on board battery charger not shutting off after charging

[Lunkerhunter]

hey guys a quick question. after my last trip I plugged in my on board charger and everything looked normal. after a few days I went and checked on my boat and noticed the charger was still charging. I disconnected my charger and hooked up a battery meter and the batteries were fully charged.

 

any ideas why the charger did not shut off and show that the batteries were fully charged?

 

I am using a minnkotta on board charger. is it pooched? its only a couple years old.

 

your help is greatly appreciated

[John Bacon]

Do you have another battery that you can connect to the charger?

 

If it only does it with one battery then if may be the battery that is a problem (sometimes bad batteries can show as fully charged). If it has the same problem with all batteries, then it is the charger.

[fishnsled]

I've got a Minn Kota as well. When you say charging, was the yellow light flashing or was it the green light flashing? How old are the batteries?

[Dan668]

I have a similar issue, one battery out of my 3 is always charging, had the charger replaced under warranty (not because of the issue, one of my leads melted) , same issue, so its obviously the battery. Doesnt make much sense though because after 6-8 hours of charging, if i take a volt meter, the one battery shows 12.69v (tested it 24 hours after), its only 2 years old.

Edited May 15, 2015 by dan668

[manjo39]

I've got a Minn Kota as well. When you say charging, was the yellow light flashing or was it the green light flashing? How old are the batteries?

 

That's what I was thinking too. A Yellow flashing light means its charging in Bulk or Absorption mode.

 

Green means: Maintenance Mode. From Minnkota:

When the battery reaches full charge, the charger voltage is dropped to 13.4V at 77°F. A flashing GREEN light is lit for each bank to

indicate the battery is in Maintenance Mode and ready to use. After 24 hours, the charger automatically turns off and a GREEN light is

lit for each bank to indicate the battery is in long term Maintenance Mode and ready to use. The charger will automatically turn on

when the battery voltage drops below 12.6V.

5

[NANUK]

Check the water in battery, best to take it some where to be load tested and a specific gravity test on each cell.

You can try a different charger or battery,

 

There is a reason I don't like leaving the automatic charger ON all the time .

[Dan668]

My one bank stays flashing yellow, i assumed thats why my lead melted. Water is full. I dont think an equalizer will change anything. I will prob bring it to be load tested.

[Lunkerhunter]

I have 2 optima blue tops hooked up to it. Both doing the same thing. And sorry I should have mentioned they are both flashing green. After a few days still flashing green not solid green like they normally do.

 

Batteries are one year old

[manjo39]

I have 2 optima blue tops hooked up to it. Both doing the same thing. And sorry I should have mentioned they are both flashing green. After a few days still flashing green not solid green like they normally do.

 

Batteries are one year old

 

I would call Minnkota. They have been excellent at answering my questions when I called.

[fishnsled]

That is a bit strange Andrew. My charger did the same thing this spring but it did finally indicate a full charge after a couple of days. My batteries were old (5-6 years) and I figured it was just the batteries on their way out. I just replaced them with new ones and the charger worked fine. Might be best to contact Minn Kota. http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Contact/ as manjo39 suggested to get the issue resolved quickly.

[Lunkerhunter]

Called minnkota advised me to plug back in and leave flashing green for at least 24 hours. If still flashing get the batteries tested. I will let you know.

 

They did advise flashing green was still a full charge but eventually it should shut off.