Battery is dead after a day of fun.

[seadoo-soto]

So this is the second battery this summer. I thought the first battery was a dud but come to find out, the second batter is also being drained after a whole day of fun. I do run the stereo but i figured the charging system should be able to keep the battery juiced. The majority of the day the boat is on. Any ideas? What should I do?

 

[RFoster130]

It would help if we knew what watercrfaft and what you have done to it.

 

[seadoo-soto]

2003 Seadoo Sportster. Stock with what looks like a re-wired stereo system.

 

[RFoster130]

If you think somebody may have done some "tweaking" of the radio wiring, I would start there. Double check that it is correctly installed. If there is anything besides a radio like an amp, I would double check it too. Check all your battery cable connections and terminals. Make sure they are all tight, clean, and not corrodded. I would start with these basics.

 

[CypherAZ]

So this is the second battery this summer. I thought the first battery was a dud but come to find out, the second batter is also being drained after a whole day of fun. I do run the stereo but i figured the charging system should be able to keep the battery juiced. The majority of the day the boat is on. Any ideas? What should I do?

The battery dies while you are on the lake? or later after you are off the lake?

 

[seadoo-soto]

Through-out the day you will notice that the cranking amps are low as the boat will not start on a dime like usual. On saturday, it got so low that it would not start and I had to get towed.

 

[Craigmri]

Volt meter

Here's what you should do:

1) Put a volt meter on the battery with boat off. A fully charged battery will be about 12.8 to 13 volts dc.

2) Start boat with volt meter still attached. You should see something close to 14 VDC suggesting your charging system is doing something.

If you dont see the 14 VDC you may have a charging issue or a connection issue. If you do see something close to 14 VDC then I suspect possible battery. If you dont own a battery load tester, remove the battery from the boat, charge it for a couple of hours then bring it to the auto parts store and they will load test it for you.

Craig

Through-out the day you will notice that the cranking amps are low as the boat will not start on a dime like usual. On saturday, it got so low that it would not start and I had to get towed.

 

[seadoo-soto]

Thanks for the input. I am suspecting its not the battery being that this is the second battery. The first battery was re-charged and put under a load and came out good but I didn't want it because I didn't wanna fool with a weak battery. Well now I'm on battery number two and I am having the same problem. I will get it tested none the less.

 

[Craigmri]

In this event my guess is either you have a inoperative charging system or something is sapping the battery dead.

Put voltmeter on battery leads with boat running. You should see approx 14 Volts dc. If you dont, inspect all leads coming from battery, battery switch, solenoid, engine etc.. if all leads check out OK you have a charging system problem.

Craig

 

[cnpalmer]

I would also check to see how the radio is wired is you are suspecting that.

Simply pull the + lead off, yeah no radio but it completely eliminates anything to do with anything aftermarket.

See how the battery holds up then. If it works fine for a day then you definitely know it's the radio wiring. Maybe they ran direct to the battery. For mine I thru a simple toggle switch so I can kill the radio separate from the main cut-off switch in the boat. This is until I upgrade to the new multi-switch & dual battery setup.

Also, the amp should not draw any current as it only comes on when the remotewire sends the signal from the head unit, if you have an amp. Again, if this is wrored incorrectly it might sap the juice as well.