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Thread: Crank battery issues

  1. #1
    catchNgrease's Avatar
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    Default Crank battery issues


    While running on plane my low oil resovoir alarm goes off. 4 short beeps every 2 minutes. Mecury optimax. I turn around and limp back. Fished a slough on the way back. Tried to start motor and it would not even chirp. Bridged my start battery to my TM battery and fired right up and alarm didn't come back but limped on any way.
    Loaded boat checked oil and it was at halfway mark. Filled resovoir and put batteries back to original position. Next trip it did again. Also my console unit has been cutting itself off and I am shooting fuses (4 amp) on bow unit. Had the battery tersted and was at 330 amps and 11.8 volts.

    Can low voltage cause the alarm or do It have more to worry about?

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    Sounds like your battery is not getting charged while the motor is running.
    At 11.8 Volts, it sound like your battery is in need of a full charge. Do you have a battery charger that you operate before/after fishing.
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    Low voltage is an Optimax killer! The electronics on them use a lot of power! I bought a new $50,000 Lund boat which had a new Optimax on it. After blowing SIX powerheads, I finally found out that it was all due to a cheapo battery that the dealer had installed. The dealer blamed Mercury, Mercury blamed Lund and Lund blamed the dealer. We ended up talking to the judge to get that mess straightened out.
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    Bad connections on the battery --- Those wing nuts will loosen , dont use them... Low voltage causes higher Amperage draws blowing fuses or worse like burning out the starter motor --- a load test is not any good unless the battery has a full Charge

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    catchNgrease's Avatar
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    Yeah I have a 3 bank 10 amp charger. It tests 13.2 volts after full charge. It stays plugged up when not on the water. Funny you mention the motor charging the battery. I have noticed at times my volt meter on the dash stays at zero. Just figured it was faulty. Kinda a little concerned at the thought of 6 power heads. How can a bad battery cause that so I can protect against it.

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    And no wing nuts used. Forgot to mention that.

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    Replace the battery. At 11.8 it is completely dead. Like Shadboy said on today's modern electronics that control motors and depth finders low voltage and amperage is killer. On that optimal get you a good group 29-31 battery for it before you kill all you electronics.
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    I got the batteries bridged back now. Junky optima battery and 2 group 31's. I am in the process of adding a 55lb motor mount TM. And trying to figure out my battery scheme. Considering adding a large 40 Ah in the bow storage and shortening the Terrova's power wires. Using the 2 dekka group 31's that I have plus adding a third battery. Keeping them bridged. Will that have enough CCA for the 75 hp optimax?

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    You may want to test your alternator output on that opti. I've had to replace a few of them. If there's no output, the motor will run the battery down during operation.
    I'd rather be fishing.

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    Alternator testing is on the short list now. The two times this has happened is on longer hauls like 10 min plus. Makes sense that it's making the battery appear bad. Glad I started this thread I never know the Optimax used so much power.

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