Battery Problem

[dduflo]

I have an '05 Islander 270 with 3 batterys, 2 for the starboard and one for the port engine. I made the mistake of leaving the fridge on all week, no shorepower, and the 2 starboard batterys were almost dead and would not start the engine. I put both battery switchs on "BOTH" and, with the port motor ideling, tried to start the starboard engine. Nothing- - not enough power to even begin to trun it over. My owners manual and the instructions on the battery switch door say this method is supposed to work. It has not been touched since I bought it new from the dealer. Any suggestions?

 

[whitey]

i had my boat set up for 4 batteries,had the work done by a very good guy.if i were you i would call him.i've never had a dead battery problem since he worked on it.pm me and i'll give you the name.

 

[Grog]

If the batteries are not deep cycle, replace them. Once a starting or dual purpose gets drained that bad they're usually junk and not trustworthy.

Is the water level OK?

If you have or can borrow a battery charger use it or let the port engine run for a while to charge both banks, then once there is enough juice, try to start the stbd. Once it starts and is running OK put the switches back to the way you normally run them.

 

[ocnslr]

I agree with replacing starting batteries that have been heavily discharged. The plates will never recover properly.

I don't think I properly answered your question about batteries on an earlier thread.

We have four batteries.

- Two are engine starting batteries. Each has a regular Perko switch with 1-2-off-both. Either one can power either engine, or both to one engine if necessary. The usual configuration is one switch in "1" and the other in "2".

- Two deep-cycle batteries in parallel are the "house bank". They are connected to a Perko "on-off" switch which then feeds the 40-amp breaker to the house loads.

- Both of the auxiliary charging leads from the engines are connected to the house bank, so it gets charged even when trolling on one engine.

- The Charles charger (factory installed) is a three-bank model, so it charges both engine starting batteries and the house bank.

The boat is in a wet slip and the refrigerator is on 24/7/365. Never had a problem.

Have never really run the house bank down, and it we did it would not affect our ability to start the engines.

An almost bullet-proof system...

Contact me if you need more info.

Brian

 

[BobP]

I'm surprised the motor didn't crank on the other battery even if the running engine is off, perhaps the good battery was not fully charged but good enough for one engine start's worth and that's it. I bet if you kept the running motor at fast idle for 15 minutes, it would have charged enough to fire the starboard.

Nonetheless, if you have wet cells, go to local auto barn and get a cheap battery electrolyte tester, looks like a clear syringe with floating balls in it, tells you state of charge. You need to get a feel on when batteries are fully charged, the ability to start a motor is not an indicator of a fully charged battery. One time it will start with no notice, the next time it won't crank nearly enough, you will wonder how it died so fast. It didn't.

The battery distributor in your are has a load tester that will provide a heavy short duration load test, to see how much voltage drops during test, he can also charge it and check if it takes a charge first via specific gravity test. All for a nominal fee. This may be useful for the one battery you think is good.