Voltage Issue 2020 2060

Good Morning – Last fall I was dead on the water on LOTW, that is when I started to notice low voltage warning on my Hummingbird. I turned down the brightness on my birds knowing that they pull a lot, but still thought that can’t be the sole reason my low voltage alarm goes off 1 hour into any trip. I upgraded my cranking battery late fall. I have been out fishing the past 4 weekends and each trip my low voltage notice comes up, typically when I fire up the engine it pops up on the bird. I always have a full charge according to the bank and the multimeter reads around 14V once charged. The battery seems to be holding the charge, but every trip 1 hour in and low voltage. Nothing is “left” on or anything like that. I am typically running my two birds and ulterra, no way I should be losing power that quickly. What am I missing here? Any suggested troubleshooting?

Thanks!

TD

What size wires power your graphs and how long are they?

How big are your graphs?

Do you charge your starting battery each trip, I assume you’re birds are running from the starting battery and not connected to trolling motor batteries.

Is the voltage reading from the graphs the same as at the battery posts, if not, how much different?

How many graphs do you have, and what size is your starting battery?

I have a group 31 AGM on the same boat with 2 helix 12 and a helix 10. After a long day the starter battery is ~25% when I plug it in to a MK 440PC

you may need a new (bigger) starter battery, or a separate battery just for electronics. Also sounds like your starter battery is defective.

Bad connections or to small power wires will cause the Birds to read a lower voltage then what the battery, causing the warning. I would follow the Bird power wiring back from the unit to the battery, in my experience the problems usual is at the Acc switch in the boats power panel.

What type and size is the new starting battery?

Thank you for the replies. I have a 31 AGM. I have two 9 Helix and one 12 Helix. I really only run one of the 9’s and the 12. But, I use to run all 3 often and never had a power issue. I charge the boat each trip and maintain it. I guess it could be the wires, but I find it hard to believe the Boat Center wouldn’t have the proper wiring when they rig these boats all the time. My connections are good and solid. Maybe the outboard or kicker motor starter is drawing?

A healthy group 31 AGM should not be causing an issue. That’s what I have running most everything and have had no issues even when cranking the F250.

If you answer all questions asked, we’d be better suited to help.

Another question.

Did you perform a load test on your battery.

Do you have the 3 bird linked to a hub?

What voltage do you have your Birds set at for the alarm to go off? I had to lower mine some or I would get the Bird alarm when I cranked the 250 motor over even with a full 31 series agm battery.

I had a smashed marker stuck in my auto bilge float so it was stuck on straight from the factory. Noticed alot of other stuff sitting down there too I pulled out. It’s in idea to check. Bilge can kill your batteries in an hr

No way your battery is 14 volts after charging if checked correctly. After charging, your battery needs to settle and rest 2 to 4 hrs before checking. Fully charged battery should measure at the posts 12.75-12.9 volts. Turning your brightness from 10 to 9 really saves power, but looks as though you have done that.

Load test will not always show a bad battery. Charge your battery check voltage unhook everything let it sit for 24-48 hours and check voltage if less then 12.5 your battery is on the way out. I had 3 brand new Deka batteries go bad with in 18 months before I got a good one now that one is going on 3 years and still working.

I assume if the Boat Center wired your boat, they did so on dedicated lines from the starting battery with high grade marine wiring. To trouble shoot (and possible solution) would be to unhook your graphs from the starting battery and run off a dedicated battery. This will tell you if the graphs are the problem of drain. A 60ah lithium weighs 15 lbs, so add single bank charger for it and will have enough juice to power all your electronics. If it is still dying, something else is the draw. Since you are starting with a fresh battery right off the charger, it’s something while charger is off (when you are using your boat). A common source overlooked is any type of pump run on “constant”– that will drain a battery in a short period of time. A stuck bilge should be easy to find, as it would be always running (probably would end up burning out!). Sometimes it’s operator error, as I know of one fella that would turn on his livewell pump and leave it run all day – then wondered why his boat was dying! The battery is a finite resource, and with all the junk with have on our boats battery management is #1. It seems with your situation, it’s something simple, but also something that is drawing a lot of juice fast. With your 3 locators, probably pulling 6 amps or so. That would take hours to drain a battery at that rate.