06 lsv Battery issue - not a fun day

[greghen]

So headed up to the lake finally in my newly acquired 06 lsv. Had it in the shop for the last 2 week getting all the fluids changed and a fully annual done. It has only 40 hrs on it and was in need of new fluids. Had the upholstery fixed and a new bench made.. Loaded the kids into the car and headed to the lake all ready to go.

I got there and went to start her up and nothing battery was dead.. Wrote it off to something was left on while it was in the shop. Not happy bought a new one at the marina it with a june date on it.. Dropped it in and fired right up..

On our way after an extra hour or so at the dock.. Did some tubing and skiing had a great time for a few hours. Then I was getting ready to fire her back up for another tube run with my youngest and nothing. Battery was low again. It clicked but would not turn over. The Volt read about 10.

Ended up flagging down another boat and got a jump, Volts went back up to 16 or so and it ran like a champ back to the dock.

It's in dry dock about an hour from my house. Now I am wondering what is up and if I need to take some steps in case this happens again when I go back up next weekend. I have 3 little ones under 9 and having them wait around with a down boat is not what I would call a fun day.

BTW I am not running a stereo or anything else on the boat just starting her up 8-10 times before it died on me.

What do you think? Also when I store her I disconnect the battery so nothing should be draining it while in dry dock.

Thanks for your ideas.. I plan on heading up again this weekend but want to make sure we get out and don't have this issue again..

[jmvotto]

Keep a battery pack jumper on the boat with a full charge., if that's a new battery, then maybe the charging wire from the alternator is loose some how, and not charging the battery.

[moombadaze]

2nd Joe's idea on a loose cable

[parrothd]

Alternator.. use a voltmeter to see if there's 12± volts at the battery when running..

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[greghen]

Keep a battery pack jumper on the boat with a full charge., if that's a new battery, then maybe the charging wire from the alternator is loose some how, and not charging the battery.

Which one of the 4 connections would be for the alternator? I will give that a quick check or am I missing a wire?

The is a big red and black (assuming starter) and a smaller red and black wire. Thanks!

[parrothd]

Not sure.. You'll need to look at the alternator..

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[CoachWilsinho]

I just had a similar issue on a 2004 LSV. I put a brand new battery in and after 4 days of boating the battery is dead. Thinking of changing the alternator but leaving for the Delta Monday and not sure if I would get one in time. I now have a trickle charger and am thinking of just buying a second battery to have in boat.
Also, is it ok to get a rebuilt alternator or should I get a new one?
Thanks

[trayson]

It does sound like a charging issue. +1 on getting a volt meter to check what the voltage is while it's running. It should be well above 12 while it's running.

You can also check your voltage when you're sitting. In fact, if you suspect there's a hidden draw that's happening despite your disconnect, you look for it by disconnecting the neg from your battery, and then putting a volt meter between the battery and the disconnected neg wire. Measure it in amps. If you have little milliamp draws, that's normal for things like the memory on your stereo. But if you have more, something else could be pulling power.

If you have a battery disconnect (like my perko switch), I'd think that the only thing connected to the positive would be the switch. Of course, typcially the bilge pump is connected to the battery directly so it can run no matter what (as you don't want to sink while moored).

Let us know what you find out.

[greghen]

Had a chance to make it out last weekend and I brought an extra battery with me. She worked liked a champ for the day. No battery issues, checked it multiple times and it was hitting 14-16volts while running and at the end of the day had a full charge on it.

So now I have a back up battery just in case. I guess it's time to install the add a battery kit to keep them both charged up now..