Boat battery charging time

[swnoel]

As some have said your alternator is not designed to charge the battery. The battery is probably fine and needs to be recharged do it with a decent charger until fully charged. If you have a automatic bilge without some sort of trickle charger hooked up it will eventually drain the battery. If you don't have power to the area where your boat is located you may want to look into a solar charger.

[Garcia]

Originally Posted by swnoel

As some have said your alternator is not designed to charge the battery. The battery is probably fine and needs to be recharged do it with a decent charger until fully charged. If you have a automatic bilge without some sort of trickle charger hooked up it will eventually drain the battery. If you don't have power to the area where your boat is located you may want to look into a solar charger.

Appreciate all the responses. As I said in the original post, first time I can remember a dead battery in a boat - and that goes back decades! Hopefully leaving it on the charger did the trick. I'll find out on Friday!

[BroadHopper]

It's a habit of mine to check the batteries in the spring. I always find the batteries need water and a full charge. I use distilled water and fill to the rings, then charge the battery to full on a smart charger. Trouble-free for the summer!
This is when I find battery troubles such as the battery won't hold a charge, bulging battery, or corrosion around the post. The best time to take care of this is at the beginning of the season.

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

It's a habit of mine to check the batteries in the spring. I always find the batteries need water and a full charge. I use distilled water and fill to the rings, then charge the battery to full on a smart charger. Trouble-free for the summer!
This is when I find battery troubles such as the battery won't hold a charge, bulging battery, or corrosion around the post. The best time to take care of this is at the beginning of the season.

OUTSTANDING advice.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by Garcia

Appreciate all the responses. As I said in the original post, first time I can remember a dead battery in a boat - and that goes back decades! Hopefully leaving it on the charger did the trick. I'll find out on Friday!

First started reading this thread today. Lots of good info about batteries and chargers but little concern about what drained the battery, since this was a first. The OP mentioned rain, but surely there have been other deluges when the bilge pump ran and the boat still started. I'm reminded of two instances with similar symptoms (drained battery) on two different boats. In one, the grand kids were playing in the cuddy and left a light on. Not noticed until days later when: no start. Simple solution: turn off the master switch when the boat was not in use. Second instance: several weeks into the season, the boat sunk at the dock. We had been using it frequently, no problems. Then stopped using it for a couple of weeks. Turns out there was a leak in the bellows through hull. The bilge pump kept up when the boat was being used and mostly wasn't noticed as water ran to the stern and was pumped when under way. Changed oil a couple of times, new bellows. No other problems. Point is, it appears to me that the OP may not have a battery problem; replacing, charging the battery etc. may simply mask symptoms of another issue.

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by Descant

First started reading this thread today. Lots of good info about batteries and chargers but little concern about what drained the battery, since this was a first. The OP mentioned rain, but surely there have been other deluges when the bilge pump ran and the boat still started. I'm reminded of two instances with similar symptoms (drained battery) on two different boats. In one, the grand kids were playing in the cuddy and left a light on. Not noticed until days later when: no start. Simple solution: turn off the master switch when the boat was not in use. Second instance: several weeks into the season, the boat sunk at the dock. We had been using it frequently, no problems. Then stopped using it for a couple of weeks. Turns out there was a leak in the bellows through hull. The bilge pump kept up when the boat was being used and mostly wasn't noticed as water ran to the stern and was pumped when under way. Changed oil a couple of times, new bellows. No other problems. Point is, it appears to me that the OP may not have a battery problem; replacing, charging the battery etc. may simply mask symptoms of another issue.

Again, outstanding advice.

[Garcia]

After charging the battery fully last weekend, I arrived on Friday night and the boat started without an issue.

My guess (and hope) is that the battery was never fully charged at the start of the season and it drained during the two week rainy period it sat on the slip. While the jump pack got it started, the battery did not get fully charged until I left it on the charger overnight.