House battery

[KrodWhodat]

Picked up my 2019 242 boat yesterday and have it in the water today. We just threw the anchor out to chill. I turned off the start battery and have the house battery on. The radio came on and a low battery alarm went off. Do I need a new battery?

 

[Weeb]

It may just be low from sitting a long time. Try charging it.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

Picked up my 2019 242 boat yesterday and have it in the water today. We just threw the anchor out to chill. I turned off the start battery and have the house battery on. The radio came on and a low battery alarm went off. Do I need a new battery?

@KrodWhodat - try charging it first, of course.... but need to know - is the battery a 2017 original? If so it could be time. What group/series is it (24, 27 or 31)? What composition is it (deep cycle flooded, Gel AGM)?

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

Picked up my 2019 242 boat yesterday and have it in the water today. We just threw the anchor out to chill. I turned off the start battery and have the house battery on. The radio came on and a low battery alarm went off. Do I need a new battery?

Alarm should tell you which battery it is. My 2020 throws a low voltage alarm if I turn the start battery off and leave the house on “caution low voltage start battery” The connext isn’t smart enough to know you are in float mode and want the starter battery off. Only solution is to leave it on. Long as it’s wired correctly it’s not problem to leave it on all day. There should be 0 draw on it. I’m guessing this is what is going on unless it’s your house battery with the low voltage.

 

[KrodWhodat]

Alarm should tell you which battery it is. My 2020 throws a low voltage alarm if I turn the start battery off and leave the house on “caution low voltage start battery” The connext isn’t smart enough to know you are in float mode and want the starter battery off. Only solution is to leave it on. Long as it’s wired correctly it’s not problem to leave it on all day. There should be 0 draw on it. I’m guessing this is what is going on unless it’s your house battery with the low voltage.

That’s exactly what mine did. I turned the start battery off and then the alarm went off. I didn’t notice if it said “start” or “house” battery low voltage. I’ll verify again today if it does it and be more clear

 

[KrodWhodat]

@KrodWhodat - try charging it first, of course.... but need to know - is the battery a 2017 original? If so it could be time. What group/series is it (24, 27 or 31)? What composition is it (deep cycle flooded, Gel AGM)?

It’s a 2019 that I bought with 18 hours on it. 242es limited. I see the registration as he purchased it In November of 18 so with such little mile maybe it sat to long. I’ll see how it goes today

 

[Chief]

Since you turned off the start battery, Connext reads 0 volts and thinks it is dead, you get an alarm.

 

[KrodWhodat]

Since you turned off the start battery, Connext reads 0 volts and thinks it is dead, you get an alarm.

So just cancel out alarm and play music? Or keep both batteries on?

 

[Chief]

Keep both on.

 

[WildCatFan54]

My policy (right or wrong) is both battery switches are turned on when I uncover and start lowering the lift. They are turned off together at the end of outing and the boat is back on the lift. Never in between and never separately. I have been out on the lake both Friday and yesterday. Granted I have two high quality batteries (Group 27 Blue top Optimas) but had a multimeter on the boat with me both days and did some testing in front of the Connex. Both fully charged batteries tested 13.1 volts at the battery post before turning on the switches yesterday. At 8pm last night , after 9 hours on the water with radio (Stock) on all day and my cell phone on the USB port, the start battery tested 12.9 and the house 12.6 . Yes , my boat has a solar panel connected to the start battery so my conclusion is 1) there is little / no draw on the start battery by leaving it on all day or 2) our solar panel , while not the highest capacity or quality does just enough to maintain the start battery at basically the same level as I start the day. Yesterday was bright sunshine all day so if that panel is ever going to work , it should have been yesterday ??

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

So just cancel out alarm and play music? Or keep both batteries on?

Leave both on. If you cancel it out, it will pop up again every couple minutes. I’ve left both mine all week on the trailer accidentally, no issues.

 

[StanM]

Just want to reiterate what already has been said, leave them both on. For piece of mind, you can switch to the Home screen and keep an eye on the voltage of the batteries.