Marine Battery

[Fish Head]

I have a problem with my humminbird 998 on the dash powering off when I start the big motor. I'm assuming this is due to battery capacity after running a livewell and 2 humminbird units while the motor is off.  

 

A few years ago I purchased the best Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery I could find and used it for my starter battery.  I spent about $300 on that battery... Ouch! That solved the problem for about 3 years until the battery needed to be replaced.  I just replaced it with a traditional interstate starter battery and I'm having the problem again.  

 

Is there a better solution?  I can't believe I'm the only one that has this problem. 

[leech~~]

51 minutes ago, Fish Head said:

I have a problem with my humminbird 998 on the dash powering off when I start the big motor. I'm assuming this is due to battery capacity after running a livewell and 2 humminbird units while the motor is off. 

 

A few years ago I purchased the best Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery I could find and used it for my starter battery.  I spent about $300 on that battery... Ouch! That solved the problem for about 3 years until the battery needed to be replaced.  I just replaced it with a traditional interstate starter battery and I'm having the problem again. 

 

Is there a better solution?  I can't believe I'm the only one that has this problem.

Your playing Russian roulette!

Get a deep cycle to run your livewell and locators on and have a starting battery alone.  Suks going a drift!

[PRO-V]

I use a dual purpose starting/deep cycle by Interstate for my starting battery, accessories and electronics. I make sure to charge it after the day if I didn't use main motor much. Mine is 7 years old and still going strong.

[leech~~]

You mite check for shorts or slow drains in your system. That can happen any time as wirers get older.

[BobT]

Is your starter battery sized with enough capacity? When you engage the starting motor on your outboard, the load on your battery will be very high and this will cause the output voltage of the battery to drop because it won't be able to maintain the voltage at such a high current demand. Batteries with high CCA ratings are able to maintain the voltage at higher current demand levels. If the voltage drops below a certain level, your other electronics powered by the same battery will see a low voltage situation and may either shut down completely or just flash off momentarily depending on how long you're cranking on the starter. Most electronics are able to handle a voltage fluctuation of about 10% above or below. This is industry standard last I recall. Therefore, your sonar unit might be okay down to about 10.8v before having trouble. 

 

Another thought. I don't know how much you've used the new wet cell starter battery since you bought it but you could check the electrolyte level to be sure it is not low. As the electrolyte evaporates out of the battery, so too does the battery's capacity level. 

Edited August 9, 2018 by BobT

[gim]

Do you have a battery voltmeter Fish Head?  Otherwise a trickle charger with a readout would work too.  Every once in a while those batteries need a slow, deep recharge.

[h8go4s]

You may have high resistance from a long run of light wire from the battery to the Bird. This is a common problem. Run 10-gauge wires directly from the battery. Bypass the terminal box at the dash. Shorten up the factory 16-gauge wire on the Bird as much as possible and splice in the 10-gauge. Put a 3-amp spade-type fuse inline on the positive wire as close to the battery as practical.

[BobT]

On 8/11/2018 at 10:13 PM, h8go4s said:

You may have high resistance from a long run of light wire from the battery to the Bird. This is a common problem. Run 10-gauge wires directly from the battery. Bypass the terminal box at the dash. Shorten up the factory 16-gauge wire on the Bird as much as possible and splice in the 10-gauge. Put a 3-amp spade-type fuse inline on the positive wire as close to the battery as practical.

I would find this hard to believe. The sonar unit will not be a significant load and certainly not one that would require 10-gauge wire. Chances are it is powered by the supply under the console (assuming this is a console mounted unit) and the supply wires are plenty large. 

[yoppdk]

I have had this same issue and came to the conclusion that I don't run the outboard enough to recharge the battery back to full capacity. I fish medium to smaller lakes and thus don't spend a whole lot of time at high speeds going across the lake ... just a short move here and there searching for fish. So I end up starting the engine  20-30 times per outing, but not running the outboard enough to get it back up to full voltage. And my Hummer shuts down when I crank the engine. So I now know that I need to put the charger on my starting battery at the end of the day. FYI, my wife has a similar issue with her SUV ... new Interstate battery keeps going down because she starts it, drives a couple miles ... stops, then starts it again and comes home. She rarely goes more than a couple miles per trip amd never over 30 mph. The alternator doesn't keep up with her use of the starter and thus gets low after a few weeks.

