Copyright © 2009 by Swansea Jack
BATTERIES Pt2
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PROJECT PAGES
PROJECT GALLERY
GALLERIES
Batteries and Battery Problems
Proper Installation
Some boat owners complain that even when they purchase top quality batteries, they still don't seem to last long. This is usually because of faulty installation or poor maintenance. Whether you're using gel cells or standard lead-acid batteries, they still have to be maintained. Here's a short list of common life-shortening factors.
1. Batteries must be kept clean and dry. If the top surface of the battery gets dirty or wet, a small flow of electricity will flow between the terminals as the water creates a conductive path. If installed in a location where water can drip onto them, this can cause the batteries to discharge fairly rapidly.
2. When boats bounce around, the electrolyte fluid in lead-acid batteries will spill out through the tops. This creates an excellent electrical path for stray current and can lead to rapid discharge. Clean battery tops with a damp sponge or rag, then wipe dry with a paper towel. This should be done frequently.
3. Batteries must not be sitting on a wet or damp surface. To understand the importance of this, just take a fully charged battery and set it on an apparently dry concrete floor. It will discharge right through the casing in about a week. Even the plastic casing is not a total isolator. Surveyors frequently find batteries sitting directly in the bilge water, or on a deck that gets wet from water leaks above. Or, the batteries are mounted in boxes that, one way or another, collect water.
4. Wire splices. Particularly on smaller boats where much of the wiring will get wet from leaks and spray, if the electrical system has had alterations and additions that utilize butt connectors, these devices, when they get wet, particularly with salt water, are very good at leaking current.
5. Wiring exposed to bilge water. Very often battery cables are found laying directly on the bottom of the hull. So, you might find wiring laying on the bottom, often running through pockets of accumulated water such as outboard of the hull stringers. Be assured that these wires are leaking current to some degree.
6. Batteries located in inaccessible location. This is a very common problem. If the owner has to stand on his head or crawl on his belly to reach the batteries, they're not likely to get serviced. To make matters worse, its going to cost a lot more to pay someone to get them in and out of that tight hole. Most builders will put the batteries right next to the engines so that they can save the cost of long cables. Consider relocating your batteries to a more convenient location if they're in a place where they can't be reached or get wet. Ultimately, it will save you a lot more than the cost of moving them.
7. Invest in good quality battery boxes they're well worth the cost when you think about replacing three hundred pounds worth of batteries every two years.
8. Be sure that the battery box has a hole in the bottom that will let water drain out. Rinse out the bottoms of the boxes occasionally with fresh water to remove spilled acid. What small amount of acid that gets into the bilge will not be harmful.
9. It is very common to attach battery cables to the terminals with substandard connectors. Foremost among these are ring terminal ends attached with wing nuts to threaded studs. There are a number of things wrong with this arrangement, not the least of which is the tendency of the connections to come loose. Secondly, it's likely to be creating a high resistance connection. The bottom line is that the cables should never be connected in this way. Nor should cable ends use steel end clamps that will rust and create resistance.
10. Cables should be swaged to heavy lead lugs with the standard clamping arrangement to the battery post. If your system does not have swaged lead terminals, get them changed soon because they can be causing damage in more ways than one by creating a high resistance connection.
11. If you are having a problem with large accumulations of white crud developing on the battery connections, this is because either you're not keeping the battery tops clean, or the batteries are constantly leaking fluid. Another major difference of good marine batteries is that the top of the plates are located well down from the top of the battery. This means that you don't have to fill it to the top with water. If you do, it will leak out. For high speed boats that do a lot of bouncing around, consider changing to gel cells.
1. Batteries must be kept clean and dry. If the top surface of the battery gets dirty or wet, a small flow of electricity will flow between the terminals as the water creates a conductive path. If installed in a location where water can drip onto them, this can cause the batteries to discharge fairly rapidly.
2. When boats bounce around, the electrolyte fluid in lead-acid batteries will spill out through the tops. This creates an excellent electrical path for stray current and can lead to rapid discharge. Clean battery tops with a damp sponge or rag, then wipe dry with a paper towel. This should be done frequently.
3. Batteries must not be sitting on a wet or damp surface. To understand the importance of this, just take a fully charged battery and set it on an apparently dry concrete floor. It will discharge right through the casing in about a week. Even the plastic casing is not a total isolator. Surveyors frequently find batteries sitting directly in the bilge water, or on a deck that gets wet from water leaks above. Or, the batteries are mounted in boxes that, one way or another, collect water.
4. Wire splices. Particularly on smaller boats where much of the wiring will get wet from leaks and spray, if the electrical system has had alterations and additions that utilize butt connectors, these devices, when they get wet, particularly with salt water, are very good at leaking current.
5. Wiring exposed to bilge water. Very often battery cables are found laying directly on the bottom of the hull. So, you might find wiring laying on the bottom, often running through pockets of accumulated water such as outboard of the hull stringers. Be assured that these wires are leaking current to some degree.
6. Batteries located in inaccessible location. This is a very common problem. If the owner has to stand on his head or crawl on his belly to reach the batteries, they're not likely to get serviced. To make matters worse, its going to cost a lot more to pay someone to get them in and out of that tight hole. Most builders will put the batteries right next to the engines so that they can save the cost of long cables. Consider relocating your batteries to a more convenient location if they're in a place where they can't be reached or get wet. Ultimately, it will save you a lot more than the cost of moving them.
7. Invest in good quality battery boxes they're well worth the cost when you think about replacing three hundred pounds worth of batteries every two years.
8. Be sure that the battery box has a hole in the bottom that will let water drain out. Rinse out the bottoms of the boxes occasionally with fresh water to remove spilled acid. What small amount of acid that gets into the bilge will not be harmful.
9. It is very common to attach battery cables to the terminals with substandard connectors. Foremost among these are ring terminal ends attached with wing nuts to threaded studs. There are a number of things wrong with this arrangement, not the least of which is the tendency of the connections to come loose. Secondly, it's likely to be creating a high resistance connection. The bottom line is that the cables should never be connected in this way. Nor should cable ends use steel end clamps that will rust and create resistance.
10. Cables should be swaged to heavy lead lugs with the standard clamping arrangement to the battery post. If your system does not have swaged lead terminals, get them changed soon because they can be causing damage in more ways than one by creating a high resistance connection.
11. If you are having a problem with large accumulations of white crud developing on the battery connections, this is because either you're not keeping the battery tops clean, or the batteries are constantly leaking fluid. Another major difference of good marine batteries is that the top of the plates are located well down from the top of the battery. This means that you don't have to fill it to the top with water. If you do, it will leak out. For high speed boats that do a lot of bouncing around, consider changing to gel cells.