Cold weather and deep cycle batteries

Charlie S and Titan

Charlie S and Titan

Well-known member
I had major problems with my boat battery the other day (single digit temps, boat stored outside, battery in unheated garage). Initially it didn't have enough oomph to even crank the motor over, it quickly degraded to a point where it spun the starter but not fast enough to engage the bendix(?).

The battery is a 5 yr old Interstate deep cycle, so maybe it is just too old and is finally failing. According to the charger and my multimeter, it had a full charge when I took it off in the morning before driving to the launch.

Can cold weather cause this? How can I determine whether it is a bad battery, or just the effect of cold weather?

BTW, I do not own or have access to a battery load tester.

If it is just the cold, what is the best way around this - keep the battery in the house? Transport it in the heated cabin of the truck and then put it on just before launching the boat?

Or just don't hunt in single digit temps, and if I do, plan on pull starting it...

Thanks,
Charlie
 
Sounds like it's time for a new starting battery. A good fully charged battery should be just fine in single digit temps. If it takes a charge but won't hold it you either have a short circuit that is draining it quickly or you have a bad battery. I usually figure if a battery lasts for five years it doesn't owe me a thing.
 
Cold does strange things to electical and mechanical devices. Being from Montana I've experianced most of them. First check each and every connection, make sure that your getting good contact between the starter and the battery. If it starts in decent weather say above 30 degrees and won't start around 10 degrees you probablly have a dying battery and your meter is showing a surface charge but not a deep charge. I alway carry two starting batteries just in case. Cheap insurance against a busted hunt or even worse, a very dangerous situation in extremely cold weather. Also check your starter and selenoid if the starter shifts just a bit in it's mount it can bind and not start. Also the selenoid can get weak and not give you good enough contact to start the engine. You can carry the battery in the cab of your truck and it will warm most likely start your engine, but after 6 hours of hunting in extremely cold temps and 5 miles from the ramp I'm not going to trust it to start my motor again... Time for a new battery and a back up!

CBR
 
Thanks guys.

I agree, 5 years is a long life for a battery, but I hated to get rid of it if it was just a "cold" thing.

I should mention that the battery started the motor fine later in the day, after running the motor. The motor has a charging system and it gave the battery enough charge to start it up later. That helps me rule out issues with the starter itself, the solenoid, the electrical system or the wiring. It did seem to run down very quickly though - one or two starts without running much in between and it was back to pull starting.

Oh yeah, one of the things I did pretty quickly was remove all the other loads attached to the battery - except the power leads to the motor (removed all the auxiliary loads, except the motor leads), so I was pretty sure it wasn't other junk drawing amperage.

Looks like I'm headed to Interstate to pick up a new battery before my next hunt (maybe a pair if I can figure out where to fit them - not much room where the battery tray is under the splash well of the smaller alaskan).

Thanks,
Charlie
 
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I thought "deep cycle" batteries weren't supposed to be used for cranking an engine? They were made for long even draws?
 
Charlie,

Most auto parts stores will test the battery for you free. I use plan old Wally world batteries for my starter battery because you at least get a little trade in value when they dump on you. The deep cycle doesn't have a trade-in value at least where I get mine. I only use my deep draw batteries for my trolling motors.

Just my 2 centavos....

Ed L.
 
Charlie,

I've had my best luck with batteries I've purchased from Costco Wholesale (they have a decent warranty also). Interstate may make them, I'm not sure. I look for a midsize battery that will fit in the battery box with as may cold cranking amps as possible. I like top post batteries because it's easy to clean the posts, and hook up accessories. I always grease the posts and use the felt corrosion protectors. At the end of the season I take the batteries out clean them up and store them on a shelf. If you leave them hooked up no matter how good your electrical system is they will slowly drain down and cut the life of the battery in half. 5 years is as much as I expect also. I've gotten 7 years one time. Good luck!

