Battery and stereo questions

[redneck joe]

Put new stereo in the lone star and to test I've left on. Not enough juice to crank the 75 hp Rude after just two hours. Is my battery too weak and need new? This system. http://www.iboats.com/JENSEN-CPM150-...iew_id.1242282

 

[thumpar]

That seems pretty fast with just a stereo. I have an amp and stereo in mine and go for hours and still start the 5.7l.

 

[KD4UPL]

Sounds like the battery is weak. But, how big a battery are we talking about. How "much" stereo are we talking about? If you've got several amps and you left it a full volume I could see it draining a battery.

 

[roffey]

My boat is in my garage/workshop and I put the radio on and listen for hours and do it numerous times over the winter and do not have problems for spring start up.

 

[alldodge]

Put new stereo in the lone star and to test I've left on. Not enough juice to crank the 75 hp Rude after just two hours. Is my battery too weak and need new? This system. http://www.iboats.com/JENSEN-CPM150-...iew_id.1242282

Maybe yes, maybe no
Do you have an amp and have you done this same test with previous stereo?

 

[spoilsofwar]

If the linked head unit and pair of speakers drained your battery in two hours to the point where it wouldn't crank the motor over, then yes, your battery was not healthy to begin with.

Just to make sure, I'd charge the battery fully on a charger, and test again. Since you didn't mention the state of charge the battery had to begin with. Outboards, older ones especially, aren't always the best at charging batteries.

For perspective, I've ran my stereo (two amps, 6 speakers, 1 subwoofer) off of a group 34 odyssey battery for at least four hours and probably more, and then used it to crank my boat's engine right up. So something is definitely not right with your setup.

 

[redneck joe]

Yep, finally found the date sticker its a 2011. Thanks.

 

[64osby]

Age is not a true indicator of battery health. Test it before charging. Give it a full charge. Let it rest a few hours or overnight then test it again.

I run two separate batteries in the Mariner. Motor, lights and bilge pump on one and everything else off the other.

 

[redneck joe]

Yeah I've got two in the Carver with same set up. Thanks for the chart I'll test it out.