Question about time to charge the batteries. I have 2x24 volt batteries running a Minn Kota Riptide Terronova 80lb and a Power Pole. I suspect that my son didn’t recharge the batteries after Labor Day and this weekend the motor would not connect to the I-Pilot remote and the battery meter would not register so I am hoping that this happened because of the lack of charge. Should I expect 8-12 hours for this battery bank to charge? Also, when charging do I leave the Perko battery switch on the 1 position for charging that I use when I am operating normally? Nothing like owning a boat to make me wish that I had more electrical/plumbing/mechanical etc. education.
perko should be in off position
overnight should recharge a normal day of fishing.
there is also a circuit breaker right by the batteries for the trolling motor.
it could have been tripped. that would act like a completely dead battery.
it is unlikely that a day of fishing in going to kill those batteries to a point where they will not register on the meter at all.
If those batteries have been dead since labor day (September)over 3 months they are toast.
Once a battery gets low enough most chargers will not charge it. Even if you have a charger capable of boosting the battery back to life I doubt it will be as strong or survive much longer.
They provide power to your anchor and alternate propulsion source. Seems those would be critical systems to me. Not worth the hassle of missing a day fishing over a battery.
Good info from Chris and Frigatto. Thanks for that chart as well, I wondered how my little digital charger figured the percentages of the battery without load testing it… now I know!
On a side note… Chris, do you suggest unplugging\disconnecting the trolling motor itself (from the batteries) while its charging? Dual onboard charger or standard charging one at a time style make a difference?
i have used a trickle charge on a dead battery that was not used in a while and after a good while it came up with enough power to put my regular charger on it. has worked o.k. since. might just have been that one but worth a try.
Chris V, I used to unplug my trolling motor but then the connections would get corroded. I hard wired my TM so there is no plug, but I manually trip the circuit breaker (same one you showed in your picture) to break the circuit and basically “unplug” the TM. When I go fishing I reset the circuit breaker and I’m on my way. Do you see any issue with this?
Chris V, I used to unplug my trolling motor but then the connections would get corroded. I hard wired my TM so there is no plug, but I manually trip the circuit breaker (same one you showed in your picture) to break the circuit and basically “unplug” the TM. When I go fishing I reset the circuit breaker and I’m on my way. Do you see any issue with this?
When you unplug them clean thoroughly with some electrical component cleaner and then Slather your connectors with dielectric grease. That should take care of the corrosion issue if you get away from hard wiring. as you stated the CB tripped is an open circuit same as unplugging a connection.
Chris V, I used to unplug my trolling motor but then the connections would get corroded. I hard wired my TM so there is no plug, but I manually trip the circuit breaker (same one you showed in your picture) to break the circuit and basically “unplug” the TM. When I go fishing I reset the circuit breaker and I’m on my way. Do you see any issue with this?
When you unplug them clean thoroughly with some electrical component cleaner and then Slather your connectors with dielectric grease. That should take care of the corrosion issue if you get away from hard wiring. as you stated the CB tripped is an open circuit same as unplugging a connection.