[leech~~]

59 minutes ago, yoppdk said:

I have had this same issue and came to the conclusion that I don't run the outboard enough to recharge the battery back to full capacity. I fish medium to smaller lakes and thus don't spend a whole lot of time at high speeds going across the lake ... just a short move here and there searching for fish. So I end up starting the engine  20-30 times per outing, but not running the outboard enough to get it back up to full voltage. And my Hummer shuts down when I crank the engine. So I now know that I need to put the charger on my starting battery at the end of the day. FYI, my wife has a similar issue with her SUV ... new Interstate battery keeps going down because she starts it, drives a couple miles ... stops, then starts it again and comes home. She rarely goes more than a couple miles per trip amd never over 30 mph. The alternator doesn't keep up with her use of the starter and thus gets low after a few weeks.

 

I'm with yeah on the boat usage deal. But the wife's car usage deal sounds, well a little fishy!   May be time for her to get a new battery before winter at least. 

[yoppdk]

1 hour ago, leech~~ said:

 

I'm with yeah on the boat usage deal. But the wife's car usage deal sounds, well a little fishy!   May be time for her to get a new battery before winter at least. 

Done that ... new Interstate just last winter. That was the perplexing part about it. I thought maybe it was a bad battery, but it tested out okay. I guess it's possible she doesn't always shut her door all the way and the dome light stays on for days, but she would never admit to that. So I give her the benefit of the doubt and blame her driving habits instead.

[PRO-V]

3 hours ago, yoppdk said:

Done that ... new Interstate just last winter. That was the perplexing part about it. I thought maybe it was a bad battery, but it tested out okay. I guess it's possible she doesn't always shut her door all the way and the dome light stays on for days, but she would never admit to that. So I give her the benefit of the doubt and blame her driving habits instead.

She might have a bad alternator too.

[BobT]

On 8/13/2018 at 2:38 PM, leech~~ said:

 

I'm with yeah on the boat usage deal. But the wife's car usage deal sounds, well a little fishy!   May be time for her to get a new battery before winter at least. 

Actually, it makes perfect sense. The car's charging system probably can't keep up for the same reason. I know when I fire up my farm tractor, even when it doesn't take much to get it started, it can take a lot longer than one realizes to recharge the batteries to full strength. During the winter, I only use the tractor for short periods so I often have to put a charger on it after each use to be sure the batteries are up to full power. 

 

Can have similar issues with ATVs. Winches can put a pretty heavy load on the electrical system and using them to lift a blade repeatedly will put a drain on the battery that the charging system is unable to keep up to. 

 

Starting an engine takes a lot of power and it takes more than just a few seconds to recharge the battery afterwards.

Edited August 14, 2018 by BobT

[mrpike1973]

I just replaced my Interstate battery for my trolling motor they last 1 year and 1 month just out of warranty. Went with a different brand this time. I would also get a separate battery for all that stuff going to the starting battery.

[delcecchi]

1 hour ago, mrpike1973 said:

I just replaced my Interstate battery for my trolling motor they last 1 year and 1 month just out of warranty. Went with a different brand this time. I would also get a separate battery for all that stuff going to the starting battery.

I used to have that problem with my 115 merc, since it only charged at like 10 amps.  The new suzuki is more like 60 amps, plus I hooked up the third bank on my built in charger to the cranking battery.   Haven't had a problem since.  

[BobT]

16 hours ago, delcecchi said:

I used to have that problem with my 115 merc, since it only charged at like 10 amps.  The new suzuki is more like 60 amps, plus I hooked up the third bank on my built in charger to the cranking battery.   Haven't had a problem since.  

I have a 3-bank on-board charger and include the starting battery so I know it is always topped off when I recharge my deep cycle. 

