Battery dead?

[Michigan boarder]

I bought a new 27M battery last summer.  It started great every time, no issues.  I pulled the battery out of the boat in the fall and put it in the basement.  I charged it twice over the winter, overnight on the 2A setting.  I reinstalled the battery this spring, a few weeks ago.  I've run the radio a few times, but not a ton.  I started the boat and it turned over kind of slow, but started.  I was doing some stuff yesterday on the boat, and put the charger on it knowing I'd start it later.  I put it on the 10A setting.  An hour or so later, it said "fully charged", so I moved it to the 2A setting, and the needle moved indicating it would take some more charge (done this a zillion times).  An hour or so later I go to unhook the charger and the red "reverse polarity" light is on.  Wha?  I look at the posts, and it is connected right - pos to pos, neg to neg.  I tap on the charger and the light goes off.  I disconnected the charger.  I hook up the water and get ready to start it.  When I turn the key on I have power, guages come up, blower on, etc.  When I turn the key to engage the solenoid, nothing.  No click, no nothing.  Blower turns off.  I've moved the throttle around, got it in neutral.  Messed around with the throttle and the key for a few minutes.  I checked connections, all tight, the ground is not hot. 

I had to finish some yard work and pack things up, so I walked away and put the cover on.  Is this a battery issue?  My plan is to pull the battery tonight and take it to Auto Zone.  They can test the battery there, right?  Any other suggestions?  I do not have the original battery receipt.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Michigan boarder
IN neutral

[klinger]

To me, it sounds like a battery terminal connection issue. Start out by cleaning the battery posts and make sure they have a good connection. If same problem, then check the main ground on the engine, where the battery cable attaches to the block. Good luck!

[Michigan boarder]

Just now, klinger said:

To me, it sounds like a battery terminal connection issue. Start out by cleaning the battery posts and make sure they have a good connection. If same problem, then check the main ground on the engine, where the battery cable attaches to the block. Good luck!

Terminals are crystal clean and very tight.  Same with the starter.  I did not check the ground to the engine though, good advice.

[Bozboat]

1 hour ago, Michigan boarder said:

I bought a new 27M battery last summer.  It started great every time, no issues.  I pulled the battery out of the boat in the fall and put it in the basement.  I charged it twice over the winter, overnight on the 2A setting.  I reinstalled the battery this spring, a few weeks ago.  I've run the radio a few times, but not a ton.  I started the boat and it turned over kind of slow, but started.  I was doing some stuff yesterday on the boat, and put the charger on it knowing I'd start it later.  I put it on the 10A setting.  An hour or so later, it said "fully charged", so I moved it to the 2A setting, and the needle moved indicating it would take some more charge (done this a zillion times).  An hour or so later I go to unhook the charger and the red "reverse polarity" light is on.  Wha?  I look at the posts, and it is connected right - pos to pos, neg to neg.  I tap on the charger and the light goes off.  I disconnected the charger.  I hook up the water and get ready to start it.  When I turn the key on I have power, guages come up, blower on, etc.  When I turn the key to engage the solenoid, nothing.  No click, no nothing.  Blower turns off.  I've moved the throttle around, got it in neutral.  Messed around with the throttle and the key for a few minutes.  I checked connections, all tight, the ground is not hot. 

I had to finish some yard work and pack things up, so I walked away and put the cover on.  Is this a battery issue?  My plan is to pull the battery tonight and take it to Auto Zone.  They can test the battery there, right?  Any other suggestions?  I do not have the original battery receipt.

Autozone can load test it.  I would go there first.   

[Woodski]

@MB:  check for a dead cell.  AZ or others can do that when you have it tested.  Also, can you see if there is enough fluid in each of the cells, charging can boil out the fluid, which then leads to cell death with additional charging.  Good luck.

[MLA]

 I would not discount the charger as an issue. When experiencing a battery related issue, the last thing you want to rely on, is the dial, gauge or readout of a charger, to tell you the condition of the battery. Check it with a volt meter or quality battery tester. 

[Michigan boarder]

39 minutes ago, MLA said:

 I would not discount the charger as an issue. When experiencing a battery related issue, the last thing you want to rely on, is the dial, gauge or readout of a charger, to tell you the condition of the battery. Check it with a volt meter or quality battery tester. 

Another good idea!  It will not tell me if it can handle a load though.  Or can I test that?  What should the battery read when resting and when under load?  I do have a good digital mulitmeter.

