# spitting battery?



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Only time I got overflow was when I overfilled a cell.
Charging produces bubbles in the cells, which when trapped in the space above the fill mark,
displaces the electrolyte and forced it out the cap along with a few more bubbles.

http://www.christiecbs.com/battery_troubleshooting_tips.htm


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

How would one tell if the level is correct? the electrolyte fluid is about 1/2" below the caps, which is where it was before I treated it. Should I just charge it till it stops bubbling and then clean it well?


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

My non-sealed batteries have a fill mark indicated either on the sides
or a note on top and fill ring indicator at the bottom of each fill neck.
From what I've read over the years, overfilling can be as big a problem as underfilling.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Hmm, nothing on the sides, it's black, I'll have to look on the inside again, but I don't remember any indicators as I was looking for them when putting the inox in. Outside of spillage, what would the negative effects of overfilling be? I know running them low effects the voltage because of corrosion/sulfation.....but the inox is supposed to take care of that, or so says ship shape tv.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Overfilling weakens the electrolyte concentration from what I've read.
Besides causing overflow/spillage.

http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I read over that site, or maybe one very similar, before, which is why I ended up buying the inox. It says never to add electrolyte, only water. I'm thinking maybe I just over filled the battery? Like I said it wasn't boiling hot, barely even warm. I'll wait to hear back from inox too, but I'm betting they don't have a good solution.

Here's a quote from the site that helped me decide on the inox, along with the nifty talk up by john gaviskis(sp)

"Only 30% of batteries sold today reach the 48-month mark. In fact 80% of all battery failure is related to sulfation build-up. This build up occurs when the sulfur molecules in the electrolyte (battery acid) become so deeply discharged that they begin to coat the battery's lead plates. Before long the plates become so coated that the battery dies"

Lets say I don't go with this battery after all. Is there a reasonably priced deep cycle or dual purpose battery out there? The one I have, and may purchase again, is a group 29 everstart max, from wally world, it has a rating of 125AH which is as little as I want to go. It cost $85 and I haven't seen many others that compare on the value yet.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

I've never used additives, only distilled water. When I buy a battery,
the receipt goes in a ziplock along with all the other boat receipts
so that when (not if) the battery dies, I've got my proof of purchase and buy date
when I take it back to the retailer. Warranties are a good thing.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Ah see there in lies another issue. The reciepts that walmart uses fade within a few months. I kept this one in a plastic bag in a file folder with all the others from before, stored inside, went to go look at it, it's dang near unreadable except for the walmart logo. I had a similar problem with a reciept from advanced except that one turned black. I don't get why they can't just log the warranty info in the computers there. I've taken to making a photo copy of reciepts as soon as I get them if I need to keep them. This way if they fade I still have something.

But back to the question, is there a place to get a decent affordable battery outside of walmart?


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

1) A photocopy will solve all thermopaper receipt issues.
2) Buy your stuff at Autozone - you don't need a receipt as they store the info in their computer.

I got my battery at AZ and it has outlived its warranty by years not days.

edit: whether or not you have marks you can tell when your battery is full by - when you look into the holes the reflection of the water is not round but has an obtrusion caused by the slit in the filling column. make all the levels the same. Do not fill all the way just until you get the out of round reflection.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

I got a response from inox last night, Basically said I overfilled......but as long as it is holding a charge then the battery is perfectly fine, it may just be messy for a bit, but it is safe to use.

I was looking at other batteries online in the mean time while waiting for the response. Problem is I can't find one that even comes close to the walmart battery. Problem is the AH, mine is 125ah, most of the other group 27/29's I see are under 100, some more expensive ones are up around 115ah-120ah. Running a TM I want all the power endurance I can get. I can't find anything close to it for the $85 it costs.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Ah nearly 2.5 months later, and 3 fishing trips, and I'm buying a new battery. I will never add anything to my battery's fluid again! The battery worked ok for the first few trips, but was taking longer and longer to charge it up after. Then we had a cold snap and it completely went dead overnight. that was the end of it, I can get enough power out of it to run the LED lights and the pumps for about 15 seconds then it goes dead even after a full charge.

So I hope in the truck and head to walmart again for a replacement. Only issue is they are out of the same battery. I'm going fishing this weekend so I went ahead and bought there marine group 27 (instead of the 29 I had). It's still not bad though compaired to others I looked at. It has 115 amp hours, and 720 cranking amps, and came in at $68. Only issue is walmart has cut way back on there warranties, this one has a 12 month free replacement, but nothing after that, and it must test bad. They no longer prorate warranties after a certain time. So that means 11 months from now I will need to find a quick way to kill a battery, lol.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

If you wait 11 months to cook the battery and then go get a new one you will receive a warranty for one month. Already checked into their batteries and I choose Autozone.


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## fsae99 (Apr 8, 2010)

I have the same 125AH Walmart bat, mine took 4 deep discharge (50% or so), full charge cycles to get to its full potential. Since then it has blown the mind of everybody that has fished with me. I have to open the hatch to prove it is walmart special. Maybe that I just got a good one but for 89 bucks if this one fails after warranty I'll buy another.

Between that bat and the minkota digital speed controller it is hard to even discharge to 60% in a full 11 hr day of fishing. Unless running from spot to spot I use my TM all day no polling. This past weekend at Suwannee the wind was 15-20knts Thursday - Sunday so the TM had to hold me against the river current, tide, and wind never ran battery below 63%.


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

The digital speed controller is the answer to your success. (pulse width controller) I bought a kit off the internet about two years ago and have been using pulse width on an older 30# thrust Riptide. I gig a lot and run the troller for hours at a time. It works great for me and is the best I have had so far. I buy my batteries at Sam's Club and get the AGM with a two year replacement for about $140. I charge after every trip with a Battery Tender which also uses pulse width modulation to remove sulfation from the plates. My AGM battery is no longer under warranty (bought in August of 2009) and still performs okay.

Frank_S


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Where did you get the kit, and how did you wire it in to the TM?


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Here is a site with kits. I don't think it is the same one that I ordered from (that was two years ago) , but you can search out assembled controllers and kits and find what you like. I used a Minn-Kota quick connect plug set from West marine to wire it into the circuit. I use these plugs for all heavy current users on my boats.

Frank_S


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Oops! Here is the trolling motor plug.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SiteSearch?storeId=11151&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&pageSize=10&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&searchTermScope=3&Ns=Most+Popular|0&keyword=Minn-Kota+quick+disconnect+trolling+motor+plug+

Frank_S


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Thanks, the link didn't come through for the controller site, can you repost it?


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## Frank_Sebastian (Oct 15, 2007)

Okay here goes.

http://store.qkits.com/category.cfm/DCMOTOR

I hope it comes through this time.

Frank_S


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