Lowrance Electrical Issues

[MNUser]

I have a Lowrance GPS/Sonar on my boat and EVERY TIME I turn it on it shuts off. I have the volt meter on the screen and it starts at 9.0 and then drops under 8 and shuts off. I put new batteries in the boat this Spring. Not sure what the issue is. I have a trickle charger on the boat but I'm not even sure it is working. How do you test that?

Getting pretty sick of it. Any ideas before I sink the boat and call my insurance guy?????

[Esox_Magnum]

Guessing you chargers not working, full charge should be between 12.5-13 volts, most new Lowrance units need at least 10 volts to operate.

[AaronM]

Double check your battery connections. Make sure they are wrench TIGHT.

[PerchJerker]

Yep. 8-9 volts is a problem. Check your charger and your battery, sounds like one of them is bad. If not, the next place to check is your battery connections, and also the in-line fuse holder. Good luck.

[Surface Tension]

As said check the connections.

Your trickle charger is going to take a long long time to charge your battery.

Really they are intended for small batteries like a motorcycle battery.

Get yourself an automatic charger with the options of Deep Cycle, Conventional/Maintenance Free, and Manual settings.

To check the voltage of the battery use a volt meter. Check the voltage of the battery with charger off.

Then check it with charger on. You should see an increase. That should be around 13-14 volts with charger on.

If you don't have a meter you can read the voltage on your sounder but make sure all the connections are good. Battery cables, power connections to the sounder along with the inline fuse holder.

The low voltage could also be from a drain somewhere. Is this battery connected to your starting motor? Lets say your battery is good. Charge it up, let it settle then read the voltage. Come back the next day and check the voltage again Has it dropped? Yes. Disconnect the starting cables to your outboard and fuse or circuit panel. Charge again, check voltage, then check again the next day. If it has dropped your battery is on its way out. If the voltage has held, then your getting a drain from the outboard(rectifier) or the circuit panel.

[MNUser]

I'm going to pull the battery this weekend and replace it since it is under warranty. I hooked a charger up to it and it does not want to hold a charge. I will also borrow a checker and check the onboard charger this weekend. It may have bit the dust as well. Maybe it is time for a new boat?

[marine_man]

Absolutely!

Two questions...

1) What do you have for a motor? If it's EFI / DFI (Optimax / E-Tec / HPDI / OX66) the standard group marine battery isn't enough... you'll need something that offers at least 1000 MCA (marine cranking amps). The electrical system draws significant current while operating.

2) It doesn't want to hold charge- can you elaborate? You charge it up, and over time it's drawn down, or it won't take a charge?

marine_man