Battery Question?

[Rivernut]

The last time I charged my trolling battery, the chager was on overnight, ran down to 2 amps, but never shut off. Next time out battery worked all day. I know it had plenty of time to fully charge. Charger or battery. Charger is 10-12 years old, battery is 18 mo. Trojan! Thanks for any info!

[Northlander]

I dont follow you. Whats the question?

[Rivernut]

Does it sound like the charger is bad or the battery, if the charger doesnt shut itself off?

[cold one sd]

Try the charger on a known good battery and that should answer your question. You could also take your battery somewhere and have it tested. My charger is 22 years old and still going strong.

[Rivernut]

Thats what I figured I would do. As expensive as that battery was it should be fine. I have never had a deep cycle that didnt give me at least 3 years. Thanks for the info.

[Northlander]

Im guessing its your charger. I had a 10 year old charger go bad last summer. It wasnt charging the battery and would read full charge but I only had about 4 hours worth in the battery. I put on my neighbors tester and found it was the charger. Chargers are cheap and its a good idea to get a new good one every once in a while. 10 years seems like a long time to me. Especially with all the use I give mine.

[uglystick007]

Could have just been some dirt on the post or the clamps. That little bit of resistance made the charger think it had not completed the job. I had a battery that if you connected to the lead post it would charge differently than if you connected to the stainless steel bolt.

[upnorth]

If you really drain down a big deep cycle battery it can take quite a while to fully recharge. I have had it take 18 to 24 hours a couple of times.

[BobT]

I'm not sure a battery ever gets to a point that it won't draw any charge at all. My understanding is that there is always some current flow through even a fully charged battery. From my experience, your battery may be just fine.

Bob

[Whoaru99]

Is the charger an "automatic" charger? If not, it may never shut off.

[Rivernut]

Yes it is automatic. Thanks for all the input guys. I think its about time for a new charger anyways. I think I"ll get an onboard one this time. Again, thanks for the info.

[nytelyter]

what i bought threes ago and will buy again is a vector digital type charger. vector is a very good and reliable company. i use their inverters as well, the charger is top notch has bettery reconditioning and has kept our boat/fishhouse batteries charged very well for going on four years now. ... paul