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Battery problems???


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I have an 06 vlx with 170hrs. Single battery. Recently the battery died after I had it serviced by the dealer and had my transom remote installed. When I disconnect the battery and leave it over night the boat will crank the next morning but if i leave it connected the battery drains. Do you think there is a short where they rigged up the remote that is draining the battery or the alternotor is going bad? I swapped the battery for a brand new optima and left it connected and it drained it over night. When running the battery is at 13.9-14.1. When first starting it is at 11.2. I know i need to upgrade to dual batteries and a switch but will my problem still occur? Thanks

Edited by Eyekahn
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There is a way that an alternator can fail that would cause the battery to drain, but it is rare. Proper troubleshooting technique would be to start by testing the amperage draw with all accessories and the engine off, then disconnect suspect circuits one-by-one to see which accessory is creating a substantial draw.

I'd unplug the stereo and new control and let it sit overnight to see if that's the problem. If it is, back to the dealer.

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transom remote may have a indicater light that stays on all the time and it should be on only when the radio is on.

A bad Alt diode will draw a battery down.

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Right now I would say that adding a second battery is not going to do much. I would unplug the transom remote first and see if that makes a difference. Are you getting the battery charged all the way back up after draining it? What is the voltage when you shut the boat off for the day? Is there any chance your auto-bilge or something like that is running?

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Yes it charges up back to 14.1 when i run it for a few minutes and when i run it for a good 4 hours it stays the same. Now the remotes do not light up at all. This makes me think the remote is the reason for the draining of the battery. Even when the battery is at 11.6 it will not turn the boat over. Is that normal? does it need to be at least 12 volts to crank?

Edited by Eyekahn
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From what I understand, 11.6 or anywhere in the 11's is basically a dead batt. The batt needs to read above 12. I would say if the batt and starting was fine before the upgrade than is something they did that is drawing the batt down.

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Your battery should be in the 13's when fully charged and the alternator is not running. The alternator 'float' charges the batter at a little more than 14v, but the battery itself will sustain around 13.6v. Above 11v *should* be able to start the motor, depending on other things that are on and how fast it starts. Low 11's is dead. Anything below 10 may be unrecoverable with charging.

If you haven't yet, I still think the remote is the issue and should be removed and the system evaluated without the remote connected. As someone said earlier, if the dealer installed it and it has been doing this since, I would definitely bring it to them to make them fix it.

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Well, i pulled out the connections from the power and ground and cleaned them. Boat turns over now but very oddly. The ground seems to spark a bit right before the boat cranks. Any thoughts?

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Well, i pulled out the connections from the power and ground and cleaned them. Boat turns over now but very oddly. The ground seems to spark a bit right before the boat cranks. Any thoughts?

Loose connection? Had it happen to a car. Even tough it looked clean & tight, it wasn't. Make sure the ground is raw metal to metal. Painted surfaces can cause bad grounds.

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I would take it back to the service shop who did the work unless you think you already found the problem, your other option is to start disconnecting things and check with an ohm meter when you loose or gain readings back. Troubleshooting something like this can really become a headache if you haven't done it before.

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Well, i pulled out the connections from the power and ground and cleaned them. Boat turns over now but very oddly. The ground seems to spark a bit right before the boat cranks. Any thoughts?

Sparks+fuelvapors=boat-b-que.

Get those sparks figured out BEFORE you put that boat in the water again!!

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Its not like a sparkler going off. It just has a very small spark, like less than when you touch a jumper cable to the battery. I used a wire brush and some baking soda with water. I am taking it to the dealer on monday i just would like to be prepared to shell out some cash or hope its covered under their warranty.

Edited by Eyekahn
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It doesn't have to be like a sparkler. All it needs to be is A SPARK.... singular. A single point of ignition. Please be careful.

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Its not like a sparkler going off. It just has a very small spark, like less than when you touch a jumper cable to the battery. I used a wire brush and some baking soda with water. I am taking it to the dealer on monday i just would like to be prepared to shell out some cash or hope its covered under their warranty.

That is the indication that you have a draw on the battery somewhere, unless you have something that is always on like a clock or display.

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