Thread: need a new trolling motor battery

Originally Posted by Nutbush

I love the Duracell 31. Have one for my trolling and my starter. Trolling is about 3 years old and it usually lasts longer than I do


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I second the vote for the Duracell 31 AGM. My Kenner has 3 of them in it and never had and issue going on 5 years now. I also have 4 of them in my Epic and they are about 3 years old and going strong.

i did buy a new everstart 29dc battery i charged it up and took it out, i notice after running my trolling motor it is a 46lb thrust motor i notice after about 15 min of running on high the voltage reading on my garmin shows about 10 volts, is this common and possibly a bad battery, it sort of stays there when on high. any thoughts

chet

Turn the trolling motor off and see what voltage reads on the Garmin. Most likely it will read higher.
Here's somethings to check:
When the battery is finished charging turn the Garmin on to get a new voltage reading. When you get to the launch turn the Garmin on and get a reading. The readings should be the same. As batteries age they can lose some volts but it won't be much, like 12.4 at home and 12.2 at the ramp. If the battery is losing more than .4 volts during an hour trip then there is a short somewhere that's draining the battery.
I have 2 trolling batteries on my boat, 2 years difference in age. The new one would read the same voltage at home and the launch. The older would lose voltage. The only difference in the wiring was they went through a sector switch. I search the boat over 3 times for a short. 3 months later I was talking to an old coworker. Is the older battery damp/wet? Yep, soaped and brushed, rinsed that battery and the voltage lose stopped.

Originally Posted by canebreaker

Turn the trolling motor off and see what voltage reads on the Garmin. Most likely it will read higher.
Here's somethings to check:
When the battery is finished charging turn the Garmin on to get a new voltage reading. When you get to the launch turn the Garmin on and get a reading. The readings should be the same. As batteries age they can lose some volts but it won't be much, like 12.4 at home and 12.2 at the ramp. If the battery is losing more than .4 volts during an hour trip then there is a short somewhere that's draining the battery.
I have 2 trolling batteries on my boat, 2 years difference in age. The new one would read the same voltage at home and the launch. The older would lose voltage. The only difference in the wiring was they went through a sector switch. I search the boat over 3 times for a short. 3 months later I was talking to an old coworker. Is the older battery damp/wet? Yep, soaped and brushed, rinsed that battery and the voltage lose stopped.

i took the battery back to walmart for an new one, although the other one was only 3 weeks old, i did not like the voltage reading on my garmin after about 40 min on high, was reading 10 volts almost breaking into the 9 volt range. so i will see if the new one does better

chet

It's a good idea to not run your electronics on yout trolling motor

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Youi're running your Garmin off of your trolling motor battery? It should be on the starting battery or a separate battery but nothing else should be on trolling motor batteries except your trolling motor.

Originally Posted by Les Young

Youi're running your Garmin off of your trolling motor battery? It should be on the starting battery or a separate battery but nothing else should be on trolling motor batteries except your trolling motor.

When my boat was built the trolling motor wiring was laid from the front to the rear. Spray foam was added then a sheet of aluminum was screwed to the ribs. Would be nice to add more wires for another battery, but these wires won't move. It's a center console with live well built on the front. Would be a lot of labeling wires that I can't see where they go.

I use a game feeder battery in my kayak for the depth finder. Got it in a plastic ammo box so it can be tied down. The longest I've fished is 4.5 hours and the battery did well.
ML8-12 - 12V 8AH Big Game 12V Game Feeder Battery - Walmart.com