Trolling motor batteries not charging

[walleyeking19]

On my boat I have a powerdrive bow mount trolling motor with 2 batteries hooked up to it. I went to plug it in after fishing all day with it, and when i plugged it in, the charger said to check the connection on battery 2.

So I checked the connection on the battery and made sure the cords were all tight where they were supposed to be and it all looked right. I plugged it in again and it said the same thing. So I unhooked both batteries and cleaned the connections on both and tried hooking them up again, still it says to check connection on port 2.

I have a minn kota on board charger, its a 2 port...wanna say the model is 210. I've never had this problem before, and I never unhook anything on it. So its weird that it charged last time I used it, but now for whatever reason, my second battery isnt charging. Anybody got any ideas what I should try now?

Both batteries are from 2012, so they should be fine still.

[Cheers]

maybe it is telling the truth ! Is the battery water level good ?

[DooWap]

Is there any inline fuses between the charger and the battery? I had the same problem before and the fuse was blown.

[Grainbelt]

Swap the batteries and test it again. If the problem moves to the other charger bank, your battery is bad.

[Boxcar Wllie]

maybe it is telling the truth ! Is the battery water level good ?

I would check this too!

[walleyeking19]

I've swapped the batteries and it still says the same thing.

I also checked the fuses, they're good to go as well.

Havent checked the water level, but that wouldnt be it if it says the same thing even though I've switched batteries, would it?

Anymore ideas? This is the best time of the year to fish, so I dont want to be without a trolling motor!

[loadmaster]

Had same problem with mine. Turned out that the wires going to battery two were corroded so bad they had broken. This was way inside of the rubber coating.Tried to fix it but broke the (diode or the tiny thing on the wire) that I trashed it. Noticed the wires going #1 were starting to go bad. Just an idea

[Whoaru99]

Havent checked the water level, but that wouldnt be it if it says the same thing even though I've switched batteries, would it?

That's not an unreasonable conclusion, but you still need to check the water just because it's normal/routine maintenance and there's no better time than now.

[Grainbelt]

You could check for continuity of the wires from the charger to the battery with a multimeter. Open the charger up if you can and measure from the board to the end of the wire. Disconnect from battery first. There shouldn't be more than a couple ohms across each wire. If there is an open wire (no continuity) or high ohms (corrosion) the wiring is the problem. If the wires show continuity the charger must have a problem.

[crothmeier]

Charger Bad?

[walleyeking19]

Well I went out and bought a new charger, unhooked everything and tried it all again, once again it says port 2 wasnt charging. So maybe it wasnt the charger after all. I'm gonna try switching batteries again in the morning and if that doesnt work I"ll bring in the batteries to get tested.

This is frustrating...I wanna be out fishing!

[Ballyhoo]

Batteries do degrade over time and do not charge as well as new. Battery suppliers will hook them up to a 50 amp charger, like the boost setting on some chargers and let them charge for a couple of hours. This will bake the buildup off of the plates and the battery will hold and take a charge better again. I would suggest doing this outside of the boat and in a ventilated area and keep it away from sparks.

[Igor Drackenwolf]

If you've swapped the batteries and gotten the same results; if you've purchased a new charger and gotten the same results - that sounds like a wire, fuse, or connection problem, as others have said.

It seems like the potential cause of your problem can only be one of a very few choices. If it's not a fuse and it's not a wire, it seems like it could only be a connector problem. Maybe a crimp connection gone bad???

[delcecchi]

Well I went out and bought a new charger, unhooked everything and tried it all again, once again it says port 2 wasnt charging. So maybe it wasnt the charger after all. I'm gonna try switching batteries again in the morning and if that doesnt work I"ll bring in the batteries to get tested.

This is frustrating...I wanna be out fishing!

You say same thing with new charger. Was the charger hooked directly to the batteries? Or are you using existing wiring to connect it?

[CaptainMusky]

I've swapped the batteries and it still says the same thing.

I also checked the fuses, they're good to go as well.

When you say you've swapped the batteries, did you just switch battery each "bank" is connected to or did you physically move the batteries and still connect bank one to position one battery and vice versa?

Another question, are your batteries wired in series or parallel? Do you have a jumper wire between the two batteries from pos of one to neg of the other? Do you get 25+ volts at the trolling motor or is it connected directly to the batteries?

I am assuming that your charger connects directly to the batteries themselves and not through some other mechanism. Right?