Thread: Cranking or Dual Purpose(HELP)

Ideally, you should be charging the battery anytime it isn't being used. How long are you talking about the boat sitting before you have a problem?

Your battery should easily be able to handle your motor.

If it doesn't crank, what does it do when you hit the starter? Do you hear a click or hum?

here is my last example..fished Easter 4/3/10, boat sat the week and went out on sat after easter4/10/10, wouldnt crank...hadnt charged battery because it ran fine the previous outting,this time motor would turn over like it wanted to crank but wouldnt, after several attemps no luck...fished on trolling motor about thirty min around ramp, then tried again just to see, finally it cranked, my first though was i flooded it before but i am unsure now because yesterday..went to crank it tried twice, turned over but wouldnt start? any help would be appreciated i just want to make sure of what it is so i dont get stranded ....side note i charged my battery last night havent tried today.

I agree with Catfan, that battery should work just fine. Check all your cables and make sure they are clean and tight. Especially check the lugs on the ends of the cables. Look for any signs of corrosion. They can corrode inside where you can't see it. If you know how to do a voltage drop test on them that would be great. Check your charging circuit by testing the voltage at the battery with the motor off then again with it running. As RPMs increase you should see an increase in voltage (over 13V). Finally Walmart batteries are not the best in the world so have it load tested at your local auto parts store.

Thanks guys for the help, after the battery charged i hooked it up this afternoon and motor fired right up with no problem, hopefully can fish tomorrow and will check the voltage then. one other question, i have two sets of wires, one set i assume is the motor cables bigger ones, the other goes to the dash??? that powers the gauges and such.....the power side of the dash cables has what looks to be some sort of fuse block attached...20A is this fuse block needed?????

What is connected to the fuse block?

Sorry i think i made that confusing, let me try again...there is a negative wire and positive wire prolly 12 or 10 gauge. they arent needed to crank the boat, but are needed for my power gauge, RPM, Fuel gauge, etc..in the dash..so i believe its the power for all the accy switches like the aerator, bilge, lights, and dash gauges...the positive side had a black box like a fuse that has 120V 20A on it i believe, is it needed or can i just remove it and put the wire straight to battery...the reason i ask is because its oddly shaped and is hard to tied down to battery term. Thanks

Feeds to fuse blocks are normally not fused.

that "block" is a circuit breaker probably protecting the main feed wires to panel (gauges). some boats have them others don't. when i do re-wires i always install one at the battery to protect the feed wire to the panels. this is just extra protection.
on your cranking issue i would check the connections at my starter and battery, take them lose and clean with wire brush. clean terminals and post as well. have seen alot of cables corrode in the cable itself due to moisture in them. hope this will help..