Battery

[Whitewater]

I try and turn over my engine and the starter battery bubbles out water/acid, I take it this isn't a good thing

[bizzard]

I try and turn over my engine and the starter battery bubbles out water/acid, I take it this isn't a good thing

Be careful you have one or more dead cells,and or possible internal disconnection which can explode the battery. Get another battery.

[Arthur Brown]

If a battery misbehaves it needs recharging or replacing. Have you other batteries?

[RobinJ]

I try and turn over my engine and the starter battery bubbles out water/acid, I take it this isn't a good thing

Is the engine actually turning over?

It counds as though there is a very heavy load/short/duff starter!

[Whitewater]

Be careful you have one or more dead cells,and or possible internal disconnection which can explode the battery. Get another battery.

Think it is dead.. also domestics have died too... going to be an expensive day replacing 5 batteries

[bizzard]

Think it is dead.. also domestics have died too... going to be an expensive day replacing 5 batteries

Yes that cold snap soon sorts out batteries that are on their way out.Have you made sure that the engine turns as you might have a jambed starter motor or seized engine.Assuming you have a mains power supply try charging one of the cabin batteries and try starting the engine with that. Jumper leads might be handy here.

[Whitewater]

Yes that cold snap soon sorts out batteries that are on their way out.Have you made sure that the engine turns as you might have a jambed starter motor or seized engine.Assuming you have a mains power supply try charging one of the cabin batteries and try starting the engine with that. Jumper leads might be handy here.

have a battery charger on.... the battery read 11v and the domestics 2v.... think it did kill what ever life they had. esp I haven't topped up them up recently. It was my fault as last boat had sealed batteries

[bizzard]

If you have jumper leads and are careful and assuming you have a pre-engage starter motor which the vast majority are. You can test the starter on or off engine load direct.

[Springer Skipper]

Just be VERY careful,after charging you might have hydrogen gas about,ONE spark BOOM,battery acid all over the place!!

[bizzard]

have a battery charger on.... the battery read 11v and the domestics 2v.... think it did kill what ever life they had. esp I haven't topped up them up recently. It was my fault as last boat had sealed batteries

11 volts is a flat 12v battery.In my opinion wet lead acid batteries are best for domestic use.The sealed wet batteries simply have more reserve electrolite above the plates cleverly worked out so that by the time the level drops below the tops of the plates and starts to lose capacity it would be quite some time and would probably be on the way out anyway.You can often pries off the top cover of some sealed wet batteries,top it up and stick the top back down with super glue or similar.Anyway single out which you think is the best of the lot,charge it well and try it on the engine. And then i'd try and charge them all and carry out hydrometer tests,you never know you might save some.

[David Schweizer]

11 volts is a flat 12v battery.In my opinion wet lead acid batteries are best for domestic use.The sealed wet batteries simply have more reserve electrolite above the plates cleverly worked out so that by the time the level drops below the tops of the plates and starts to lose capacity it would be quite some time and would probably be on the way out anyway.You can often pries off the top cover of some sealed wet batteries,top it up and stick the top back down with super glue or similar.Anyway single out which you think is the best of the lot,charge it well and try it on the engine. And then i'd try and charge them all and carry out hydrometer tests,you never know you might save some.

The new Starter battery I have just bought (Numax) is marketed as "Maintenance free". However, I checked with the supplier whether it was possible to top them up, and they confirmed that it was. It has fairly conventional screw plugs on top for every cell, but they were tightened down so hard that I had to use pump pliers to loosen them. Given the awkward access to the batteries in our boat, I have re-tighten to what I would call firm hand tight, as I like to check electrolyte level periodically.

Edited February 14, 2012 by David Schweizer

[Whitewater]

Just be VERY careful,after charging you might have hydrogen gas about,ONE spark BOOM,battery acid all over the place!!

 

Good news is I changed the batteries without incident and also everything works ok

[Arthur Brown]

Do please consider a solar or wind battery charger, just a little one to hold the batteries at full charge and not let them discharge again before you use the boat. Is there a reason why the old ones were so discharged? Something like a clock on 24/7

Edited February 17, 2012 by Arthur Brown

[Bob18]

All batteries self discharge, and as Biz said, "freezing" them will weed out the weak.