Battery problem?

><>J · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2015 11:52 am

I have a Magnacharge 24 deep cycle battery bought new this spring to run my trolling motor and have also new Noco Genius Gen mini on-board 1-bank changer hooked up to it. The instructions say it will take up to 10 hours to reach full charge and the light will change from red to green. I find that, after 3 days, the light still red! This happens even if the battery is not completely discharged. Eventually it does turn green and is charged. Any advice what the problem could be - is this normal and why does take so long? How long does your battery charge?

wrighty52 · **Joined:** Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:27 pm **Posts:** 183

I would say thats not normal at all. I have a three bank charger that does all three batteries in about 8 hours

FishinMagician · **Posted:** Thu Aug 13, 2015 1:37 pm

How many AH is that charger good for? Should be at least good for 120 AH. If not, it's not big enough of a charger to charge your deep cycles. I have a NOCO Genius 3500 charger for my deep cycle and it is good for 120 AH. These chargers will also bounce back from green "full" to red and stay steady red or slowly flash. This just keeps the battery topped up at a lower amp charge, like trickle charging to keep it fully charged.

><>J · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2015 3:47 pm

FishinMagician, The battery markings say that the ah@20hr is 85.

BATMAN · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:03 pm

Guys,

The genius mini single bank charge puts out 4 amp at 12v.
The magnachage battery apparently has a capacity of 85 Ahrs.
To fully charge this battery from low is 85/4 or 21.25 hrs.
I think your battery is fine. As you say, sometimes the charger indicates full charge.

If the charger in fact had a 10 amp output, I would expect the 10 hr charge time. Actually faster at 85/10 or 8.5 hrs.

BATMAN

stripey85 · **Joined:** Wed May 09, 2012 11:32 am **Posts:** 150

thats alot of math!
wasn't my specialty in school, girls and gym were

><>J · **Posted:** Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:15 am

I wasn't good with math nor girls but at being the teacher's pet (only to the good looking ones)

If it should take 21 hrs to charge, then why after being charged for 2 days, the battery is still weak? I took the boat out on last week Thursday, plugged it in when I got home and took the boat out again Monday last night (charger light was red) and the trolling motor ran barely at whisper

Maybe FishinMagician's suggestion of NOCO Genuis 3500 would be better?

BATMAN · **Posted:** Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:36 pm

Fishin Nut,
The genius 3500 is a 3.5 amp charge. It would take longer to charge than your 4 amp charger.
You could bring the battery back to where you bought it, and have it checked out.
Sorry about the math.
BATMAN

Walleye 9 · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:05 pm **Posts:** 1985

The numbers BATMAN provided I believe are correct. I've been told the same formula by a few different boat mechanics. It may seem confusing at first, but it's not at all. If your battery is 120 A/hr it will take 120 hours to charge at 1 amp charge. 2 amp charge will take 60 hours, 10amp charge will take 12 hours...etc. Basically just divide the A/hr of the battery by whatever amps you are charging your battery at, and that should give the charging time. These numbers I would assume are just guidelines, but should be fairly close.
Maybe there is something wrong with your charger, and not the battery...

Good Luck!!!

FishinMagician · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2015 7:28 am

Deep cycles are supposed to be charged "low and slow" why would you charge it with 10amps? And my 3500 charges my battery overnight. I get home from a good days fishing with a depleted battery and plug it in around 8pm and she's good to go by 5-6am. It's sounding more like a bad battery. Take it back and have them load test it.

Walleye 9 · **Joined:** Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:05 pm **Posts:** 1985

I think a 10 amp charge is considered low for the size of the batteries we are using in our boats (or should be using). After reading the manual for my charger, and the website of my battery brand, both say the same thing. 2amp-6amp charge for small batteries (motorcycles, snowmobiles, lawn tractors etc...) and 10 amp charge for larger marine/RV batteries. It also says a slow charge (2-6amp) can be used on larger batteries, but just for maintenance like winter storage or to keep it topped up.

BATMAN · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:27 pm

Guys,
My boat has a 20A Pro-Charger with dual 2 x 10A outputs to charge two deep cycle trolling motor batteries. It also has a second 10A Pro-Charger that charges my deep cycle/cranking battery for my outboard and accessories. This configuration or the use of single 3x10A 3-bank charger is pretty standard on most serious Walleye or Bass boats.
BATMAN

><>J · **Posted:** Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:30 am

Hey guys - I think found the source of the battery problem; it has been a learning curve for me with the great info posted here. Followed FishinMagician's advice and got the battery load tested and it was fine. The problem was that I had charger and trolling motor hooked up on the same battery posts (ones with wing nuts) so one of them was not in full contact with the battery. My bro, Bowfin, said the charge was being weakened because it was also travelling to the troll motor - hence 3+days to charge. Now after each trip, I remove the troll motor receptacles and tighten the wing nuts so charger can get full contact and before going out, I re-attach them underneath the charger receptacles. So far, battery is topped by next day and motor works fine!

stanley97 · **Joined:** Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:06 am **Posts:** 4

Is your boat equipped with a main power of switch? If it is not , your fish finder could be pulling power even though it is not on. I had this problem with a previous boat; My new lund has a main power on switch and I have no problems. Stan 97

><>J · **Posted:** Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:45 am

No - it's just a simple 14' alum Princecraft, I have my battery in a "locker" I made under the opposite seat and trolling motor is on the transom next to the outboard.

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Battery problem?

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