Your boat’s battery keeps your boat going and your days on the water enjoyable. If something goes wrong, though, you may want to discover yourself with a boat that doesn’t start, or stranded on the bay. So how long do your boat batteries last? Here are the reasons.
Why Do Boat Batteries Go Dead
The single most overlooked factor in keeping your boat’s batteries healthy, running properly, delivering the correct output, and living as long as possible is cleanliness.
Did you know Dirt, dust, salt, or any other type of debris? Sitting on top of your battery can beget the battery to drain itself?
It’s true! We can take a battery voltage cadence to the battery terminal and notice it reads 12 volts. also, if we put the red cadence lead in the middle of the battery.
Where there was debris present) the cadence will indicate a loss! You can lose a lot of voltage just across the dirt on the battery. It isn’t just that particular tested spot moreover. When we checked each over the battery, the constant drain remained.
As batteries age, there are several components that wear out and eventually get worse.( Indeed when you clean the top of the battery).
Still, by keeping the top of the battery clean, we can ensure there’s no wasted drainage. This tip can be enforced incontinently. Make sure those battery tops are squeaky clean!
How Long Does A Boat Battery Last
For the umpteenth time, your boat should always run on a dedicated battery. The absence of such is a recipe for unwanted situations deep in the middle of the lake. Having the right battery will keep your boat running for 4-5 years.
Temperature & Humidity
By now, you should know that your boat’s battery shouldn’t be exposed to conditions that are too hot or too cold. similar conditions frequently give a conducive terrain for the battery’s plates to exfoliate or slip, especially during charging cycles.
Storage
When not in use, the battery will discharge over time. How you store your boat battery will have a bearing on the rate of discharge. However, this might be reason enough to affect the battery’s life expectancy, if the storage conditions are inimical.
Proper Charging
A battery’s life expectancy can be docked if it’s either overcharged or overcharged. Just so you know, an undercharged battery is a catalyst for sulfate hardening. Overcharging deprives the cells of the important demanded electrolytes and this leads to overheating.
Poor Maintenance
Still, it’ll hardly live up to its full eventuality, if your boat’s battery is inadequately maintained. There’s no room for shortcuts on matters of maintenance whereby you might conclude to overlook the essence of distilled water. Also, not cleaning your battery as frequently will reduce its lifespan.
Your boat’s battery life is a culmination of several factors. By keeping note of these pointers, you’ll save yourself the agony of purchasing a new battery. Don’t fall suddenly for giving your battery some tender, loving care because it’ll surely love you back.
How To Extend Boat Battery’s Life
The average life of a boat battery is around 3-4 years, although they can last up to 6 years in the right conditions. To ensure your battery lasts its full lifetime, keep your batteries connected to a conservation charger to keep it completely charged. A multistage charger like Smart Charger can also charge and maintain the battery when it’s not in use.
Regular testing or a regular replacement program would be a proactive approach to ensuring you never get caught in the middle of the bay with a flat battery.
How Often Should You Charge A Boat Battery
If you want your boat batteries to last longer. Also, they will need to get charged! The most common question we receive from clients is “Should I leave my boat battery charger on all the time”.
There are numerous different types of chargers ranging from onboard boat chargers to plain battery chargers. The main thing to remember with any setup is the amperage that we’re putting into the battery.
And for how long? A lot of batteries fail because they’ve been overcharged. This happens when the chargers basically “cook” the battery until it no longer holds a charge.
This is most common in boats with onboard battery chargers. Although it can also be if the engine’s charging system fails as well.
If you’re going to leave a charger hooked up to a battery for an extended period of time. It’s important to use a “trickle charger” or a really low amp charger similar to a 2-amp charger.
This will help it from cooking the battery. However, 12, or 15-amp charger, if you leave your battery with a 10. You risk cooking it and causing it to fail a lot sooner than it should.
Also, you never want to leave your battery charger hooked up to the batteries and on at all times. The stylish practice is to use the charger for a day or two. And also leave it unhooked for a week or two.
“Cycling” charges like this can significantly extend the life of your battery and help overcharge.
Although the utmost new charger has detectors erected into them that are designed to help to overcharge formerly full. These detectors generally fail after the charger is many years old so don’t calculate too heavily on this.
How Long Does A boat Battery Hold Charge
How frequently do you use your boat? If you’re regularly using your boat, the engines will be charging the batteries and there isn’t a big need to use a battery charger.
Most engine gauges indicate the voltage affair of your battery and whether it’s charging or not.
You can also check to see if the engine is charging the battery by putting your meter on it while the engine runs.
