Odd Battery Behavior??

[LSaupe]

General question concerning electrical/battery:

I have what I believe to be a good battery (gaging from the past few years - battery is 4 yrs old). I keep it inside and charged when not in use.

Finaly got the boat out this year, but find that after about 10 seconds of cranking things slow down significantly (to the point of being non-usable). Let it sit for about 30 minutes and I am good for another 10 seconds of starter load (thats without doing a recharge).

Each time the voltage remains at 12 V after starter disengage. When I put it back on the charger it shows full charge again after about 30 minutes.

Can a battery fail in this way? I.e. drain fast, recharge fast and still maintain voltage (even though it cannot handle a load)?

I am almost thinking elsewhere now (like the starter) or maybe some other electrical path item that is getting hot and increasing resistance?

Any thoughts here appreciated.

[Varigeo]

I would load test it. Most auto parts stores will do this free of charge. That will take the guess work out of it. Knowing you have a good battery is peace of mind IMHO

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[Fat Tony]

I would load test it. Most auto parts stores will do this free of charge. That will take the guess work out of it. Knowing you have a good battery is peace of mind IMHO

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I agree, or you if you have another battery swap it out. it sounds like one or more of your plates are either shorted or cracked. How many month battery is it and what size (group number- ie 24,34,75 etc)

[idvette]

I'll agree, battery's probably getting weak. Check to make sure connections are good, of course, and have the battery tested. If it's saveable, many garages can do a recovery on it. I perform at least 30 battery tests a week in the spring, not uncommon for a 12v battery to show almost no amperage.

Check 1 thing at a time, jumping all over the place will have you chasing your tail. Check connections first, then battery condition. If the first 2 pass, then you're into voltage drop testing.
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[265mercman]

maybe a dragging starter the armature good be going out if so will sound like a dead battery but its the starter the whole time just a suggestion

[alaskastreamin]

A quick test of connections is to throw on jumper cables from battery to the same terminals the battery cables hook up to.

[jacklake2003]

In my experience, a low battery that shows full charge after a short period of time is kaput. The load test is the best way to know for sure.

[braq]

Hello,

if I may add to the numerous very good advice. I see two possible paths for the stated behaviour
1) battery not able to supply high current
2) your connections

for 1) advice is given, easiest just check with another battery you know is good (in my case that would be the one used daily in the car)

for 2) I had and sometimes still have that on my boat. Connections like the clamps, blades inside the connector onto the outboard and on the outboard the switching gear all are prone to corrosion. Even with cleaning it builds up again and again (I guess we use the equipment near water
With the high current when cranking matters get even worse, the cable itself and especially the aforementioned bad connections heat up, as a result even more heat and higher resistance.

I did have quite some sucess in connecting a 2nd battery in parallel to the first one, just in case you want to try out something else

In any case, please leave a feedback on what you found out.

cheers

braq

[LSaupe]

Thanks for all the feedback here.

It turned out to be a bad battery. And, it was actually five years and not four like I thought since I bought it (kinda lost a year in there somewhere). So.... I guess that it wasnt to unexpected then.

On the plus side I hopefully won't need to come home at the end of a rope at the Rondack Romp this weekend

[Varigeo]

At least it wasn't a wiring problem. Wish I could be up there this weekend, looks like a blast

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