Battery Question?

[Len]

On my last fishing trip the trolling motor lost voltage after about 3 hours.When I got home I checked the water in the battery cells and one of them was dry.Did this ruin the battery? I added distilled water and just now put it on charge.I am using a onboard battery charger.

[wannabe fisherman]

ruin it I doubt it, but it didn't do it any good. running on a dry cell will shorten the life of the battery.

[Cane Pole]

Maximum sulfation occurs when the cell is dry. The lead gets hard and want generate the goodies needed for volts and amps.

[Barnacle Bill]

Charge it up then have it load tested at your local auto parts store to be sure.

[Jerry Blake]

If it was "dry" there may be a problem with the battery that caused it to go dry. If you're charging with a good quality onboard charger designed for deep cycle batteries you shouldn't have to add water more than once or twice during the life of the battery.

[FishnLine]

Keep in mind, if you add water, you should add it after you charge it and it cools down. If you add it before you charge it, the water may boil out of the top and if that happens you are loosing acid.