[C320-list] Battery Woes

[Dean Vermeire]

Hi Diane,

We sail on Lake Perry, which is about 1 hr West of Kansas City, just 
North of I-70.  If I could start the engine, I'd take you sailing!

Enjoy your trip.  Stop at Joe's KC BBQ for dinner.  :)

Dean


On 6/16/2020 9:50 AM, Diane Fowler wrote:
> We're traveling through Kansas weds- Sunday!
>
> Where do you sail??
>
> #948, Windy City
> Traveling west - land cruising with our travel trailer.😎
>
> Captain Diane Fowler, CRS, GRI, e-PRO
>
> Nautical Realty Group, Inc.
> Let me help make your sale a breeze.
>
> 239-850-4935
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jun 16, 2020, at 9:44 AM, Dean Vermeire <dean at vermeire.us> wrote:
>>
>> Ahoy,
>>
>> I recently had two new batteries installed.  I will say up front that they are not the greatest batteries or brand (Continental maintenance-free 4Ds), but there are not as many choices here in Kansas.  I also mostly daysail, and, if I do stay on the boat overnight, I stay in the marina.  So, I basically need to start the engine and be able to run the bilge pump, refrigerator, stereo, and instruments.
>>
>> The first time I went out to the boat after installing the batteries (about 4 days), the engine would not turn over.  I shut everything off to let the batteries charge as much as possible for about 15 minutes.  When I tried again, I was able to start the engine.  I went sailing and left the engine running the whole time.
>>
>> Two days later, I went back out to the boat and took along a volt meter and a battery tester.  With the charger on, I was seeing about 13.4 volts to the terminals.  I turned off the charger and waited 30 minutes.  When I hooked up the tester, it showed both batteries as bad (less than 40% of the capacity).  I tried to start the engine, but it would not turn over.  The voltage of both batteries then showed around 11 volts.
>>
>> So, in all likelihood I got two bad batteries.  But, what are the chances?
>>
>> My real question to all of you battery wizards out there is what in my wiring could kill two batteries?  I get the idea that something could run them down, but kill them?
>>
>> Our boat is #847, a 2001, with the original 2-battery configuration.  The batteries are dual-purpose, rated for 1200 CCA.  It was about 80 degrees when I tested.  The boat was out of the water for 18 months before replacing the batteries.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Dean Vermeire
>>
>> Moonstruck II (#847)
>>
>>
>