New Boat - Battery Maintenance

J

J-Chicago

New Member
Apr 24, 2022
14
Boat Info
2019 250 SDX IO
Engines
IO Mercury Bravo 300
I have a new-to-me boat, a 2019 Sea Ray SDX 250.

I read in the manual that I should check the fluid levels on the batteries every month. No problem, I've done this in my older cars.

But in my battery bank, I'm surprised to find that the cables seem to be completely blocking the port covers. Is this installation normal and preferred, or did the techs flips these when they reconnected them after winter storage? Can I "flip" them when I reinstall them to make this maintenance easier?
 

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J. I check mine in the spring before I install them. I only check them again in the fall when they come out of the boat for the winter. If you have enough slack in the cables you can rearrange them. The current install looks pretty clean.
 
I'd ask the tech if he checked the electrolyte level before reinstalling batteries. Next year, ask that cables be properly routed upon reinstallation. Monthly checking is what I was advised but they end up requiring replacement fairly frequently anyway.
 
Looks like you have enough cable to just loosen and rearrange them so you can get the covers off. Depending on how you use your boat, you may seldom have to add distilled water but check them for at least a few months until you get a feel for how much if any they use. Don’t over fill them, plates need to be covered and generally speaking about an inch and a half below the top.
The batteries are probably original and the way the previous owner treated or maintained them may have an impact going forward.
 
I left my battery switch "on" over the winter so I could use power tilt. This was a mistake as battery was dead in our late Spring. I am unable to diagnose any primary parasitic loss. It just happens anymore.
Charged it and checked it by measuring length of time audio amp runs before being killed by low voltage cut-off and all is well. Guess battery wasn't truly "dead."
 
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My new plan for Fall is to park the boat outside and put the tied down cover over it, as usual. The problem is that the outdrive has to be stored in "down" position while it has to be raised when unexpectedly moving the trailer. This year I will turn the battery switch to "off" but put a heavy duty remote starter button ($50 at auto parts stores) electrically across it, hanging the button outside the tarps. I can press the button at the same time as the platform tilt control to move outdrive up and down w/o untying, unwrapping, climbing up, and accessing battery switch:
3650_top3-4.jpg
 
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