Reviving my deep cycle battery

[rhymobot]

Hi.

 

I have a Motomaster Nautilius battery. They don't have the same model on CT's website anymore so I can't show you exactly which one I have. I seem to recall it being about $220 four years ago.

 

Anyway, I use it with a 32lb trolling motor on my 11 foot inflatable. And this is the fourth year using it and I go usually about 30 to 35 times a year for a few hours.

 

When I'm on the small lakes I almost never run out of juice even though I am hopping from one spot to another.

 

However, trolling is the problem. Many times I go up and down a river after work for a couple hours. And I troll on 4 or 5 speed. I'd guess after about 1:15 of actual trolling I can tell the battery is losing power gradually. And probably within 20 minutes of noticing, it pretty much slows me right down to the point of me going so slow that it feels like I'm trolling on 2 speed even though I have it on 5.

 

The first couple summers I had it I could troll on the river for at least twice as long.

 

This is the charger I use. Nautilus charger. I let it charge on "optimal" for 6 to 8 hours. And a handful of times I rapidly charged it because I went for a morning session on lake then needed the battery ready for an afternoon session.

 

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-nautilus-battery-charger-15-10-2a-0111525p.html#srp

 

I also kept my battery in the basement in the winter and would charge it to full once a month between Nov. and May.

 

Is my battery simply reaching the end of it's life cycle? Maybe I didn't maintain it as well as I could have.

 

But is there a simple way of reviving it by adding some kind of water? The battery itself is in good shape on the outside. Looks pretty clean. And I think it's a sealed battery.

 

By the way, I'm not exactly a handy person. But if there's an easy enough way of doing this I'll give it a try. Or maybe I'll just have to suck it up and buy a new one.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[John Bacon]

If it is a seal battery then there probably isn't much you can do. If it was not sealed, and the water levels were low, then topping it up with distilled water would help.

It sounds like the battery is reaching the end of it's life.

I have had better luck with batteries from Walmart or Costco than I have had with the ones from Canadian Tire. But, completely draining a battery each time you use it will wear the battery down quickly. Your winter maintenance sounds fine. You may need to replace your batteries more often than someone who only uses them to position the boat.

[Korber]

I have a good auto-off battery charger/ maintainer, I use this on my NAPA battery. Seems to do me well. pushes my 14' Tinny with 2-4 people in it well. We troll with it and spot hop on smallers lakes. Usually i charge it after every night but sometimes I go two days without charging it but at the end of the second trip on the second day its dead.

 

Your Battery could be at the end of its life, I don't think there is anything that you could do, but there maybe a specialized battery shop that could help you save it but it might be more money than a new battery is worth.

 

I would also suggest getting a smaller solar panel (5W)They are great if you can make a mount for the boat. helps top off the battery while your out. they are top notch to keep the battery moving when you are out for the weekend fishing but that is more so a fun tool then a required one.

[NANUK]

If you have been using the battery right down to nothing on most days, I would say 4 years is pretty good you got out of it,

There are only so many life cycles you get out of a battery, a battery charged after 50% use will last much longer than one charged after 80% use.

There isn't much you can do to revive it back.

[Garnet]

You need to load test the battery. CT or any shop has a load tester.

[Sinker]

Its fried. Get a new one. 4 years is a good run for what your doing. Next time get a bigger battery.

 

S.

[DanD]

Time for a small gas motor and use your electric as a backup if the gasser fails or for positioning.

 

Dan.

[Sinker]

Theres a small gas motor in the classifieds for less than a battery would cost you.....

 

S.

[Old Ironmaker]

I have learned 2 things about batteries, 1) 80% are all made by Johnson Controls and the sellers slap their names on them. 2) A battery has a maximum number of charges to full from dead which is really 20%. The more you spend the more charges from dead you have. Never let them die and they will last 10 years, I had one that went 10 years.

 

I leave them on a maintenance trickle charge all winter, switching from each one every few weeks.

 

Looks like you are in the market for a new battery and the new one should last you twice as long. Check the manufacture date on the thing before you buy one. Some are 2 years old when they sell you a new battery.

[aplumma]

 

This is a cut and paste from a website on batteries

 

 

 

Why Lead-Acid Batteries Stop Working

All rechargeable batteries work by producing chemical reactions, and each new charge and discharge makes minute permanent changes to the battery’s chemical structure. In lead-acid batteries, the most popular choice for vehicles and industrial situations, the breakdown occurs because of a chemical reaction between the lead and the sulfuric acid in the battery. The two substances form a third substance called lead sulfite, and as the battery gets older, the lead sulfite starts to form crystals inside the battery. Because the battery is no longer able to use the lead and sulfuric acid in the crystals, the battery’s functionality goes down until the crystals get big enough to render the battery entirely useless.

