Battery issues over the cold weekend on Lanier.

[33788]

I've never seen this before in my 15+ years boating.  Even though I didn't fish in the cold as much in the past.  I have (3) Auto-Zone Duralast Marine batteries.  All 3 are multi-purpose deep cycle and starting batteries.  Purchased them less than 2 years ago so I imagine they're still in good working condition.  My last set of Duralast lasted 4 years.  I've not had issues before with this brand until this past weekend.  Before it was Everstart but I gave up on that brand.  The issues I was having is on my trolling motor which is a 12 volt Motor Guide 54# either drained or the battery was just not lasting very long.  So I switched to the spare and had the same results with in 30 minutes of use.  So ended up using the motor to troll and idle as things got to fast.  My cranking battery started having similar issues just not giving it any juice too.  We launched out from Charleston Park and fishing in the Bald Ridge area then motored back to 4 Miles area is when my motor wouldn't turn.  I'd turn the ignition at least 5 times before the engine would turn.  With that we got worried so we motored back past Brown Bridge and fished the area so we could be close to our launch area.  With not a nibble we decided to call it a day and the wind picked up.  Tried to crank the motor again and same results 6 turns of the ignition before there seemed to be any sparks to start the motor.  My question is could it been to cold for the batteries so they give up on the the trolling motor and motor.  The only thing I can find in common is they're all Auto Zone Duralast brand under performing in cold 30+ degree weather maybe even colder.  All 3 batteries worked flawlessly my last trip which was back in mid December fishing in 50+ degree.  They are charged via an on-board charger.  Any ideas or feedback you may have I will appreciate, thanks ahead.

[ProMo]

I had a simular situation, i have 2 deka group 27 on my trolling motor side and a deka group 24 on my cranking side. I ran out of trolling motor power a couple of weeks ago and come to find out my 2 bank onboard charger which i use to charge the trolling motor side was shot-it's a proline from BPS and about 8-9 years old, it never charged my batteries, the in-line fuses were fine but i put a tester on the onboard charger and it was shot. So i went to BPS and got a new BPS 5/5 onboard charger and it charged them right up so it was my batteries...i was able to fish last saturday in 35-40 degree temps the whole day and the batteries were still strong. I use a portable charger to charge my cranking side. The 5/5 BPS 2 bank charger was 89.00, they also have a 55/3 3 bank Charger for about 110.00. So it might not be your batteries but maybe your charger, get a voltage tester and check it out before you throw away your batteries or take them bacvk, it sounds like they just didn't get chargeed, if you have inline fuses in your charger check those too.

[RangerCliff]

I just had to get a new charger for my Nitro before I traded it due to the same issue you are having. Not sure when you were out, but we really haven't had it cold enough to cause that much of an issue. Also If your trolling motor is a 12v, it sounds like you are using one at a time? You can connect both batteries in parallel, still have 12v but they will last longer than using one at a time.

[chw]

This sounds like incomplete charged batteries as mentioned above, remember on a two year warrantee battery this cold will drain the full charge deep cycle faster. So first as previous mentioned check charger but this may be more than one problem which was the case two years ago for me. All components were good ie. charger, batteries, starter, trolling motor but had corrosion at terminals and slightly loose wing nut on one ground wire(the biggest issue). Check all wiring connections to see they are tight and not corroded, with all the moisture recently is possible. You may not get the amperage through connections so all components can check out normal with a system that does not convey the electricity required. After I cleaned and tightened I made sure of the batteries were fully charged by a secondary battery and then deep cycle in a warm garage with the trolling motor I had resolved the issue.

[soretoe]

Single digit lows will play he** with even new batteries. Sounds like your charger couldn't keep up in this weather. Like has been mentioned check and clean all connections to your batteries to include any chargers that you use. Make sure that the AC line that you used hasn't tripped a breaker in your home.