Always check your battery!

[NoProb]

Well it finally bit me. Boat sat up for 3 weeks and I forgot to turn off the battery switch. Then didn't think to check it before loading up the family and heading to the lake! Of course get here and battery is completely dead. Never got around to the second battery or getting a jump start battery, so load everything up and head back home.

Oh well, lesson learned!

 

[davel501]

I'll bet that battery in the tow vehicle will get the boat started.

 

[txav8r]

Having a smart charger and keeping it plugged in at home removes most of the battery issues. I leave mine on my Pulsetech charger. It recharges, desulfates, and maintains. I check that the batteries are full at 100%, that the engines crank and start, and a whole list of things are working before I pull it out of the barn each time I use the boat. But sorry your day was messed up, agree, grab another battery and go!

 

[4x15mph]

I like having a jump box that comes in the tow vehicle and then goes on board. I have helped a few people including myself with the box. I did have a recent drain that went beyond what the jump box could help with but that could have been my user error.

 

[Julian]

Bummer....That happened to me ONCE....which is why I installed the 2nd battery! A jump pack is a good alternative. I might have tied up and run to an auto parts store if one was anywhere close.....or asked other boaters on the ramp if they had cables long enough to reach it while it was in the water.

 

[GTBRMC]

Well it finally bit me. Boat sat up for 3 weeks and I forgot to turn off the battery switch. Then didn't think to check it before loading up the family and heading to the lake! Of course get here and battery is completely dead. Never got around to the second battery or getting a jump start battery, so load everything up and head back home.

Oh well, lesson learned!

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. Good suggestions from above posts.

Oh - welcome aboard!

 

[Bruce]

Another option would be to pull the battery from your tow vehicle and use it in the boat for the day.

 

[itsdgm]

@NoProb welcome to the site. A dead battery at the lake is a bad day. Sorry to hear that. Everybody has a different routine. Mine is a lot like @txav8r my batteries are always on a de-sulfating trickle charger when not in use. It helps prevent battery troubles, but you still could have a battery go bad so that's where a backup plan helps. I have a second battery with a battery switch. So all I have to do is switch over to the second battery. But it would be easier and cheaper to simply carry a spare battery in a covered battery box, or a jump pack.

 

[beachbum]

Dead battery... that sucks.

We leave the boat ON the water at a mooring in front of our beach house... This is my first summer with the boat. Following recommendations from this board and others, early on I left the bilge pump on while on anchor... After 5 days unable to use the boat due to the windy summer conditions we experienced, discovered Battery ONE was dead...thankfully we have 2 batteries and a I put a jump pack on board as well. The second battery was good to go and off we went.

This is going to freak some ppl out... More recently I have been shutting the batteries off and don't bother with the bilge (obviously) for days at a time. True, I am around to watch the boat, but it takes on NO water. Yes sir, big storms, small storms... waves and whatnot, that boat floats pretty.

2 Batteries ... I'm glad I did it.

 

[MOA_Chaser]

Two is one, and one is none!

 

[NoProb]

Worst part is that I have a second battery at home and keep planning to install it. I store it offsite so can't keep it on a trickle charger, but think its time to look at a jump pack. It did give me a chance to finally remove all the warning stickers from the back and put the name on.

Thanks for all the helpful info. It's defiantly one of those things that I'll only do once.

 

[itsdgm]

Worst part is that I have a second battery at home and keep planning to install it. I store it offsite so can't keep it on a trickle charger, but think its time to look at a jump pack. It did give me a chance to finally remove all the warning stickers from the back and put the name on.

Thanks for all the helpful info. It's defiantly one of those things that I'll only do once.

You could just get a $10 battery box and load the extra battery into the boat when you leave. At least that way if you had an issue you could drop it in place of the dead one on the lake. It probably would only take 5 min to swap it out.

 

[jdonalds]

I start the engines before we leave home, but still being the jump box.

 

[Zarrella]

Dual batteries and always on a trickle charge.

 

[jetboater4life]

I start the engines before we leave home, but still being the jump box.

I do this and also do a quick start of them while we are waiting in line to launch. The one time I forget to test them before launch, my starboard engine decided not to run. A simple plug change later and I was running again.

 

[KXCam22]

That just happened to me for the first time plus had lots of "circumstances" that complicated it. Last day out for the season too. Captain stupid (me) had left the battery switch on and my ballast computer drained the battery to zero (I have to install a switch for that). We normally launch 5 min from the house but our water is seasonal runoff type so the river launch is too low, so we trailer to the lake launch about 30min away. Get boat ready and WTF the blower wont run. Battery is absolutely dead and the jumper cables are at home. We found some, jumped the boat and got it running, start to launch, but the overheat alarm shut off the engines 5 ft from the water. Pull the boat back up the ramp. We sat for about 20min with the running truck charging the battery and then it would start. We didn't shutoff the engines all day. I did learn some stuff that I will pass on. The 2 yamaha engines would barely charge the 27DC battery but never got it over 12.2 V all day, even at higher RPMs. I think the battery capacity is just too large. Running a ballast pump would plummet the voltage to 11.4V and give me a 19 ECU code. When I got home it took 2 days for my extreme charger to get the battery to 100%. At the start it said 25%. Its a brand new costco battery so hopefully I haven't ruined it. Possibly I will install an onboard charger. Cam.

 

[buckbuck]

Wow. That is a bit scary Cam.
I never put my battery on a charger until I pull it out at the end of season. I may have to rethink that.

 

[KXCam22]

Me either. It was all caused by Captain stupid. I have never had a dead battery in all my years of boating. Part of the problem is that my fancy ballast system takes more power at idle than most common boat loads. The learning from this is that if you had this happen before a week at the lake, you would have to remove the battery and charge it externally as the MR1's just don't put out enough to recharge such a large battery. Otherwise you would end up struggling all week. Cam.