Hi all. I have an '87 sea ray seville. Yesterday put it in the water for
the second time this year. Cruised around for hours, lots of time also just
sitting around with the boat still running. When I went back to the boat
ramp as I was waiting for others to finish putting their boats up I turned
it off. When I did this my electronics should have still stayed on (radio,
depth finder) but all went off. I could not even raise my propeller.

I hooked in a second batter with some jump cables and was able to raise my
propeller just fine.

My guess is that my battery is dead and that I was running on alternator?

I took the battery to advanced auto (only thing open at 9pm) and they said
the battery was fully charged and working! Obviously they must be wrong or
their machine doesnt work correctly on boat batteries, even though they do
sell some in there.

What type of place can test my boat battery and sells good boat batteries?
I hope thats what the problem is.

Also, would it be possible for them to test the battery as good but for some
reason it not work in the boat? Cause it starts right up when I jumped it.

Thanks!
--C

Do this quick test...

1. Start up your boat.
2. Remove the negative lead off your battery.
3. If the motor shuts off, it's your alternator for sure.
4. Check all connections before removing the alternator.

Advanced Auto can test your alternator.

Jim Rojas


"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
...
Hi all. I have an '87 sea ray seville. Yesterday put it in the water for
the second time this year. Cruised around for hours, lots of time also
just
sitting around with the boat still running. When I went back to the boat
ramp as I was waiting for others to finish putting their boats up I turned
it off. When I did this my electronics should have still stayed on
(radio,
depth finder) but all went off. I could not even raise my propeller.

I hooked in a second batter with some jump cables and was able to raise my
propeller just fine.

My guess is that my battery is dead and that I was running on alternator?

I took the battery to advanced auto (only thing open at 9pm) and they said
the battery was fully charged and working! Obviously they must be wrong
or
their machine doesnt work correctly on boat batteries, even though they do
sell some in there.

What type of place can test my boat battery and sells good boat batteries?
I hope thats what the problem is.

Also, would it be possible for them to test the battery as good but for
some
reason it not work in the boat? Cause it starts right up when I jumped
it.

Thanks!
--C

What did the terminals look like (dirty?)
That sounds like the classic bad terminal problem. It could be a connection
inside the battery tho.
How old is the battery?
Another way to test it is to put it in your car and run it there for a few
days. Keep the "good" battery in the trunk so you don't get stranded somewhere.
Be sure to secure it so it won't be rolling around.

I think it would be pretty unlikely that the Auto shop would get
a good and charged reading on your battery if it was actually bad
and discharged.

One scenario is that the cables to your battery or their connection
at the terminals (on either side) were not working. When you shut
off the engine the battery gave no juice to raise your motor. When
you connected the jumper battery you got a connection from it and
got your juice back.

I'll bet it's connections.

Get a cheap meter at Radio Shack or the autoparts store. See if the
Altenator
is putting out any voltage. Check your batter at various point in the day.
You'll
learn some things.

If your cables are really bad replace them. More likely it't just that the
ends
need to be cleaned up. Get one of those little brushes that are made both
the clean the post on the battery and the connectors that go on them. I
also
keep a little tube of dielectric greese. It seems kind of expensive when you
buy
it, but that little tube goes a looong way. Put a little grease on all your
terminals
and if there is any exposed parts of wires (which there shouldn't be, but
sometimes
there is).

Good Luck.

I will definitly check the connections to see if they are dirty and try the
alternator trick to see if the alternator is bad.

I just got the boat a month or so ago and the guy said the battery was a
couple years old. I took it out and it is a deep cycle battery with 575CCA.
I was reading online and I guess this isnt even the right kind of battery to
be starting my boat with. Im going to try charging this battery back up and
purchasing the correct type of battery for starting the boat up.

Hopefully its just the battery or even better woudl be bad connection.

Will I be able to put a starter battery and this deepcycle battery in there
with some kind of a switch and then switch to the deep cycle when the boat
is off?

--C

For less than the price of gas to run to the auto store, you can own an
inexpensive little test light that will help you determine if your battery
and/or alternator is goofed up.

They're small, and fit easily in a basic tool box. The test you can run with a
cheapie light is informative, but not complete. A battery can have a "surface
charge" that looks OK, but lack the guts to do any real work.

As somebody else suggested, check those terminals and cable clamps and see if
they got corroded by sitting all winter. The clamp from the jumper cable might
have had enough pressure to make contact through any corrosion, and the austo
parts store would have tested the battery with corrosion-free equipment.

"Ree-Yees" wrote in message
...

Will I be able to put a starter battery and this deepcycle battery in
there
with some kind of a switch and then switch to the deep cycle when the boat
is off?

--C


You didn't say the size of the boat but I'm assuming it's just a
day runabout / under 25 feet. In this case I suggest two "dual-
purpose" batteries. These batteries are good both for starting
the boat and for running small amounts of equipment for
relativley short periods of time. (Such as a couple of lights
and the radio while your setting still for an hour).

The "deep cell" will work for that too. But it's really more for
taking lots of charge and then running more load for more time.
(Like on a big boat that is setting with no engine running for
hours and running bigger/more electrical loads.)

The two dual-purpose gives you....well lets put it this way: One
dual-purpose would do you OK. It would be fine both for starting
the boat and for storing and delivering a charge for an hour or two
while you sat someplace. Having the second dual-purpose is
a backup.

Yes, then you get an A/B/Both/OFF switch. There are a few ways to
rig these up and a few ways to use them. The BASIC idea is that
you charge up both batteries while running the engine but then switch
to just one battery while setting still. That way if you accidentially
discharge the entire battery you can still switch to the other one to
restart the boat.

I also suggest carrying one of those portable battery things. Some of
them have a light, a 12 volt socket, maybe even a small inverter. But
the point is it gives you yet another source to use if the batteries go
dead to help start the boat.

As for hooking up the A/B switch, ask again when you get to that point
and you'll get lots of information about how to hook it up and what
equipment to use.

I just got the boat a month or so ago and the guy said the battery was a
couple years old. I took it out and it is a deep cycle battery with 575CCA.
I was reading online and I guess this isnt even the right kind of battery to

If you're only going to hve one battery, it should be a deep cycle.

There is nothing wrong with starting a boat with a deep cycle battery, as long
as it has a sufficent cold crank rating to do the job. It doesn't hurt the
battery. There is a problem with using a starting battery for running a lot of
accessories with the engine off. The starting battery has thin plates that
break up more quickly during recharge.

Hi, I am contemplating whether to buy the Sun tracker Party boat with
a single axis trailer and an electric motor. Was wondering if anyone
has any experience with electric motors and the advantages. One of the
reasons I would like the electric motor is that a local Reservoir does
not allow gas motors because it is the city drinking water. But I also
want to use the boat at Texas Lakes, like Media and Canyon Lake.
I was given a Total price including ttl 2004 PB17 with trailer and
electric motor as $10,957.38. Does this seem like a reasonable deal
for this boat? Any help on the above questions will be appreciated.

http://suntrackerboats.com/index.cfm...v=16&boat=1229

Rod

How many CCA do I need for a 19 foot sea ray with a 165hp Mercruiser engine?

The deep cycle that is good, bad, or needs charging is 575 CCA.

I guess I'll try to get one of those dual purpose starter/deep cycle
batteries on the way home since id like to have two anyways. I saw one with
650CCA and one with 750CCA.

--Cameron