Trolling motor/battery issue

I have a 12 volt 55 lbs thrust Minn Koat Traxxis that I use on my 14 foot smoker craft.(no outboard) I power it with a group 27 battery that I have running through a Minn Kota trolling motor power center. The issue is that my power has continually gone done each of the last few times I have had the boat out. First time, the boat flew like a rocket. Now it just barely crawls. I rarely fish for more than 2-3 hours at a time and I put the battery on the charger when I get home. Well the last time I had to charge the battery for about 12 hours to get the power center to read full charge. I verified this reading with the test button on the TM. Yesterday I took the boat out and straight off the ramp it was slow. Not even enough power to get through a few lily pads. The test button on the power center showed a dead battery and the test button on the motor showed 1/3 of a charge. (Which one do you believe?)I am leaning towards the battery as the problem here as the TM is brand new and I bought the battery at Walmart in March with a manufacture date of February 2012.
What is the best way to proceed? Do I just take the battery back and exchange it for a new one (pro rated of course), have Walmart test the battery? If the battery shows it is holding a charge, do I suspect the TM power center or the motor. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Def sounds like a bad battery. If Wal-Mart has a way to check it I would go there or any auto parts store. They will do it for free. We have a tester where I work that tells if it is good or bad and also percentage of charge.

1/3 charge likely is dead, as the power center is showing, try to recharge, take it back to walmart, it is not uncommon to have bad everstart batteries, Upgrade to the 99.00 one, it has free 2 yr replacement, no pro rate.

Thanks for the quick replies. I am going to swing by auto zone tonight after work and have it tested. Once the battery goes the first time, I am always leary of it failing again and leaving me stranded. Kinda takes the fun out of fishing.

It's possible that the battery just went bad, but most likely it's the battery charger. It could be under charging or over charging. Nothing kills a battery faster than a bad battery charger. Check the fluid level in the battery, if it's low, it's over charging.

krawler said:

It's possible that the battery just went bad, but most likely it's the battery charger. It could be under charging or over charging. Nothing kills a battery faster than a bad battery charger. Check the fluid level in the battery, if it's low, it's over charging.

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definitely check the water level in the battery what kind of charger do you have i would suggest that you get a smart charger if you dont have one an on board charger would be great.
one last thing if a trolling motor was my only power option i would never leave the dock with only one battery.. but that is me.
and if the battery was manufactured in Feb walmart may replace it for free since it is less than 5 months old
good luck

I took the battery to Walmart and they put it on a tester and it was fine. Just needed a charge. Could it be that maybe I am not leaving it on the charger long enough? I usually put it on the charger for a few hours until it says charged on the charger but now I am thinking that maybe I need to leave it on there longer. I have a charger/maintainer that is designed to float once the charge is reached. Should I just leave it plugged in when it is not in the boat?

Sounds like you have a bad charger. Check the voltage across the charger when charging with a voltmeter.

DaveInGA said:

Sounds like you have a bad charger. Check the voltage across the charger when charging with a voltmeter.

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I'd second the bad charger. Could you borrow a friends (before buying) to see if theirs charged?

Try this - once your charge reads "full" take the charger off and run the TM for about 2-3 minutes on full (not too long out of the water or it can overheat) - then see what it reads


I think someone posted about a static charge or something like that - were the battery will appear charged but it is not really

Probably got the terms screwed up but you get the idea

I fished with a guy a few weeks ago who also had a "Power Center". He had similar problems. A battery reading --OK-- on the power center may not be measured "Under load". Therefore, OK doesn't mean much.

I suggested that he charge the battery fully with a REAL charger....then disconnect it from everything inside of the power unit and run his TM. He kept on blaming the battery. He assumed he could just take the battery back and get another one and that would automatically solve his problem.

There could be any number of small voltage leaks to the various cigarette power sockets; meters; charger; and whatever else is on the "Power Center". The more "stuff" that is connected to a battery, the more possibilities one has for leakage and loss of power.

I'll be interested to hear how your newly charged battery works out. Did it say OK on the Power Center before you took it in.... and were then told that it wasn't OK??

regards, Rich

I took the battery to Auto zone last night after leaving it on the charger for 24 hours. It read completely charged and no issues. I am going to check the prop tonight for fishing line and see if that is an issue. I am thinking that I have not been leaving the battery on the charger long enough. I have a maintainer style that floats once the max charge is reached. I think I will just leave it plugged in all the time to make sure it has a full charge. I am going to try and get the boat wet tonight after work so I can check and see if these issues have been resolved. Thanks for all of the advice and I will post the results tomorrow.

I hook my battery to the charger when I return and leave it on there until I go out again. My charger charges and then maintains, it a Schumacher Marine and will do lead acid, deep cycle & ACM 2 to 15 amp. I also disconnect the negative wires when charging so there isn't anything on the boat draining current.

I believe it's better for the battery

Just an update. I now leave the battery on the charger all the time and that seems to make a difference. I went out Friday night and trolled for about 4 hours and did not have any issues at all. I did remove the blade and found a bunch of crap wrapped around the shaft. But all in all, I think I have the issue solved. Thanks for the assistance.

Ol Sarge

richg99 said:

I fished with a guy a few weeks ago who also had a "Power Center". He had similar problems. A battery reading --OK-- on the power center may not be measured "Under load". Therefore, OK doesn't mean much.

I suggested that he charge the battery fully with a REAL charger....then disconnect it from everything inside of the power unit and run his TM. He kept on blaming the battery. He assumed he could just take the battery back and get another one and that would automatically solve his problem.

There could be any number of small voltage leaks to the various cigarette power sockets; meters; charger; and whatever else is on the "Power Center". The more "stuff" that is connected to a battery, the more possibilities one has for leakage and loss of power.

I'll be interested to hear how your newly charged battery works out. Did it say OK on the Power Center before you took it in.... and were then told that it wasn't OK??

regards, Rich

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I cant believe you fished with someone else, you cheater! LOL
Hey ol folks I hope he charged you more than I did. When ya get back down to Gods country, I'l take ya out again for free this time!!!. LOL

The first thing I do when I get everything cleaned up it to put the battery on charge with a manual charger. I had a problem with one of those on board chargers from Motorguide and it lasted about 6 months. Went fishing and the troll motor battery was dead. Now I do not trust those things.

Rusty...nice to see you back among the living. As far as the other guy, I have to admit I caught more fish with you in a few hours..... than I did with him for four days. Ha ha regards, Rich