trolling motor batteries

My trolling motor batteries will only last about an hour on medium
speed, they use to go for hours, could a lack of water cause them to
discharge faster? how much water should be in them? should I add water
if needed.

matthew 4:19
follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

"BIG FISH 2006" wrote in message
...
My trolling motor batteries will only last about an hour on medium
speed, they use to go for hours, could a lack of water cause them to
discharge faster? how much water should be in them? should I add water
if needed.

You need to add distilled water or battery electrolyte solution to the
batteries and make sure that the lead cells are completely covered with
water. Even "maintenance free" batteries need to be checked periodically.
I typically check my batteries once a month and top off as needed. The
batteries you have now are quite possibly cooked and won't hold a charge
well any longer and will probably need replacement.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

What Steve said and that's what happened to me + make sure your charging
cables are secured tightly to the batteries if you have an onboard charging
system. If they are loose you will not get a full charge to begin with.

--
God Bless America

Josh The Bad Bear

On Tue, 7 Aug 2007 10:37:13 -0500, "Joshuall"
wrote:

What Steve said and that's what happened to me + make sure your charging
cables are secured tightly to the batteries if you have an onboard charging
system. If they are loose you will not get a full charge to begin with.
Yeah, add distilled water or electrolyte solution..........same thing
huh Steve..........MORON. I suggest you force SPAM in there. You
need an onboard spam fryer and a boat helper. If you had a boat helper
, you could just lay back and smell eggs and spam frying. I think
Steve is selling boat helpers at a discount price, by golly! What's
your website again Steve for those boathelpers you're selling, by
golly?

On Aug 5, 7:22 pm, (BIG FISH 2006) wrote:
My trolling motor batteries will only last about an hour on medium
speed, they use to go for hours, could a lack of water cause them to
discharge faster? how much water should be in them? should I add water
if needed.

matthew 4:19
follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

Hello,

This is my first post to the group, Hello All.

All batteries, even deep cycle marines, have a limited number of
recharge cycles they can go through. Usually, a good battery will
indicate how many cycles it can go through before it degrades to less
than %70 or so of it labeled capacity. With each charge-dicharge
cycle the battery's capacity is actually deminished becuase of the
formation of Type III Lead Sulfate Crystals that do not re-dissolve
from the plates when it recharges. This substance is alsot the reason
why it is CRITICAL that the battery be recharged within 12 to 24
hours, as the Type I and Type II lead sulfate will turn into Type III
given enough time. Also, for maximum life, and the get the cycle
count as the mfg. indicates, even a deep cycle battery should only be
brought down to 50% of its total charge becuase formation of Type III
Lead sulfate becomes more and more dominate as the battery charge
lowers.

As far a maintenace is concerned it depends on the type of battery you
have. Gell Cell batteries are usually sealed and do not require any
water or acid additions. Sealed Lead Acid batteries also do not
require anything as well Both of these type are assuming you have a
good three stage battery charger that does a bulk charge, and topping
charge, and a float charge. Normal, dumb, chargers can and usually do
charge too fast and too long, leading to boil over, bloating, and
incremental plate damage. For regulat or flooded batteries be sure to
use DISTILLED water as the replacement electrolyte in the battery.
Anything else can, and most likley will, contaminate the solution and
that is very bad. Also, you shouldn't need to ever add more acid to
the battery unless it has boiled over or spilled out.

Is there a solution to this? Perhaps, sometimes Pulse chargers seem
to reverse some sulfate damage.

Note! You should never just leave a battery sitting without a float
charger on it. All batteries self-discharge over time and that
problem with sulfating rears its ugly head. Higher temperatures make
it happen a lot faster!