24 Volt System Problems

[Lund4Fish]

I'm running a Minn-Kota 24-volt, 70 lb. thrust, bow mount, with Auto Pilot. The whole rig will be 2 years old this July, so it's still pretty new in my opinion. I've kept the water level where it should be in the batteries and plug in the on board charging system soon after each fishing trip, but already my batteries seem to be loosing it. The last trip out the wind was blowing and I had to run the trolling motor on 4-5 power to hold while jigging and within 3-4 hours my batteries were completely dead. I've also noticed that after sitting for a couple days they seem to loose a little of the charge, according to the gauges on the boat. Does this seem normal, or are my batteries already on their way out?

[PierBridge]

It only takes one battery to fail to cause this problem.

What else are you running on those batterys any chance something is running like a bilge or livewell pump?

Of course high speed will drain them quicker.

What kind of batterys and how old are they?

[Lund4Fish]

The only thing running on those 2 batteries is the trolling motor itself and they both appear to charge up to the same percentage and all that. I know it draws them down much quicker when you turn it up, but I've had 2 other boats with 12 volt trolling motor set ups that ran a whole lot longer than this one. They are less than 2 years old and the brand is "Northern" (never heard of this brand before). They came as part of the package deal with the boat, which is a Lund, Pro-V - 1900. I have a hunch that they may not be the best battery out there. I'm wondering what kind of run time that some of you are getting with similar set ups? I know the wind and power setting make a big difference, but I'm talking about an average day on the lake with some positioning around the lake while pitching jigs or cranks and then maybe a few hours of trolling spinner harnesses or lindy rigging?

[Nutty Fisherman]

you might have bought the boat two years ago but the batterys could be older then that it depends on when the dealer bought them or when the boat maker got them. They could have been setting for a long time. I also have not heard of that kind of battery.

[Valv]

Boat makers don't install batteries, dealer does it.

I would suspect another way for dealer to "save" some money buying cheap bulk batteries.

I would replace them with good quality units, if they quit on you on opener day at biting time you won't be very happy....

[Dusty]

I would suspect that one of your battery's has a dead cell. Even though your gauge on your charger indicates it's fully charged you can still have a dead cell. you need to check each cell with a hydrometer.

[mnfishman]

I have a 20' Fish and Ski (fiberglass) boat with a 80lb Minnkota Max on it. I run 2 Group 27 wet cell batteries that I got at Fleet Farm last year and on a full charge I can run my trolling motor constant on half power for at least 8 hours. If I have to run it on high to hold in a heavy wind I get about 5-6 depending upon if I run constant or move a lot with the big motor.

It sounds like your batteries are bad. They either have bad cells in them or at least one does.

[Lund4Fish]

MNFishman, Now that's more like what I would expect from my set up.

I think you are all probably right in that I've got a couple bum batteries. I'll pick out a better brand this time around. Thanks for all the input.