[Fish Head]

On 8/9/2018 at 2:37 PM, BobT said:

Is your starter battery sized with enough capacity? When you engage the starting motor on your outboard, the load on your battery will be very high and this will cause the output voltage of the battery to drop because it won't be able to maintain the voltage at such a high current demand. Batteries with high CCA ratings are able to maintain the voltage at higher current demand levels. If the voltage drops below a certain level, your other electronics powered by the same battery will see a low voltage situation and may either shut down completely or just flash off momentarily depending on how long you're cranking on the starter. Most electronics are able to handle a voltage fluctuation of about 10% above or below. This is industry standard last I recall. Therefore, your sonar unit might be okay down to about 10.8v before having trouble. 

 

Another thought. I don't know how much you've used the new wet cell starter battery since you bought it but you could check the electrolyte level to be sure it is not low. As the electrolyte evaporates out of the battery, so too does the battery's capacity level. 

 

I think this is the problem Bob. The battery is fine and has a decent charge, but the humminbird unit either shuts down or becomes very, very dim lit due to dropping voltage during cranking the big engine.  My bow mount humminbird has never done this, but it has always been a problem on the console mounted unit even with several different batteries over the years. 

[BobT]

1 hour ago, Fish Head said:

 

I think this is the problem Bob. The battery is fine and has a decent charge, but the humminbird unit either shuts down or becomes very, very dim lit due to dropping voltage during cranking the big engine.  My bow mount humminbird has never done this, but it has always been a problem on the console mounted unit even with several different batteries over the years. 

Are both units supplied by the starting battery?

[Fish Head]

Yes they are. 

[BobT]

50 minutes ago, Fish Head said:

Yes they are. 

Now, I'm puzzled. Both units should therefore be experiencing the same brownout conditions when you start your outboard. I wonder if a surge suppressor might be helpful? Is the bow mount unit a newer unit and if so, maybe it has updated technology that is less susceptible to the voltage drop. I'm just thinking out loud now. 

[BobT]

Here's a thought that just occurred to me. I was having some similar issues with my sonar unit. While troubleshooting noise feedback from my trolling motor, one thing I tried was to add a ferrite core filter on the power cable to my HB 596c. Now that I think about it, I have not had a problem with my HB shutting down on starting my outboard since I added the filter. It's possible the ferrite core is attenuating the voltage fluctuation just enough. 

 

Got the clamp-on filter online for less than $5.00. Something like this one from ebay. You need to get the right size to fit your HBs power cable. Mine was 1/4".

 

Inexpensive thing to try.

[yoppdk]

I'm pretty sure there is a setting on your Hummer that lets you set where (voltage level) you want to get the "low battery" warning or dropout. At least mine does ... and I temporarily reset it once to keep it from dropping out each time I started the outboard. Of course I wouldn't advise that for a long-term fix as you might go to start the engine one time and get nothing but clicks. Is it possible that setting got changed at one time and maybe it's set too high?

[Fish Head]

I'll give the noise supressor a try Bob.  Both units were purchased at the same time. 

 

yoppdk- I checked my unit and I don't see any such setting on the 998.  There is a low battery alarm setting, but that is already turned to off. 

[Northlander]

Charge your battery after every use. Your not getting enough charging when not running big motor enough. Other option is to move up a size in battery if room.

I have ran Interstates for years with no issues.

[BobT]

18 hours ago, Fish Head said:

I'll give the noise supressor a try Bob.  Both units were purchased at the same time. 

 

yoppdk- I checked my unit and I don't see any such setting on the 998.  There is a low battery alarm setting, but that is already turned to off. 

I believe it is best to clamp it on near the sonar unit. Hope it helps. If it doesn't you're not out a lot of $$$. Good luck.

Edited August 22, 2018 by BobT

[Fish Head]

20 hours ago, Northlander said:

Charge your battery after every use. Your not getting enough charging when not running big motor enough. Other option is to move up a size in battery if room.

I have ran Interstates for years with no issues.

The battery is fully charged I assure you.  I put the charger on a 2 amp charge as soon as I get in and it shows fully charged.  I probably need a bigger/stronger battery.  Thats why I went to a $300 AGM battery before because it had much more CCA and reserve capacity, but the battery only lasted 3-4 years.  If the noise supressor doesn't work, that's what I'll do.  Thanks for the input.