Probably #Dumb Question

[DR]

have never even given it a thought until recently, but, does an outboard motor charge up a boat battery in a similar way to a car?? or does the battery rely on us to keep it charged??

next question: what is the best way to maintain a battery in peak condition??

i ask this as i just put a new battery in my boat, the old one lasted 4 1/2 years is this good/bad or average??


cheers Fellas
Dave

[vertico]

the motor usually has an alternator like a car which charges the battery,
4.5 to 5 years isnt too bad for a marine battery

[BladeRunner]

Your motor must be doing somthing right if you got that long from a battery .
Is it a proper marine battery you are useing? Good average.
Keep doing what you are doing its worked so far .
BladeRunner [smiley=bandana.gif]

[DR]

[quote author=BladeRunner
Your motor must be doing somthing right if you got that long from a battery .
Is it a proper marine battery you are useing? Good average.
Keep doing what you are doing its worked so far .

i am ashamed to admit that i did not do a damn thing. it just sat in the boat minding it's own business for all that time, never let me down until last week. gave no indication of a prob. just decided not to work. had it tested , would not hold charge so grabbed a new one. i figure if i look after this one it might last longer [smiley=2thumbsup.gif] [smiley=laugh.gif]

[Lucky_Phill]

You should get many answers to this one Dave.

Bascially, motors only charge the battery if you ave a ' rectifier " attached, or as in the cae of the new 4 bangers, an Alternator.

Always tickle up your battery at home.

Cheers Phill

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

not meaning to steal the thread - but WHAT BRAND DO U LIKE ?

I like Century - usually get 4 yrs in car or boat - does anyone get equivalent performance from a cheaper branding (they are all made by only a couple of companies)

[blaze]

Hi
I am with lucky phil
get trickle charger and give it a boost occaisionly, ya might get 10 years out of it then,
I think 2 years is good for a battery in marine app
cheers
blaze

[aido]

no such thing as a dumb question,
only dumb answers.
cheers. aido.

[easyrider525]

beg to differ.. the only dumb question is the one NOT ASKED!!

[gunna]

Just out of interest DR - how often did you charge it ?

[Hutcho]

i recentrly had the same problem with my battery. Never had a drama with it until one night the motor simply wouldn't kick over. Found out that the battery in the boat (whoever installed it) but too small a battery in it. Got a proper sized battery now, and everything works like a dream. But the guy who installed it for me suggested getting a trickle charger and leave it plugged in whilst your not using it. Cos I'm in Brisbane, and the boat is up the sunshine Coast, i should never have any problems' with the battery for a very long time. Trickle charger is the way to go if you don't use your boat every weekend.

Cheers,
Hutcho

[caloundra]

what does a rectifier look like??

[where_is_dave]

Batteries these days tend to just drop a cell without a hint, marine or car. Not much marine exp but the same general rules apply a bty kept charged will last wy longer than one that is run down and charged again repeatedly. 5 yrs is a pretty good ave for any bty.

[Thunderbird]

I've found with car batteries, if they are going to pack it in, it's in winter.

[FishFinger1977]

If any of you want to know about batteries you could give a mate Joey from Springers in Strathpine a call, I just got a new AGM (Absorbed Glass Matt) battery for quite a good price, the military use them so they must be o.k. Just mention this site and he'll look after you. Also it only loses 3% of it's charge over a one month period at normal temps so forgetting to charge is not to much of a problem.

[Burley_Boy]

Your rectifier is 4diodes connected to change alternating current to Direct Current ie AC to DC. It can look like anything as they may be epoxied into a specific case to make a manufaturer be able to charge a bundle for them...
Normally a decent size rectifier in say Tandy or Dick Smith would be possibly 1 inch square with a hole in the centre for mounting on a heatsink and 4 spade terminals. With a decent current rating this would be able to replace most rectifier units in a motor.

I still reckon trickle charging with a solar panel is cool.

[DR]

thanks for all the replys, sorry for taking so long to acknowledge them but, my computer had to go to hospital for a few days.

Just out of interest DR - how often did you charge it ?

sometimes i can get really slack....never had a charger near it!! [smiley=jester.gif]

[joeT]

not meaning to steal the thread - but WHAT BRAND DO U LIKE ?

I like Century - usually get 4 yrs in car or boat - does anyone get equivalent performance from a cheaper branding (they are all made by only a couple of companies)

I like Optima batteries. I have an Optima Bluetop in my car :D.