Went thru my history, found that the battery was bought on 5/23/2015 and carries a 12 month full replacement warranty.  I don't have the receipt, but hopefully since I bought it at Meijer they will be able to scan the barcode to verify.  I do have my transaction detail from the bank, just got that, showing I spent XX$ at their store, but it does not have the details.

52 minutes ago, Woodski said:

@MB:  check for a dead cell.  AZ or others can do that when you have it tested.  Also, can you see if there is enough fluid in each of the cells, charging can boil out the fluid, which then leads to cell death with additional charging.  Good luck.

Agreed.  But man, it's hardly been charged, less than a year old.  Hopefully I can just get it swapped out for a new one.

[MLA]

A good battery thats fully charged, but not measuring the surface charge that present right after charging, will be around 12.8. A good battery with some age and use, may be as low as 12.5. In most cases, if a battery can reach a reasonable full charge and hold it after the surface charge dissipates, then it will pass a load charge. The issue with using those toaster-tester heater grid load testers, is they are 100% manual and most battery store counter people dont know what the true starting voltage is. They just clamp on the tester and hit the switch for 10 seconds or so. Thing is, if a battery starts the load test not fully charged, it will likely not "pass" the load test. This may no mean the battery was bad, but certainly means it wasnt fully charged. I would have it tested with the new style electronic testers. They start out telling you whether the battery is fully charged or not.  

[jbower]

Sounds like a bad cell 

[Michigan boarder]

Update: cable was loose at the battery.  I'm telling ya, I tightened it with a pair of pliers a month earlier when I put the battery in the boat, I was so sure that it would still be tight.  Not so.  What a bunch of wasted time.  But thanks for the replies!

[shawndoggy]

pliers?!  on a bolt?!

noooooooooo! 

[lukehartwig]

16 minutes ago, Michigan boarder said:

Update: cable was loose at the battery.  I'm telling ya, I tightened it with a pair of pliers a month earlier when I put the battery in the boat, I was so sure that it would still be tight.  Not so.  What a bunch of wasted time.  But thanks for the replies!

I had this same exact thing happen me. We would be out on the water, running great, having a great day, radio and all the electronics working as expected. We would go to start the boat and nothing. Not even a click. I would lose my mind trying to troubleshoot it out on the water. Even asked for a jump a time or two (embarrassing). Turned out, loose battery cable.

Glad you found it. Now we know better.

[Michigan boarder]

54 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

pliers?!  on a bolt?!

noooooooooo! 

Wingnut.  Maybe I should trade those out for nuts?

[shawndoggy]

Ahhhhh wingnut.  My bloodpressure just dropped 20 pts!

Yeah I think regular bolts work better than wingnuts IMHO.

[TallRedRider]

I am in the market for a battery tester.  I would like one to be able to test 6 V batteries as well, since that is what I have in my RV.  Rather than start a new thread, I wanted to see if anyone had any experience with one here.  

I found this:  http://www.toptenthebest.com/automotive/top-10-best-car-battery-testers/  I don't might spending a fair amount, if it gives me good test results.  It wouldn't surprise me if those reviews were just paid...sort of like wakeboard magazine boat reviews;).  

I think I like this one:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K38UN6?tag=toptenbest-20  But it only tests 12V batteries.  

For $300, this is what you could get, looks just like the one they use at Auto Zone, but without the printer:  https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Meter-Products-AMR-SB-300-Handheld/dp/B01GIRDNQQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1488381409&sr=8-3&keywords=sb+auto+meter+300

Edited March 1, 2017 by TallRedRider

[MLA]

First, toss out all of those "toaster testers" load with the heater grid. They only work on a fully charged battery. if the battery cannot reach a full charge, boom, you have your answer as to its condition. This leaves you with the digital testers that can work on a battery that is not fully charged. Next, you need to find one that can test the condition of a battery that does not have published CCA, MCA or CA. In other words, any battery thats not a cranking battery in which we know the cranking amp spec. You need one that can test the health of a deep cycle battery which may not have a published cranking spec. In most cases, a good 'ol volt meter goes along way. 

[TallRedRider]

I've got 2 identical batteries in my boat that are just a year old.  One of them has a resting voltage significantly less than the other.  It would be nice to test it before I remove it without having to try to find a spot in the local Auto Zone parking lot, or go to the trouble of heaving the beast out of the bowels of the boat, not being 100% sure it has gone bad.  And a good tester would come in handy with all of my other vehicles too.  I noticed this in the fall, so I wonder what being on the onboard charger all winter has done to it.