155 Speedster 12V LOW

[strmchzr]

I have not been able to keep my '07 Speedster's battery charged. It has never held a charge for any extended period of time. I use a battery tender to get a "max charge" on the battery, but after a day of boating, the 12V LOW light is flashing/beeping.

I had the dealer check it out twice last summer and it still doesn't work worth a darn. I've had the battery tested and it's not the problem.

Any ideas to locate the problem?

[VX1]

Charge it full, then hook it to a volt meter while it's still on the boat and monitor the discharge for a couple of days. Then unhook it from the boat and repeat the above step. You'll be able to tell if the boat is causing an abnormal drain, or if the battery itself is damaged, preventing it from holding a charge. (Not sure how you tested the battery before.)

Your boat could have a bad stator (charging system). There's probably information somewhere on this forum (the 4-tec performance section) on how to check the health of your stator. Of course, the first thing to do is make sure the battery terminal are very clean. A good deep-cycle marine battery, that's much better than the stock one, can be had for about $60; you could just switch the battery out and see if that solves your problem.

[JUST-IN-TIME]

best way to check any charging system
get a hand held volt meter
turn it to a/c volts
starter motor
put meter leads on batter red to red black to black
if it read more than .8v bad regulator/rectifier

[strmchzr]

Charge it full, then hook it to a volt meter while it's still on the boat and monitor the discharge for a couple of days. Then unhook it from the boat and repeat the above step.

That seems logical - I'll get a volt meter today and give it a try. I had a battery store check the battery last summer and they said it was fine. However, if it is the battery, what is a good marine battery to buy?

[VX1]

You want Deep Cycle, of course, and many swear by Optima batteries. For the Optima, you'd want the D34M Marine. I had one in my hand at Sam's Club to buy, but then changed my mind and went with the MUCH cheaper Energizer 24DC. My rational is that I'll be running two batteries now, so since I'm not absolutely depending on one battery, I don't need the Optima. Also, the Energizer is bigger and has a longer reserve capacity (145min vs 120min). I've also read a couple of post about Optima batteries going bad after a few hours, so they might be better, but are not fullproof. I paid $60 for the Energizer, and it's a much stronger battery than the Interstate OEM one.

[spd5535]

I have a Optima D31M and have had no problems with it. Bought it online for around $200. If I could do it over again I would buy a deep cycle Trojan 31 series battery. Their reserve minutes are in the 200's and are very good.

[VX1]

The D31M would be even better than the D34M, because it's a bigger battery, but you'd have to get a larger tray and support to fit it in a Sportster/Speedster 150.

[JUST-IN-TIME]

wet cells batteries vs AGM
2 reasons
-you can charge them at any rate
-once they are fully dead you can get them back up, agm actually will lose some of their return rate

bad things about wet cells
you need to maintain them 2x as more

there is only 2 companies that make battiers, one is johnson controls and the other i totally forget

batterypimp on iboats is the guru on battiers, that is what he does for the past 30 years!

the best read on the net so far!!
http://www.marine-electronics.net/te..._faq/b_faq.htm

[Mike E]

Same thing happen to mine last year. I took in in and the voltage regulator was shot. They fixed and no problems since.

Mike

[strmchzr]

Thanks for all the replies!

I love my speedster, but the 12V LOW problem has that "buzz kill" effect when out on the lake.

I dug up the repair invoice from last year. It states that the customer (me) said the battery is not holding the charge - Possible bad alternator. The resolution states found a loose fuse that controls the charging system - system is charging at 14.0 volts.

I picked up a volt meter this evening and hooked it up to a full charged battery. I'm going to see if it will hold the charge over the next few days.

What is a voltage regulator and where is it located?