Stone Dead Battery

[JPass]

We last used our boat 2 weeks ago. Everything was fine as usual. It had been raining every day since then and I wanted to air the boat out today considering it was nice out for a bit. I also wanted to check to see if my GPS light was coming on as I saw a post about it and couldn't remember if ours was working properly or not.

Turned on the battery switch, hit the key and nothing. Turn off the battery switch, break out the charger and it's reading 0%. Battery is less than 2 years old. When I checked it 3 weeks ago it was 85% and I gave it a little charge like I always do.

Volt meter gauge seems to always read above 12V. The few times I've checked battery voltage at terminals while under power, I've always got around 14V +/-

I'm going to get a new battery and check the voltage while under power next outing. Any other places you guys think I need to check?

2012 210 Challenger SE 430

 

[go_panthers]

If the battery switch was off, the only thing that can drain the battery is the bilge pump. Is it possible that the rain that you had for the past 14 days for somehow getting into the bill to the pub with pumping it out and running out of battery?

I would take the battery out and go get a load tested. It is reading 0% charge, will have to charge it to test it. My guess is that it’s a bad cell in the battery.

On the GPS question, your boat won’t hold a steady speed on the speedometer if you don’t have a GPS lock. It’s the only speedometer that Challenger 210 has.

 

[JPass]

If the battery switch was off, the only thing that can drain the battery is the bilge pump. Is it possible that the rain that you had for the past 14 days for somehow getting into the bill to the pub with pumping it out and running out of battery?

I would take the battery out and go get a load tested. It is reading 0% charge, will have to charge it to test it. My guess is that it’s a bad cell in the battery.

On the GPS question, your boat won’t hold a steady speed on the speedometer if you don’t have a GPS lock. It’s the only speedometer that Challenger 210 has.

Boat has a fairly new cover and is dry as a bone inside. So it's not the cover. I thought about the bilge too, but I pass it so many times a day, you'd think I would have heard the pump going.

Already picked up a new battery. Charged it last night, going to install today. I also ordered a little cigarette lighter adapter that will show voltage so I can double check my charging system next time I'm out.

I rarely use the digital speedo, but the "analog" speedo seems to be working fine.

Battery is a cheapo Autocraft Marine starting battery. It's 800CCA vs the OEM 550CCA, but maybe they're just junk? I've run them in other boats with no issues.

 

[10forty2]

I'd guess at bilge pump as well. Mine kept hanging and running when no water was in the bilge area. Consequently, it would run the battery dead. I pulled it, cleaned the float really good and it seems to work as designed now. BUT.....I pull the fuse when I'm not going to be using it for a while, so there won't be the chance for it to happen again.

 

[JPass]

Hooked up the battery today and as soon as I did, the bilge pump came on. Removed the air intake (makes access easier) and then the bilge pump. Cleaned it up and reinstalled and everything seems good to go.

We'll be out on it Friday for a test run, so we'll check a few other things as well while we're out.