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Need to charge battery every week? What the...

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rgp717

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I have 2 1996 GTI 717 Sea Doos with my boat at Lake Erie. We only get to the boat/sea doo's on weekends. Here's the problem: More often than not, I must first disconnect the batteries and charge them for 2 hours, or the skis just won't have any cranking power.

I always disconnect the batteries completely before charging. And once charged, they run great all weekend (and longer). But if they sit for a week or so, I need to recharge the batteries again. What the ....

Is this common? Any suggestions.
 
have the load tested on them at a battery shop. If they batteries check out test the rectifiers. If the rectifier is bad the batteries will run out REAAAAL fast!
 
Batteries are new but ...

Batteries are new this year, but not jet ski batteries. They are lawn tractor batteries. It was part of an experiment on my part: Are deep cycle batteries really necessary on a jet ski? My answer was: NO. Nothing on a jet ski to require a deep cycle battery.

What do you think?
 
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you should use a "starting Battery" A deep cyle is better for running electronics or a windless It does not have the same cranking power
 
Yeah im gonna have to say your experiment failed. Use the correct battery and I bet your problem goes away,
 
Since you are having the same problem on each ski, I would assume it is the batteries. I would have never taken a chance with any battery that is not recommended by the manufacturer. Good luck!
 
300 cca

The batteries I purchased from Advance Auto; they have 300 cca (more than the typical jet ski battery). See http://www.encorecbt.com/encoreWeb/web9/Etcetera.asp. That's where I track all my boating projects.

Seems like it should work, but I'll continue my experiment and buy a legit jet ski battery and see what happens. I'll report back in several weeks.
 
Lead-acid batteries need full charge when stored even a short time, or tended, to
prevent Sulfation of cells (Loss of CCAs).
These provide the best power to crank a Rotax Engine.
 
new, but similar topic

Bills86e, are you saying a tender is needed? It strikes me that the battery would do fine on my lawn tractor, and I wouldn't expect to charget it each week.

On a new topic (and I'll search this one out), has anyone had any luck with the small solar tenders on the battery of a sea doo? And which manufacturer?
 
OK, it's been a while but I thought I would report back. My Advance Auto tractor batteries have worked great for 2 full seasons. Over the winter, I put them on a drip charger for a couple of days, every couple of months. Tons of power, no problem starting. And half the price of "official" jet ski batteries. I'll report on my own website if I can get a third year out of them. Let's see, its Xmas now, so only 6 more months till its warm enough ... sigh.

Oh, no tender for me. Though prior to using my jet skis for the weekend on Lake Erie, I do put each battery on my cheapo sears battery charger, for about 3 hours each.
 
I might be opening a hornets nest here, last year a bought two agm, sealed gel pack batteries, so far they have been fine, but I've used them less than one season. I got them at Auto Zone, paste on label, about $20.00 higher than the lead acid battery. What are your opinions on these batteries?

Lou
 
I prefer the blood/sweat batteries... i find there the cheapest. I just reach down and hand crank my shaft till it explodes into a smooth idle.

I just throw what ever's the cheapest in the ski, as they only ever last 2-3 seasons max anyway.

ski's don't (usually) have radios or dome lights, or etc.. so if it starts, it starts.
 
A Gel or AGM battery "should" last longer then a lead acid battery in a Jet Ski. The pounding and shaking our skis go through increases the rate of failure because the lead dioxide or sponge lead will fall off the plates, reducing the chemical reaction to the electrolyte.
Gel or AGM batteries help to suspend the plates and therefore retain the lead paste better. However, this is just theory. I'd be curious to hear from others that jave used AGM / Gel.
 
The main reason I bought the AGM/Gel cell battery is I literately cooked my old battery, which was only about 1&1/2 seasons old. The reason being it's practically impossible to check the electrolyte level battery while in the ski. The level was low so (not knowing any better) I added distilled water, recharged the battery and cooked it.

I had purchased the battery at Auto Zone and they were willing to replace the battery for free, so I used the credit, added $20.00 and purchased the AGM battery. Being a sealed battery I figured I wouldn't have to worry about checking the electrolyte level again, another advantage is the battery doesn't need to be vented, even if the battery lasts no longer than a lead acid, these advantages are well worth the extra $20.00.

Another advantage the terminals connect directly to the battery, the battery doesn't have those annoying floating nuts.

