View Full Version : Yamaha battery draw down ????
fireboat
06-07-2009, 10:02 PM
My cousin and I both have new boats, Lund and Alumacraft, both with a Yamaha F150. Our starting batteries are being drawn down. My cousin replaced his 1 year old battery and 2 days later it was down to 11.3v. EVERYTHING IS TURNED OFF !!!! Is the Yamaha doing a test on itself even with the key off? My previous boats had a disconnect switch. I think I'm going to put one on this boat also. I took my battery out of the boat and charged it. It topped off at 12.8v. After 3 days out of the boat it stayed at 12.8v. After 1 day back in the boat it dropped down to 11.5v. Something is not right.
T Mac
06-08-2009, 08:42 AM
You say these are new boats...so, tell your dealers.
Describe what is going on so they can address it or, at least explain it.
Smitty
06-08-2009, 10:08 AM
What do you have for electronics (GPS) in the boat? On the newer Lowrance units (last 2-3 years) the GPS antenna/puck draws a small amount of power even if the unit is turned off.
There is no way it should drop below 12.3 or so volts in a days fishing. Accessories do draw a lot of current in a loaded fishing boat, as much as 35A or more in a full day of fishing; so if you run two sonar/GPS units, a live well and other electronics (radios etc.) it does add up. You don't say what battery was supplied with the boat, but this drain would easily discharge a plain group 24 starting battery to the levels you discribe if drift fishing or using the trolling motor most of the time, even if you run the outboard occasionally to change locations. Since the problem exists with both boats the dealer may have gone cheap on the starting battery and it just will not keep up. Have them put in the best and biggest battery that will fit in the compartment, preferably a dual purpose or deep cycle battery that is also rated for use as a starting battery (Exide Nautilus Gold for example) if the battery does turn out to be undersized and a plain starting battery. Also I would add that frequent discharge, particularly deep discharge of a non deep cycle or dual purpose battery will result in premature failure like your cousin experienced.
angler53
06-08-2009, 07:36 PM
I have a Reata with the F150 and It has a power shut off switch. Even when it's set to power off, my starting battery will be down to 50%-60% just setting in the garage by weeks end. It's got to be going to the motor, there's nothing else drawing on it, that I'm aware of. I thought it was normal, I'll ask the tech next time we speak.