of electrical problems. Saves getting a tow home !

cheers for now

Rod

Edited January 27, 2010 by fishingrod

[rickb]

Accidently left my radio in the boat on for a few weeks so now have a flat battery. Am i right just to use a normal car battery recharger to recharge it? And is it advised to disconnect from the terminals? thanks

Hi Dicko, I have a charger rigged up to each battery, when I come home,I just plug

into the chargers and they stop when fully charged, no need to unhook anything,have been using this method for years,with the same batteries,all deep cycle,same charger I use on golf buggy.

cheers Rick.

[andrew399]

Thanks for the replies guys. It is completely dead, radio wont turn on and engine doesnt kick over at all so will pull it out tomorrow and charge it for the day. Hopefully its not completely dead because i cant afford another one! The thing im learning with boats is that when you make a mistake its normally an expensive one and then you never make it again!

[roosterman]

i can swing by yr joint if ya want on my way home tomorrow and put it on my charger..

it has a great recondition mode that may ressurect ya battery..

i thought it was 5 stage but looking now it has 8...

it will also tell me whether it dead as a mackeral..

bloody things nearly smarter than me ..

cheers...steve.....

[andrew399]

That sounds good to me mate, if your not going to be around my way i can bring it up to you, i got absolutely nothing on tomorrow...

[roosterman]

give me a buzz tomorrow arvo and i will let ya know what time..

i may have another old battery(from my new boat) here i can check also and hopefully one of em will be ok..

this is a youtube vid all about the charger..

yes its def smarter than me

features ya want in a charger if possable

CHARGE CHARACTERISTICS

The XS 15000 charges and analyses in eight fully automatic steps.

1. Desulphation runs a complete charge cycle within a fraction of a second. The cycle is repeated during the whole desulphation step. Every cycle recovers some lead sulphate into useful material.

2. Soft Start tests the battery condition. Severly discharged batteries needs the soft start step. The charging starts with a reduced current (max 15 A) for 4 h until the voltage reaches 12 V.

3. Bulk is the main step where most of the charge is returned (80%). The charger delivers maximum current (15 A) until the terminal voltage has risen to the set level (or for max 20 h).

4. Absorption completes the charge up to virtually 100% at a constant voltage of 14.4 V at +25 °C. The current tapers off until 4 h after the current reached the 2.5 A level. The step is maximized to 12 h.

5. Analysis is a short intermission in the cycle analysing the voltage drop, testing self-discharge. The voltage of a defective battery will quickly drop. The charge cycle will be stopped with a warning indication if voltage drops to 12.0 V in 3 minutes.

6. Recond is used to recover deeply discharged flooded batteries. Recondition of deep discharged batteries suffering from stratification. The voltage increases (to max 15.8 V) with reduced current (3 A) for a limited time period (4 h), or for 30 minutes. The higher voltage starts some gassing and mixing of the acid, which is beneficial for both battery capacity and expected life. The battery could emit explosive gas during this step.

7. Float is maintenance charge at constant voltage, keeping the batteries at 100% charge. Normal charging mode are time-limited (max 10 days) while Supply mode goes on indefinately.

8. Pulse is maintenance charge for maximum battery life. Charging varies between 95% and 100% state of charge. The battery receives a pulse, starting a new charge cycle, when voltage drops to set limit. This keeps the battery in perfect condition when it is not in use. The charger can be connected for months keeping the batteries fresh.

cheers....steve......

Edited January 28, 2010 by roosterman

[Geoff-]

after 3 weeks being flat i daresay the battery is cactus, it will be sulfated all to hell. dunno whether a whiz bang smart charger can get you out of trouble, even if it does i doubt you will have the same capacity as you used to - the battery will go flat quicker in future.

worth a shot but if it doesn't hold a good charge it's time for a new batteyr.

[roosterman]

after 3 weeks being flat i daresay the battery is cactus, it will be sulfated all to hell. dunno whether a whiz bang smart charger can get you out of trouble, even if it does i doubt you will have the same capacity as you used to - the battery will go flat quicker in future.

worth a shot but if it doesn't hold a good charge it's time for a new batteyr.

yeh its a worry that its dead for too long...

hopefully my charger can bring a bit of life into it..

i will try to load test it for him and see if its dropped any cells but my charger will more than lokely tell me iff its cactus...

the one from my new boat may be a better shot for him but i will put it on charger tomorrow and see if it has held a charge from when i removed it just before xmass..

[mr475]

Ahhh, you know what they say about boats, BOAT stands for

Bring Out Another Thousand.