Battery charging

Historicalgasman · 25 May 2014, 13:03

Hi all, the battery on my boat has lost charge, indicator is still green, but the manual says battery needs to be 100% to generate a spark.

Don't have a charger or booster pack, the battery is an 88amp leisure.

My question is can I put the battery on the Mrs Corsa and charge it that way?

The battery on the corsa is a 44amp.
Cheers

paintman · 25 May 2014, 14:23

I take it that the battery won't start the boat?
The green indicators usually only give an idea of the condition of one cell - one of our batteries wouldn't hold charge & although the green was showing, the hydrometer showed one cell to be dead.
If you have access to all the cells - not a sealed battery - then check them all with a battery hydrometer.
Whilst you could put it on a car - if it will fit - you'd have to do a LOT of miles to build up a worthwhile charge.
You would do better buying a battery charger & fully charging the battery.
I'm told that as a check you should fully charge, leave disconnected for 24hrs then check volts. Below 12.5 volts suggests suspect battery.

Nos4r2 · 25 May 2014, 14:25

Better to buy a trickle charger and charge it fully. The corsa would do it, but you'd have to use it as the main battery-no plugging it into the cigarette lighter socket or it might overheat the socket.

Historicalgasman · 25 May 2014, 14:26

No, it wont start, it was turning the starter but now it has gone dead.

paintman · 25 May 2014, 14:29

Needs fully charging as suggested above.
If the battery is not used for periods its a good idea to put them on charge from time to time as they can deteriorate.

Historicalgasman · 25 May 2014, 16:52

Thanks guys, I bit the bullet and bought a charger.....

BogMonster · 27 May 2014, 10:13

The 'green lights' are a waste of space. I've had batteries that were showing green and would barely put lights on the dash in a vehicle, never mind turn it over, and the one in my Discovery has been black (=replace) for about 5 years and is still OK. It's just over 12 years old (original vehicle battery) and still going strong, think that is the record for me.

If a battery has been very flat, you tend to find that an alternator will not bring it back up properly - it will work but it is better to trickle charge slowly with a decent charger.

Historicalgasman · 27 May 2014, 11:56

Charged it over night and boom! Engine jumped into life after a little jiggery pokery with fuel line and throttle cable.......big learning curve is all the outboard and rhib stuff!