garfield28 Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Hey Raiders, Been having a few issues with my electrics the last few times I've been out and just looking for some help in maybe finding the fault. I have a dual battery set up, and of late it at times felt like it is surging, like little jolts when I am at top speed, on a couple of occasions it has actually just cut out and the sounder etc has turned off., but as I day it's happened my twice to three times max. When this has happened I've had to turn the switch to the other battery so I could start it again as it was like a dead battery if I just tried to start it again after it suddenly for no apparent reason cut out. It seems the issues are occurring when the switch is on battery 2 which is a deep cycle battery that I use f\mainly for my electrics when I am at rest to run my live tank, sounder and lights when I'm out in the dark. The last 2 trips whenever I have the battery set to the house battery and I am underway for some reason my tilt and trim won't work from the throttle but as soon as I change it back to battery 1 it starts to work again. I had an issue a while back with something similar with my start battery and it got worse, top the stage where I couldn't start the boat, but in the end I found that my leads were very badly corroded, which I found by cutting the leads with bolt cutters to find the copper was basically black. Anyhow this afternoon I pulled the leads off the second battery and rather than cut them I used a multimeter to check for continuity and if I did so correctly they had continuity. So if my cables are OK, any ideas what it could be? Is there a way I can check that my deep cycle battery is OK and not needing replacing? Any advice or ideas much appreciated. Thanks Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydney south Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Have you load tested the batteries? Maybe time for new batteries....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 A mate has been having similar issues lately, lots of mist been about and moisture been getting into the fuses and cabling. He experienced most of his issues in the early morning and by afternoon when back at the ramp everything was back to normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recurve Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 Sounds like poor connections. Maybe you need to replace all the hardware. Or you may have a cable that is damaged but inside the coating. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plethora Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 I think recurve is right poor connections - maybe your engine is not charging battery 2 - (I would get them tested) I have a solar panel that trickle charges mine when not in use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyT Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 could be dying batteries, i cant remember your previous posts but that boat you bought is a few years old yeah? mine is 7 years old and im just about to do a full rewire- its a "trust" issue- as in im getting to the point where i think to fully trust my boat 30 k's offshore i need to rewire it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Sounds like your alternator is only charging battery no1 while you are running on battery no2 you are draining it flat you should be running with both then isolate when you stop if worried bout draining no1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield28 Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 I haven't mate, and wouldn't know where to start... how would I do that please? 22 hours ago, GoingFishing said: A mate has been having similar issues lately, lots of mist been about and moisture been getting into the fuses and cabling. He experienced most of his issues in the early morning and by afternoon when back at the ramp everything was back to normal. I think this was happening even when we had the warmer weather too 13 hours ago, recurve said: Sounds like poor connections. Maybe you need to replace all the hardware. Or you may have a cable that is damaged but inside the coating. Lee The connections seem to look OK, and if I did a continuity test would that show normal if I had an inside the cable issue? 11 hours ago, Plethora said: I think recurve is right poor connections - maybe your engine is not charging battery 2 - (I would get them tested) I have a solar panel that trickle charges mine when not in use. Where would I get them tested, and what the cost involved with that mate? Is there any way I can test them myself? 11 hours ago, PaddyT said: could be dying batteries, i cant remember your previous posts but that boat you bought is a few years old yeah? mine is 7 years old and im just about to do a full rewire- its a "trust" issue- as in im getting to the point where i think to fully trust my boat 30 k's offshore i need to rewire it! Yeah the boat is a 91 model from memory, but I bought both batteries brand new back in the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016 5 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said: Sounds like your alternator is only charging battery no1 while you are running on battery no2 you are draining it flat you should be running with both then isolate when you stop if worried bout draining no1 I think from memory when on both is was still surging as well Rick... is there anyway I can check the alternator? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonywardle Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 There will be a few people up next weekend. Maybe they can take a look then Are you putting your batteries on a charger before you go out? A smart charger can be helpful in diagnosing battery issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slawman Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 There are a whole lot of things it could be however I agree with a few of the other posts to check how the batteries are holding charge. This can be quite a tricky thing to do without the proper gear (shops and mechanics tend to have proper load testers). When batteries fail equipment starts acting up (seems almost random) as the voltage drop and then recovers and then drops again in a fairly short time. Age, how many times they have run down and how they have been kept all impact on the useful life. If it were me I would be sticking in a new set as a starting point.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back cruncher Posted June 15, 2019 Share Posted June 15, 2019 Hi all...Garfield,charge both your batteries and take them to a battery place,they will test them free of charge.to test your alternator get a multimeter on your battery and it should read somewhere around 12.5 volts or more.start your engine and it should read around 14.5 volts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plethora Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 If you can open the battery cells - buy your self a hydrometer from a car accessory place - ensure your acid in the battery is in the green. If you buy a battery meter make sure it tests the battery under load not just tells you its 12 volts etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 3yrs from a battery is about normal you may have to replace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunc333 Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) yes get batteries( both as one bad one will kill the good one pretty quickly when run on batt 2 battery setting) load tested at your local trusted battery or auto electrian place .then if they test up alright then go to next stage which in my opinion would be to take alook at the batterty switch itself ,if good its in your wiring ,please keep us all updated as the more help the better cheers dunc333 Edited June 17, 2019 by dunc333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield28 Posted June 18, 2019 Author Share Posted June 18, 2019 Thanks to all who replied to this thread really appreciate it. Update is I went and bought a new battery to replace the battery which was causing problems when switched to number 2. Anyhow put the new battery in and when I switched the battery switch to number 2 the tilt and trim was working fine, so at a guess I would assume my other deep cycle battery was no good? It is out of the boat so I may still chuck it on the charger, charge it up and take it to get tested still. Thanks again for the helpful replies. Geoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plethora Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 I would still put the new battery on a solar trickle charger and keep it on it when not in use - I sold my old glass boat that had a 9 year old car battery in it and never had to touch it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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