HELP! Boat wont start?

[flydunker]

Got the boat out this weekend and cleaned it up to get ready for the big water. I had the battery charging for the evening, put the battery in turned the hey and nothing. The radio or fishi finder woulf not even turn on. Could the battery be that dead??? This is the firat time I have got it out after a winter, just purchased last year.

[ahasiec]

Make sure the battery switch is turned on if the boat is equipped with one, otherwise make sure the battery is hooked up properly...from the sounds of it it might be dead

[wecker20]

Get back to work fly dunker! :lol:

[wecker20]

How are your fish finders hooked up? Are they directly wired to the battery w/ an inline fuse? Or are they on a switch? Check the fuses on the fishfinders and if you can get them to power up, there should be a voltage reading option in the menu. If you have 12-14 volts, you have a different problem. If the battery was left out all winter w/o a charger, you could of killed it.

[Jason Adam]

I would see without a charger hooked up if you get any power on a multimeter from your battery. If your saying you cant get a single device to show power, an not a noise or sign of life period, it sounds like a fuse or switch. even if you really did a number on the battery, you should be able to get enough off it, especially with a charge hooked up, to turn a graph on. I left a pair of batteries in the boat, no charger, for 3 winters in a row and had no problems. Left my waverunner battery in the waverunner in my driveway all winter and she fired right up in the spring, and that battery was in there atleast three years, as I've never replaced it.

[MGV]

I ran into issues with my batteries on Saturday. I had one that was a reman and the other is about 5 years old. I am not totally sure what is going on either. I was told that you can get a sulfer build up in the battery. Which makes it act dead. You have to totally drain the battery and do a trickle charge to it. Otherwise Bring it to your local Autozone and have them check it. If you have another item that you can plug directly to the battery you can prove if it is dead or something is wrong in the boat.

[Jason Adam]

I ran into issues with my batteries on Saturday. I had one that was a reman and the other is about 5 years old. I am not totally sure what is going on either. I was told that you can get a sulfer build up in the battery. Which makes it act dead. You have to totally drain the battery and do a trickle charge to it. Otherwise Bring it to your local Autozone and have them check it. If you have another item that you can plug directly to the battery you can prove if it is dead or something is wrong in the boat.

You should never mix batteries unless you have a battery isolator separating the circuits. The weaker battery will continually damage the newer or stronger battery and your doing yourself way more harm than good in short order. Same goes for trucks, boats, flashlights, cameras, etc.. If you replace one, replace them all.

[MGV]

Sorry i guess i wasn't clear. One battery is for the trolling motor. The other is for running equipment and the motor. Not hooked together.

[flydunker]

I will hook my smelt light to it and see if it works. If it operates my smelt light then it must be something else on the boat. I will look for a switch somewhere that is not making. Thanks for all of the help I will keep you posted.

Wecker20 I didnt know you were still scanning this page, how is work going? have you had your boat on the water yet this year? Drop me an e-mail


flydunker

[wecker20]

I'm always on here man. Best site in the world. Do all my posting in Habitat, here, and warm water fishing. When hunting season gets close, I'll be in those. I'm a seasonal poster :lol: Sent you an e-mail.

[Jason Adam]

I will hook my smelt light to it and see if it works. If it operates my smelt light then it must be something else on the boat. I will look for a switch somewhere that is not making. Thanks for all of the help I will keep you posted.

Wecker20 I didnt know you were still scanning this page, how is work going? have you had your boat on the water yet this year? Drop me an e-mail


flydunker

Buy yourself a multi meter. You can pick them up for as little as like $3 on sale at Harbor Freight or $10 at Meijers. It will be much more effective for trouble shooting than your smelt light. Once you have a multi-meter, start at the battery, if theres juice there, follow the power cable that eventually gets to your igintion, and test at the next contact point up from the battery, probably a inline fuse or breaker. If you have no juice before the fuse, its between the battery and the fuse holder, if you have juice there, but not at the other side, its the fuse, and just keep working your way up the line till you find the last place you have power and the first place you dont. Theres your problem.

[flydunker]

Well thanks to all for the advice and the help. I took Jasons advice and went an purchased a multi meter and went to work tracking my loss of power. About 1 hour and a few barley pops later in the heat I found the problem. There was a loose connection on the ignition switch behind the dash. Tighten the connection and BAM, we are running. Once again thanks for all of the help with this issue. Hope to shake the boat down tonight and be slammin some fiah this week during the evening.


flydunker

[wecker20]

So why didn't your fishfinders work? They should be wired directly to the battery w/ an inline fuse as close to the battery terminal as possible. That's what all my finder manuals say anyways. Glad to here your back in action.