VS-MasterAngler Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 Hey guys, I'm having a little battery trouble on my Maverick Master Angler 18.5. I have 3 batteries on the boat two up front dedicated to the 24v trolling motor and 1 dedicated to cranking the motor, running the Power pole, trim tabs, motor trim, 2 live wells, Simrad go7, bilge pump, and light for the compass (basically everything else on the boat). The cranking/house battery is new as of 8/17 and brought it in to Westmarine for a load test and after testing it the guy said it is good to go with no problems. My problem is that when on the boat in the morning the motor cranks right up... But once I run the Simrad unit, one livewell, and use tilt trim/trim tabs the Volt's start to stay low showing flashing 11.8- 12.4 on the tachometer and 10.4-11.7v on the Vsupply for the Simrad unit (low voltage alarm goes off on Simrad the entire time the livewell is on, lucky I know how to turn off the annoying alarm sound). The real problem is when I have the motor of and I'm fishing a long shoreline or something 45min-2hr's, the motor gets tough to start because the volts are low.... Could my battery be bad although the load test showed it was good? Do I have to many electronics running off the one battery? Should I buy a good quality dual purpose battery and would that be a better fit for cranking the motor and running the electronics? Please help because I would prefer not to have to us my TowBoatUS membership. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nag Juice Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 I’ve never had that problem in my 18 MA and I have the same set up as you. The house battery is a Blue Top Optima that’s a few years old. You might have a ground that’s draining it faster. There was a thread about a separate house battery. A couple weeks ago... seems like a safe idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 17 hours ago, VS-MasterAngler said: Hey guys, I'm having a little battery trouble on my Maverick Master Angler 18.5. I have 3 batteries on the boat two up front dedicated to the 24v trolling motor and 1 dedicated to cranking the motor, running the Power pole, trim tabs, motor trim, 2 live wells, Simrad go7, bilge pump, and light for the compass (basically everything else on the boat). The cranking/house battery is new as of 8/17 and brought it in to Westmarine for a load test and after testing it the guy said it is good to go with no problems. My problem is that when on the boat in the morning the motor cranks right up... But once I run the Simrad unit, one livewell, and use tilt trim/trim tabs the Volt's start to stay low showing flashing 11.8- 12.4 on the tachometer and 10.4-11.7v on the Vsupply for the Simrad unit (low voltage alarm goes off on Simrad the entire time the livewell is on, lucky I know how to turn off the annoying alarm sound). The real problem is when I have the motor of and I'm fishing a long shoreline or something 45min-2hr's, the motor gets tough to start because the volts are low.... Could my battery be bad although the load test showed it was good? Do I have to many electronics running off the one battery? Should I buy a good quality dual purpose battery and would that be a better fit for cranking the motor and running the electronics? Please help because I would prefer not to have to us my TowBoatUS membership. Lol You didn't mention the type of House Battery.... DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 Im wondering if you have a battery charger on the house battery, and if you keep it charged? This could hide a charging issue with the motor. The batt will be fine at the start of the day, but die over time. What does the voltage say on the gauge with the motor running. If it shows 14.4v, that means its charging the battery, then should trickle down as the battery gets charged, stopping at about 13.5v when fully charged. If it shows less than 13v, something is wrong with the charging system. Simply it could be the battery, but also could be the motor. Do you have one of your TM batts wired as a backup, to the #2 on the batt switch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 18 minutes ago, hurricane said: Im wondering if you have a battery charger on the house battery, and if you keep it charged? 'good point....btw, what type of motor are you running? Some of the older 2 strokes do not have much charging power for a battery....are you charging with a 3 bank on board charger? I would go with a large series 31 (water based) with large reserve capacity....given you seem to running live wells all day and with a power pole it will definitely draw down an average house battery....I have two power poles and one live well....and have a series 27 Interstate and have not had an issue...but, I have a 3 bank TM charger which is always updating the house battery before I leave for the day. dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 4 hours ago, Wanaflatsfish said: You didn't mention the type of House Battery.... DC I'm not at the boat but I'm 99.9% sure this is what I have for a house battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 16 minutes ago, VS-MasterAngler said: I'm not at the boat but I'm 99.9% sure this is what I have for a house battery. What is you engine make and model year? dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 2 hours ago, hurricane said: Im wondering if you have a battery charger on the house battery, and if you keep it charged? This could hide a charging issue with the motor. The batt will be fine at the start of the day, but die over time. What does the voltage say on the gauge with the motor running. If it shows 14.4v, that means its charging the battery, then should trickle down as the battery gets charged, stopping at about 13.5v when fully charged. If it shows less than 13v, something is wrong with the charging system. Simply it could be the battery, but also could be the motor. Do you have one of your TM batts wired as a backup, to the #2 on the batt switch? At the beginning of the trip it the guage says 14.4 but as the day goes on and I use the live wells, trim, and Simrad the volts get as low as 10.8/11.4- 12.4. my trolling motor batteries are on a totally separate system in the front of the boat and my house battery switch on has an off and 1 switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 13 minutes ago, Wanaflatsfish said: What is you engine make and model year? dc Engine is an 01 150vmax ox66 and I have an onboard charger upfront that I plug in for the 2 trolling motor batteries but I don't believe it's hooked up to the house battery in the rear of the boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 47 minutes ago, VS-MasterAngler said: At the beginning of the trip it the guage says 14.4 but as the day goes on and I use the live wells, trim, and Simrad the volts get as low as 10.8/11.4- 12.4. my trolling motor batteries are on a totally separate system in the front of the boat and my house battery switch on has an off and 1 switch. I assume the 10.8 is with the motor off. Are your TM batts the same as the house? If so swap one and see what happens. It seems like the motor is charging, so my guess would be the battery, how old is it? Go over all the connection really good, be sure they are clean. Just sux to go buy a battery when you're not 100 percent sure. You should consider wiring one of your TM batts to