Launching Pontoon shortens battery life

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Livebait
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:10 am
Location: Central, North Carolina

Launching Pontoon shortens battery life

#1 Post by Livebait » Mon Aug 28, 2006 6:40 am

Well I have owned boats most of my life and I have owned Pontoon boats for the past 16 years but I just learned something. This is mostly for Pontoon owners whose boat lives on a trailer. I enjoy fishing from my pontoon so an adequate trolling motor and a good Deep Cycle battery is a must. I have both the cranking battery and the deep cycle battery housed separately in one of those black plastic enclosures with a secure strap across them. Last year I commented to my brother about how much water I had to add to the Deep cycle battery. More than I have ever added to one. He commented that a Deep cycle would require more water and maintenance than a cranking battery. I knew he was right so I dismissed the issue. At the beginning of the season during pre-season checkup I was checking the water level and for some reason I tilted the battery box and I noticed a ripple inside the battery box. Whoa the battery box was half full of water. I unhooked the battery removed the box and emptied the water. I spent several minutes wondering just how the lake water got into the box. There are vents on the top of the box and the batteries are located just in front of the motor and there is a good deal of spray in that area. The cranking battery was just fine, no water in the box. I justified this by the fact that the lake spray created by the prop is more to the other side. Fast forward to this past weekend and adding water to the Deep Cycle again I did my customary wiggle of the box and guess what, another ripple. Once again I unhooked everything pulled the box but this time the light came on. Why was the water consumption so high, why did the grass dye where I poured the water out at the beginning of the season? That wasn’t lake water; a check of the water in the box with the hydrometer confirmed it, battery acid. The cause was that one launch point I use is quite steep and a pontoon boat floats first from the back. I confirmed this by filling the battery and tilting it back and fourth. The vented caps on top of the battery did not prevent the acid from splashing out slightly on this particular battery. My wife says I tend to over analyze things, I proved her wrong on this one.
2004 Bennington 165 Si, Yamaha 50 Hp 2 Stroke
2007 Ford F 150

Hey, Just where did you say we were going and what am I doing in this hand basket.

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