trolling motor trouble

[bwillaub]

trolling motor runs for a short while then it acts like the battery is being completely drained. however, when i get the boat home....the battery shows over 80% charge. any ideas? any help will be appreciated.

thanks to you all

[Hellbender]

80%? When your battery is fully charged it should show 13-14 volts. Before I took the Troller in I would double check the battery. As an eletrician, I learned long ago to check with two sources before spending a lot of money.

[safetybass]

2nd on bender's battery comment. Batteries can get, to use a technical term, confused. Lot cheaper to troubleshoot and replace when necessary.

[DShootnstGentemn]

Bad battery, and it sounds like a bad tester as well.

[bwillaub]

i appreciate the help guys. one thing i left out with my initial problem. let the motor sit idle for an hour or so and it does the same thing again...starts like nothing is wrong and then just slowly fizzles. tis getting aggravating.
will have batteries checked. thanks again.

[fishnxs]

If the batterys check OK, you might want to check the rheostat

[safetybass]

I bet if you let it sit another hour, the same thing would happen. Batteries definitely sound like a problem to me now. I think the term is "sulfated"? Interferes with battery's juice flow.

[coyotewhacker]

How old are the batteries? If they have been recharged numerous times, or if they were allowed to sit for a couple of days without being recharged, especially in cold weather, chances are high that they have done what safetybass said...the plates are sulfated with deposits that precipitate out of the acid. In effect, the plates are internally shorted and lost power rapidly after being recharged. The older the batteries are, the greater the chance is that this is your problem.

[fishin]

I am a little late to the party but you may check the circuit breakers if you have them. I had one go bad a few weeks ago and the 24 volt would run for 5 minutes or so and quit and after it cooled it would start working again.

fishin

[cook]

Switch w/ your car-truck battery-see if it does the same thing.

[paddle]

Check your connections. I had a simular deal last year. cleaned out the quick connects and have had no problem since. ---paddle

[bwillaub]

had batteries checked @autozone. 1 checked out 11.3 volts..the other was 12.4 volts. cleaned and reconected all connections. will be fishing thursday @truman and saturday @pomme. hope this does the trick...i hate paddling hope to see you all on the water sometime.

good fishin to ya all.

[coyotewhacker]

Hope all that work did the trick. If the weatherman is right, you are in for a trolling motor workout with some pretty stiff winds. You will find out PDQ if you still have a problem. That 11.3 volt battery might be a little weak.

[Hellbender]

If 11.3 was charged then it is bad and will drag the other down, if its a 24V, and 12.4 is also low if its charged. If you didn't charge them before the check, you should. The low voltage is a reflection of the batteries ability to store.

[bwillaub]

replaced the 11.3 w/a new 180 amp battery. 12.4 was not charged after last use. i am hoping all is well now. i really appreciate all the helpful info.

me and electricity don't mix very well.

see ya on the water.