Hey guys. I have a battery question for you. I just bought a brand new 2010 Cougar FTD. It has a Interstate Workaholic battery (31-MHD, CCA 950, RC195) and after a full charge (on board charger and personal charger) it only says 11.9 V. When I am on plane it says 14.1, so I know my boat charging system is working, but everytime I start the boat it goes down to 9.6 V and my low voltage alarms go off. All my other batteries say 12.7 V after I charge them. Is this just a bad battery? The problem is the battery was made in Oct 2010, but I just got the boat brand new from Sherms. The other problem is Sherms is 9 hours away from my house. What do I do?? Any help would be appreciated.
Jeff, The battery will be fine, sitting on the floor in the rain. You, however, will probably be cold and wet… Come up to Linn Creek sometime and lets go fishing. Gary Hollander
Gary I am going to give you a call soon to do some fishing. I am in the middle of chaos at work right now but this project will end soon. I plan on sneaking down to the lake a couple days during the week later this month. I still have your home and cell numbers from when you helped me with my trolling motor way back when. I will give you a call.
HAd this problem at Guntersville recently. First thing to check is the fluid level in the batteries. Depending on age of the batteries and chraging/discharging them you could have lost some electrolyte and thus hampering performance. Add distilled water if levels are low. Should be up to about halfway up the filler neck, but not all the way to the top.
Go to your local auto parts store and buy a battery hydrometer (they should cost under $10). After you have completed charging the batteries wait about 6 hours and check each cell with the hydrometer. It will tell you if you have a bad cell or not. If you do you can pull the battery out and get a high output automotive charger (30 to 40 amp). Fill the battery with water and charge it for an hour or two at the highest setting. This should burn any sulphur build up that you have on your lead plates off. Then recheck with your hydrometer in 6 hours or so. If it doesnt check out OK then you need to replace it. Most on board chargers will only put a surface charge on a deep cycle battery. It is a good practice to get an automotive charger and cook your batteries a couple of time a year, just remember to keep water in them while they are charging.
As Texabamabass said, I also had that problem at Guntersville (must be something about that lake). I found out I had a dead cell in one of my trolling motor batteries in my Cougar. The batteries were only about 18months old too!! Plenty of water in them, just one had a dead cell.
BILL, HOW DO YOU LIKE SUMMERDALE?????I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS A NICE PLACE… IM ORIGINALLY FROM MOBILE, LIVED IN MAGNOLIA SPRINGS FOR A LITTLE WHILE… HAVE A NEPHEW IN SUMMERDALE(STEVE BRANTLEY) AN ELECTRICIAN…..HOPE LIFE IS GOOD…… ROBIN
There isnt much to Summerdale. But I do like the area, its quiet and close to a lot of things. Im about 15-20 miles north of the beach. 25 miles or so SW of the Delta. All kinds of shopping for the wife in Foley, Daphne and Pensacola.
Since you said the one registering 11.76 was the new one and was low on water…I would fill the water back up and charge it. Then wait several hours after you unplug the charger and test it again. If you dont see a voltage up in the high 12s then I would take it back it is bad. The 2 year old battery is not bad but I am of the school that when you replace one might as well replace them both. Good luck. Judd Lasiter
Thanks Judd. I usually do replace both at the same time. When I bought the new one last November, I was at SEBCOG. One of the BassCat factory guys checked my batteries for me, thats how I found out I had one with a dead cell.
