Battery Charger

[Bill Balch]

Good Morning,



My question is in regard to my onboard battery charger (Guest Mod. 2608). When I first bought my Tracker 175 in 2004, the red and green lights would remain on until the battery was charged. Then only the green light would be on. Now, only the red light is on- continuously.



So, is my charger malfunctioning? Is it possible for me to overcharge the cranking battery? Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks, Bill

 

[G8rmac]

You can overcharge your battery. Feel the battery and listen while it is charging. Overheating will boil off the electrolyte, so you need to make sure it has plenty. I stopped using my onboard charger because it killed my trolling battery. Partially my fault for not checking the fluid levels, but I was relying on the lights. The green light never came on, and the battery overheated.

 

[Bill Balch]

I thought the onboard charger was a "smart" charger. That is, amp down to a float charge allowing you to keep your charger online and your battery always properly charged, and never overcharged.

 

[Jimmy Easterling]

Mine did the same thing after about a year. I had to replace it.

 

[G8rmac]

Bill, My charger was a "smart" charger, but it went bad and quit trickle charging, just stayed on full charge.

 

[Mike Newman]

My charger on 2003 175pt did the same thing last year and I also replaced because did not seem to be charging correctly. It either cooked my batteries or was not charging them properly because they seem to never fully charge like they used to. The batteies were trojan's. After I bought the new charger I ended up replacing the batteries also.

 

[FLsportsman]

Yeap,

I had a 2608A that did the same thing. You might notice that the charger also gets hotter than normal. It didn

 

[T AMBURGEY]

mine did to, I dont trust leaving them unattended anymore

 

[FLsportsman]

I agree. I would also worry about damaging the battery and having to replace it also.



Now that I replaced my charger three months ago - I have an opportunity to by a new Minn Kota Maximum 24v trolling motor for three hundred dollars from a friend. I

 

[Bill Balch]

OK, looks like I need a new onboard battery charger. Might as well replace my batteries, too. They're 5 years old. Thanks for all the input. Bill

 

[firedog978]

Bill,

5 year old batteries, count yourself lucky. That's great no matter what the make.

Before you replace the charger, try hooking up new batteries to it. Be sure all the fluids are at correct levels. You may just need them. The charger may be functioning well but, it can only do so if the batteries are in good order also.

 

[Jim in VA]

Bill - agree with FD. Check the batteries by having them load tested (any auto parts store, Sears, NTB, Merchant's, etc. will do it for free). Could be that after five years, one or more cells on the battery have permanent died. If that's the case, the charger will never be able to fully charge it so the charger will stay in full charge mode. If the batteries are still good, then go to the charger as the source of the problem.

 

[Mike Levesque]

Bill, I have what sounds like the same charger, and it was doing the same thing last year. Turned out to be my tired old batteries was the problem. Replaced starting and trolling batteries, (they were still the originals from 2002!), and problem solved. Charger worked fine all last year and this year. (I feel lucky to have gotten almost 6 years out of the original batteries, and from '02 to the beginning of '08, kept them charged and checked fluid levels often. Anyhoo, in my case, it was the batteries and not the charger that needed replacing.

 

[Sue DeLelys]

Bill,



Test the charger by disconnecting it from the battery and plugging it in. You should get a green light and a reading of 13.2 to 13.6 VDC with a volt meter. Anything else and you have a bad charger.



Sue