# Do you suppose this battery has life left??



## paper (Dec 21, 2014)

The boat I recently bought came with a 27 series Autocraft Marine/Deep Cycle battery that was purchased new 3 years ago and used for about 2 hours in that time. Unfortunately I think it was charged even less in three years..

I put my 10amp charger on it for a day and a half and at first it was pulling 8 amps. A day and half later it was pulling 6 amps.. 
My meter says 12.2 volts and the charger has not been on the battery for 10 days.

I have very little experience with the symptoms of a failing deep cycle battery. I would have thought that 36 hours on a 10amp charger would have brought any battery to full charge, but as mentioned, it was still pulling 6amps.

Should I; 

put the charger back on it?
drain the battery with some lights and re-charge?
consider it a core and buy a new battery? #-o 
charge it some more and use it and see what happens?

I'm in the process of electrifying the boat, starting tomorrow.. All it had was a clamp on trolling motor and bilge pump. I'm putting a complete panel with breakers and switches to operate navigation and operational LED lights. My motor is a pull start Yamaha 15hp so I don't need power to it or anything other than lights and a trolling motor. I also have a Merc 3.3 for all day trolling if needed, so basically the electric trolling motor is for jockeying the boat around in tight spots and maybe moving the boat (14' MirroCraft) 100 yards between fishing spots and whatnot.


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## earl60446 (Dec 21, 2014)

Probably just a trade in battery now. You could take it to be tested or put the trolling motor in a garbage can of water and try it.
That's what you want it for anyway. Monitor voltage while you are doing that, if it drops below say 11 volts, it is junk.

I loaned a trolling motor and battery to a guy once and when he tried it, it just slowly turned the motor over. Kinda embarrassing.

Tim


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## crazymanme2 (Dec 21, 2014)

Partial drain the battery than charge at 2 amps.Bring to automotive store to have load tested.


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## paper (Dec 21, 2014)

crazymanme2 said:


> Partial drain the battery than charge at 2 amps.Bring to automotive store to have load tested.



Will this load testing be the same as a standard automotive battery?? Again, I've got no experience with deep cycle batteries and don't know what are the typical signs of failure..

How long should I charge at 2 amps?



I'm on the IL/WI stateline and I'll have the boat in a heated garage for about the next week while I'm doing the electrical work. The battery held 12v for almost 2 weeks without being on a charger and I'm sure I'll have a good drain on it several times during the next week. I'm mounting LED daytime running lights on the inside and outside, as well as a couple 15w floods and a 36w spot up front. I'll have plenty of opportunity to do some good ol' draining while getting the wiring done.


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## crazymanme2 (Dec 21, 2014)

Might have to charge for 24 hrs.Sometimes you have to connect another good battery(jumper cables) so you can charge the bad battery.With 2 batteries I would still charge at 2 amps.

Read this

https://batterylifesaver.com/how-do-i-revive-a-dead-battery/


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## paper (Dec 21, 2014)

Thank you for the link, but it involves a purchase of the Battery Saver which is $130.. :shock:


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## JMichael (Dec 23, 2014)

crazymanme2 said:


> Partial drain the battery than charge at 2 amps.Bring to automotive store to have load tested.


+1 Cycling the battery a few times is a good idea. you could do this a few times over the course of your lighting mod installation. Then put it on the slow charge for a day or more to it load tested. If you can't do that, I'd get a hydrometer (7-8 bucks) and use it and your meter to test your battery.


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## paper (Dec 23, 2014)

Thanks Everyone!!

I've been cycling it and you guys are spot on, it's coming back!! 

The good thing is that I don't have to rely on the battery to start the engine during actual use, so if the thing fails I always have a flashlight and there's a reason I typically fish upstream and float home..


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## paper (Dec 24, 2014)

I ran a trolling motor on the battery (no resistance, just running wide open) for 3+ hours yesterday and it was still showing 11.6v.. 

Looks like I don't need to send this one to the battery heaven for a while.. =D>


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## paper (Jan 29, 2015)

paper said:


> Looks like I don't need to send this one to the battery heaven for a while.. =D>



Update.. After further review, the calling on the field was incorrect.. #-o 

It wouldn't hold a charge, or take a charge. 

So... I weighed the options, cost and lifespan of a standard deep cycle and an Optima and decided to pony up for the Optima 31 Deep Cycle.. Cost was double, but it's an incredible 1050 CCA and it fit in my battery box.. =D>


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## earl60446 (Jan 29, 2015)

earl60446 said:


> Probably just a trade in battery now. You could take it to be tested or put the trolling motor in a garbage can of water and try it.
> That's what you want it for anyway. Monitor voltage while you are doing that, if it drops below say 11 volts, it is junk.
> 
> I loaned a trolling motor and battery to a guy once and when he tried it, it just slowly turned the motor over. Kinda embarrassing.
> ...



Ahem...


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## paper (Jan 29, 2015)

earl60446 said:


> Ahem...




:lol: 

Ok.. You were right..

See, I have an issue of just giving up and throwing money. Actually, the battery worked well enough for me to finish all my electrifying projects on the boat, as long as I didn't run everything at the same time.. This new Optima sure powers everything at the same time, though.. Hardly knows those LEDs are even on..


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