Lou
 
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I put gel batteries in both my skis last year. I previously had (N)everStart batteries from Walmart. Like rgp717, if my walmart batteries sat for a week without being used I would have to charge them to be able to start the skis. Since I put the gel batteries in the skis start on first push of the button everytime. And like Lous said, ya get rid of those damn floating nuts.
 
This is one of my favorite type threads... Because, with all these replies, it shows there is more than one way to skin a cat. More than one way to fix a problem.

I use Autozone batteries too. What ever is cheap. Biggest reason is use. A batteries life span is rated for a certain period. Most of the standard motorcycle batteries are for about a year. But, a battery is meant to be used, charged and shut down. But, if the majority of the time, it's shut down, then you'll slowly lose the charge. Batteries are designed to be used, not stored. The other thing to consider for the thread starter on Lake Erie is the temperature. Batteries lose charge a lot faster in colder environments. In the summer, when I use my ski every week or couple weeks, starts right up. But, if I let it sit for a month during the month of December, forget it. I got to charge first.

If you've got a battery with enough CCA's and it fits your battery box, use it. You can blow over $100 bucks on a battery that will last no longer than one you bought at Walmart (which I'd never buy one of their batteries).
 
Rabid said:
here is some helpful info from odessey batteries for the sea doos battery issues


http://www.odysseybatteries.com/files/pc625.pdf
Click to expand...

The info is good, but a bit misleading too. There is no drain from the lanyard on the early models because if you leave the lanyard on, the MPEM shuts down power after 30 seconds, if the motor is not started. On the newer models, if you leave the lanyard on and don't start within a certain time frame, you'll start to get a set of beeps to remind you that your lanyard is on with power to your ignition system.

But, in their last part of the paragraph, the small amount of drain they mention is from the MPEM. Skis/Boats newer than 1996 (when the DESS came out) all have a small amount of drain from the MPEM monitor. But, it's really minimal and a new battery shouldn't really be affected. Reason is, a new battery at rest will actually regenerate a small amount of charge, which should be more than what the MPEM is using.

For example, I'm sure many of us have had a car that wouldn't start. We tried and tried till we ran the battery down. Now, that the battery will no longer turn the motor over, we give up for a while. An hour later, you come back and try again, and the motor will turn over again. Usually, not but for a few seconds before it's drained again, but it did turn it over.

As the battery ages, regeneration is lessened. But, I'd still recommend reading the link posted by Rabid, I thought it was interesting.
 
Thanks for the info!! hope you had a good holiday so far

Basically what I got from the article when I first read it was to disconnect the battery if you were not going to ride it the next day. Disconnecting the battery kept me from having to charge the battery when I tried to fire it up a week later when I left it hooked up. The battery would barely crank the engine over.

mike
 
There are so many factors on what a batteries status is going to be at any given time. One of the biggest is temperature changes, sulfation and overcharging.

But, in a way your right. The best way to make sure your battery stays in reasonable shape is to disconnect the negative battery cable. But, this is really a pain with the area your battery may be located. I see you have the GTX, which isn't that bad. If your down for a good period of time, that's worth doing. But, for only a couple weeks, thats a bit much. You can install a battery perko switch. That would probably be the easy way to go, plus allow you to charge while still connected.
 
There are so many factors on what a batteries status is going to be at any given time. One of the biggest is temperature changes, sulfation and overcharging.

But, in a way your right. The best way to make sure your battery stays in reasonable shape is to disconnect the negative battery cable. But, this is really a pain with the area your battery may be located. I see you have the GTX, which isn't that bad. If your down for a good period of time, that's worth doing. But, for only a couple weeks, thats a bit much. You can install a battery perko switch. That would probably be the easy way to go, plus allow you to charge while still connected.
 
Snipe,

O.K., now you've done it, this brings up another subject. When charging the battery should you disconnect the neg. terminal. I don't, however I use a 1.5A charger/maintainer. If I charge the battery with a higher amperage charger I will disconnect the battery, however with 1.5A I don't think its necessary.

As we discussed in another thread I will often leave one of my ski's in the water for 2-3 weeks at a time and leave it plugged into shore power or a solar battery charger to maintain the battery because of the bilge pump. So disconnecting the battery will also disconnect the bilge pump.

Lou
 
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