CBR
 
IMO- I use to work at Napa and I saw tons of batteries in and out during the six months I was there. I met an interstate battery rep and asked him why my deep cycles never lasted the full term of the warranty. One of his first questions was do you use as a main power source? Of course. Do you use it to start your engine? Yes. He said you never will see the full life due to the discharge at startup. I have since ran 2 batteries one for starting, and the running lights, and the other for everything else. My starting battery is a extreme maxx from china mart. I did notice a big increase in batteries that had bad cells, and suffered from sulphurization. I have seen the battery chargers that have a desulidification cycle on them and the purpose is to run a high charge across the plates to break down the build-up that stops the "absorbtion" of the charge. If you have a battery with top caps you can take them off and see the build-up on the plates. If it's bad enough you can smell it.
 
Thanks guys. I had the deep cycle from our pop-up so I use it for both the boat and the camper. I kind of figured I should probably have two separate batteries, one for starting one for trolling, but this one seemed to do the trick. Looks like I'll have to step up and get a more sophisticated two battery setup going. I really don't know if two would fit down there though - guess I need a bigger boat LOL, yeah right, like my wife would allow that...

Charlie
 
The deep cycle batteries have heavier plates that handle the vibration of boat use way better than a cranking battery with thin plates. If the battery was ever deeply discharged and not recharged for a time it will sulfate the lead plates and will not recover from this. Without a tester you will be hard pressed to check it. Take it to a good shop (A towing outfit us. does a lot of batteries) and they should be able to test it for you with an impedance type tester from Midstate or snap on. Buy your next battery from them, and keep it charged up. Cold storage is no problem as long as voltage is over 12.6v.
 
Charlie,

absolutely extreme cold weather (and extreme heat) will reduce the life of a battery. 60 months is an old battery and it's probably time for a new one. you shouldn't use a deep cycle for starting. i believe Optima makes duel purpose battery, but they are very expensive. they're expensive because the internal parts are a different configuration than other batteries. like Benelli vs other autos.
 
Thanks everyone. I'm hoping I can get another couple of hunts out of this one and then replace the battery in the spring. It'd be a drag to buy a new battery only to have 6 months of it's useful life be wasted sitting in the garage over the winter. I'll buy one now if I have to, but I want to give this old girl one more try. She's inside getting warm and hanging out with the charger until she's needed. I'll give her a cozy seat by the truck heater on the way and then ho[e for the best (but, I'm brining my jumper cables next time).

Charlie
 
The optimas are cool and I have seen a few of them take some abuse that I did not believe they would come back from, but others did not hold up so well.
Can not tell you how many fewer problem batteries we have had at work now that we can measure with the new testers. Used to have to wait to charge the things up after topping off the water and then load test with a carbon pile. If the customer was annal enough to keep a record of the hydrometer readings, a declining trend could be shown. Not any more.
Hook up and test. Either the batteries resistance is good or it is not.
I stand by the deep cycle\marine recomendation. A boat pounds a battery hard. The cold start should be no problem for a healthy, charged Interstate group 24 or 27. The price is right and all you have to do is check the water twice a year, and keep it charged up. You did not say what type of charger you are using. 2 amps is enough if you have the 24 to 48 hours of time but a three step voltage charge curve is a good idea if you have one.
Good luck.
 
Most battery companies make dual-purpose batteries that will perform starting and deep-cycle duties. You just need to make sure that you get a dual-purpose if you want to use it as both a starting battery and a deep cycle for running lights or a trolling motor in addition to starting your engine. Otherwise make sure you just use a starting batt only for starting and a deep-cycle only for running lights and such.

I agree that 5 years is about right for EXPECTED battery life, and it's about all I ever get for my car/truck batts, but I have a DELCO Voyager marine battery that is over 15 years old! I bought two at the same time and the other one died a couple years ago, but one is still going strong. And both of them were somewhat abused over the years so it's absolutely amazing that they survived so long. They are the dual-purpose type and maybe that adds to their durability.
 
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