the switch to have a back up. Can't always count on it since the TM is gonna use it too, but its nice to have a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin-addict Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 I run all batteries, DP. 2/TM, 2/start, house no problems. most people I know are running DP for everything. DC is harder to come by at least in my area unless you are ready to spend big dollars. you can swap out batteries if need be without the worry of miss matching, like that the best, jmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captpn Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 Towards the end of the day when it shows low, what are the volts when running on plane? does it still show low ? if so the outboards charging system isn't working correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 2 hours ago, VS-MasterAngler said: Engine is an 01 150vmax ox66 and I have an onboard charger upfront that I plug in for the 2 trolling motor batteries but I don't believe it's hooked up to the house battery in the rear of the boat. For about $60 you can get a battery Tender or marinco trickle charger for the house...nice to have around anyways for the truck or other vehicles....get one at Home Cheapo and just charge the house battery at the same time you are charging the trolling batteries...just get a dual prong charger...be sure to give the trickle at least 24 hours on the first go.....also, check your water levels on your batteries and that you have a good connection on the battery...... DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 4 hours ago, captpn said: Towards the end of the day when it shows low, what are the volts when running on plane? does it still show low ? if so the outboards charging system isn't working correctly. Near the end of the day if I am running on plane with the Simrad unit on and live wells off... I can get about 12.4/12.6 but as soon as I turn on even one live well than the volts drop below 12 and the Simrad units low voltage alarm goes off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEM Posted March 5, 2018 Report Share Posted March 5, 2018 2 minutes ago, VS-MasterAngler said: Near the end of the day if I am running on plane with the Simrad unit on and live wells off... I can get about 12.4/12.6 but as soon as I turn on even one live well than the volts drop below 12 and the Simrad units low voltage alarm goes off... You have an issue. Odds are that you have a bad battery. But you night need to have the alternator checked too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted March 6, 2018 Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 If the motor is running and your voltage is down to 12v, you may have an issue more than a battery. Engine running typically should not fall below 13.2ish volts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fin-addict Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 On 3/6/2018 at 10:08 AM, hurricane said: If the motor is running and your voltage is down to 12v, you may have an issue more than a battery. Engine running typically should not fall below 13.2ish volts. agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dabear Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Agree X2. May want to check your charging system . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 Hey guys I went out to mess around on the boat for an hour or two today... Boat fired right as it usually does on the first turn of the key. I planned on just running the boat a little bit and throwing some soft plastics... (No livewell use). Volts were pretty good at about 12.-12.9 while ideling through the canal with the Simrad running. Trolled (with trolling motor) a shoreline for about an hour and left the Simrad on, finished that shoreline and started the boat no problem... Volts were in the 11's then krept up to 12.8/9. Then when ideling back through my canal to the lift I decided to try the livewells, volts dropped to low 11's on my guage and high 10's/low 11's displayed on the Simrad voltsupply.... Hmmm so I looked down in the bilge and took the pictures below, do you guys think this could be the problem?? Also a picture of my battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler1 Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 I think that could definitely could be the issue. Looks like wires got hot where they were zip tied to tight. A pump could have got hung up at one time and caused heat. What is the age of the battery? and a group 31 battery would be better. IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilemaker Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 The butt joints were crimped to hard with a cheap crimp tool that penetrated the plastic. That does not appear to be from overheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 1 hour ago, gambler1 said: I think that could definitely could be the issue. Looks like wires got hot where they were zip tied to tight. A pump could have got hung up at one time and caused heat. What is the age of the battery? and a group 31 battery would be better. IMO The battery sticker says 8/17. I was thinking about getting one of these... WEST MARINE Group 27 Dual-Purpose AGM Battery, 92 Amp Hours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VS-MasterAngler Posted March 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 35 minutes ago, smilemaker said: The butt joints were crimped to hard with a cheap crimp tool that penetrated the plastic. That does not appear to be from overheating. I would agree that it looks like it may have crimped to hard... Do you think that could be drawing more amps? the brown and black wires are for the livewells and bilge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanaflatsfish Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 7 hours ago, smilemaker said: The butt joints were crimped to hard with a cheap crimp tool that penetrated the plastic. That does not appear to be from overheating. x2, doubtful that's the issue... I would bring the skiff to a 5 start yamaha mechanic and have them run a diagnostic on the charging system....will cost you about $100 and you'll have the correct answer.... dc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 Fairly sure none of the those wires are related to your charging system. I would say unlikely your problem, but anything is possible. Those crimps will become a problem at sometime. No accessory should cause the charging system volts to be drawn down where it can't adequately charge, a fuse or breaker should pop long before that ever could happen. You should put a multimeter on the battery while the motor is running, from what I know you should never see less than 13.2volts while running. If you are only checking voltage via the Simrad, you could have a bad connection at the Simrad. If you read less than 13.2 volts at the battery while running, you need to check all connections from the battery to the motor. If you don't find anything than you need to start looking at the charging system. Take a good look at the battery wire where the lug is crimped on. Many times these become very corroded, the corrosion will wick down the wire. Look at the back of the battery switch. Disconnect it all, and clean them with a wire brush. Let us know what you find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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