Battery/charging problems
 

Guys, I checked the boat yesterday and found out that my minkota battery charger is showing 2 batteries with either connection problems or dead cells.

It is a 3 bank charger and only one trolling motor battery (bank 2) is showing full charge. Bank 1 is the other trolling motor battery and bank 3 is cranking. The cranking battery just sounds like its low charged.... barely turns over.

Do you think it would be safe to buy 2 batteries and try this, or go ahead and get a new charger ?

Batteries were brand new when we bought the boat in '07

I would go check your batteries. I bet they are bad. If they are over 3 years old it's time for new ones. And buy 2 new trolling motor batteries at the same time or you will always be chasing a bad battery.....

You know what they say.....BOAT - Bust Out Another Thousand

:rolleyes:

I agree with Bluechip. I replace my marine batteries every three years. They will last longer, but the durability just won't be there. Having to be towed when your batteries die is just plain embarrassing....

I'd go ahead and swap em out for these. Just bought 4 of em.
http://www.directboats.com/lithiumbattery1.html

Sweet , they have a payment plan! 40 bucks a month. I might be able to get em on credik

WOW!! A $1,300 battery?!?! Somebody's getting rich.

I had the same exact prob. last year after the cold winter, and not charging all during hunting season they drained, and would not come back up to full charge. I put brand new Exide Orbital gel cel blue tops in, and good to go. The gels are more expensive, but from previous experiene I've goten up to 6 years of use out of the first 2 I purchased for my fathers boat. Always bring them up to full charge, after use, and keep a maintainer on them , and they last longer than your ordinary acid filled batteries plus they seem to have better longevity while on the water. Good luck

Well, went and bought an optima blue top for cranking and its still showing bad connection/dead battery...... bought to order a new battery charger...

are your wires coming from the charger spliced at all? Make sure you check all your connections for corrosion. You should also try switching the connections between one you know is charging and the one you think is bad. This will tell you if its a charger problem or a connection problem

checked all connections.... even put the charger on a brand new battery and its still showing dead battery/bad connection

Did you check the fuses on your charging leads? The Minn Kotas should have a yellow inline fuse holder close to the terminals.

If you did what Meaux suggested and it's still showing no charge...you got bad leads on the charger. A DualPro will fix this.

checked and cleaned.

getting a promariner pro sport6 from overtons.com

:confused: thats only a one bank charger

Jordan do your self a favor and get a dualpro... I used to have a MK I always had problems with it it burnt out and I got a dualpro havent had a charging problem since... dont be stingy on a charger... I got the reconditioned three bank btw

how much is the dualpro ???


The order # on that charger is 87115 which is the 3 bank for $169.99

EDIT---its a prosport 20, also looking into cancelling the order at overtons and getting a dualpro which is a little more $, but if its that good, i'd rather go that route.

Dual Pro is the best! Get you a 3-bank and your worries are over.

MK is junk! Paid I think around $400 for mine & it crapped out just after year warranty was up they will not work on them! $400 anchor!
Got a Dual Pro & it's jam up! Btw just trashed a dual pro that was in my Skeeter since 02, it had been beat to hell & back, you couldn't move it cause was busted & the bottom was rotted out & was still kickin! It was a 3 bank & one of the banks finally give up after 9 years of use & abuse I'm pleased

well, im stuck with what i got.... called overtons.com and they said that they would have to charge me an 8% restock fee and 12% something else fee (couldnt understand her) even though they just received payment like 2 hours ago and they havent even processed it..... oh well, this will work