Hope this explains it

Art

 

[floater]

There is a battery rebuilder at Victoria Park and Gerrard in Toronto. This guy takes your battery and guts it and puts in heavier plates and refills it for around 100 bucks. You should be able to find another guy closer to you.

[Old Ironmaker]

Art I need to come up with a question for you that you don't know anything about, not likely. Ironmaking maybe? I know you would be interested in that. You are one of the most well read men that I have never met. A virtual cornucopia of information. I could spend a good week asking you about stuff and learning from you. You remind me of my dear " Nono " (Grandfather) that I miss badly to this day. I would sit next to him for hours as he taught me to speak Italian and going through every page of a Colliers Atlas that was pre WW2. I have his Atlas and is my most treasured thing I have. He passed in 67'. I will have been the 4th generation of Steelworkers in the family. I wish he could have seen how I turned out, maybe he does.

 

floater, I wouldn't spend a 100 on a basket case battery when I can buy a very good new one with warranty for 150 to 200. If I had a fleet of vehicles on the road maybe. Why would this be a smart thing to do?

Edited September 14, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[Terry]

and your batteries are only as good as your charger

[NANUK]

There is a battery rebuilder at Victoria Park and Gerrard in Toronto. This guy takes your battery and guts it and puts in heavier plates and refills it for around 100 bucks. You should be able to find another guy closer to you.

I think you mean Cross Town Battery,

He doesn't really rebuild batteries, he is a battery wholesaler/supplier,

He does sell batteries with thicker plates for golf carts, auto scrubbers and marine use,

I have been buying my batteries from him for the last 20 years, good stuff !

[Mister G]

Nurse that old battery through this year and then drop kick it to the curb next spring. But DON'T pay anywhere near $200 for a battery, you really over paid.

[porkpie]

Extensive trolling kills deep cycles. I've killed mine in 2 seasons in the past. I troll until the motor stops pretty regularly. Not much will save them from that. Walmart had a decent grp31 battery for about $135. I've been using one all season and so far so good but I'll eventually kill this one as well. I'd just buy another and be done with it.

[Old Ironmaker]

I would never spend $200.00 for a battery myself, but they are out there. To me $150.00 is what I might pay, max for a good deep cell. I have been buying 90% of mine at Acme Battery off of Parkdale Ave. North in the east end of Hamilton for 30 years. About 70% of retail. If you want a Die Hard for example he will put that decal on it. They are all Johnson Control batteries. 30 years in business says something.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[Garnet]

Keep your eye on Cosco they half price there marina battery's around now every year.

 

Until you load test this battery nobody knows if it's good or not.

 

Another thing could be dirty terminals, they should be clean and shiny with white de electric grease on them.

[Spiel]

I would never spend $200.00 for a battery myself, but they are out there. To me $150.00 is what I might pay, max for a good deep cell. I have been buying 90% of mine at Acme Battery off of Parkdale Ave. North in the east end of Hamilton for 30 years. About 70% of retail. If you want a Die Hard for example he will put that decal on it. They are all Johnson Control batteries. 30 years in business says something.

 

I just bought a pair of group 27's deep cycle batteries at Acme Battery (Great Northern Battery), $120.00 each.

[mugsmuffin]

Just a note on storage, make sure when you put it in the basement do not place it directly on concrete. Concrete sucks the life out of everything, especially batteries

[John Bacon]

Just a note on storage, make sure when you put it in the basement do not place it directly on concrete. Concrete sucks the life out of everything, especially batteries

 

That's more myth than reality. I don't have a problem when storing my batteries on concrete.

 

I think at one time, before battery cases were made of impermeable materials, there was a reason for not storing the battery on concrete. Modern batteries are are fine sitting on concrete.

[Terry]

Just a note on storage, make sure when you put it in the basement do not place it directly on concrete. Concrete sucks the life out of everything, especially batteries

^ Old school info

Batteries today are fine on concrete

The old ones with what the case was made from could have the life sucked out of them. But the plastics used today are fine

Edited September 15, 2016 by Terry

[Spiel]

Old school info

Batteries today are fine on concrete

The old ones with what the case was made from could have the life sucked out of them. But the plastics used today are fine

 

^ Yep

[DanD]

The older cases would also seep acid over time and eat the concrete or if the floor was painted; it wouldn't be after the batteries were there for awhile. LOL

Back in the 70s all our batteries, we had in stock were left dry; until they were sold. We had a keg of acid in the stock room where we'd fill the batteries and then put them on slow charge for at least 4 or 5 hours before the customer got their car back.

 

Dan.

[Mister G]

 

 

I think at one time, before battery cases were made of impermeable materials, there was a reason for not storing the battery on concrete. Modern batteries are are fine sitting on concrete.

OH, not really...............if they were not made of impermeable material the acid would have run right out of the battery. What a mess that would have been.

 

But it was a myth about storing them on concrete.