New Boat issue questions

I picked up my new Triton yesterday and got it on the lake. The boat ran great but I have a couple of issues I hope someone can help me with so I don't have to drag this thing 230 miles back to Houston and back.

The first issue is that the boat charging system doesn't seem to complete the charge. The red lights stay on no matter how long I charge and the green lights never come on to indicate a full charge. Is there something obvious I could check to fix this??

The second issue is that when the power pole retracts to the up position the pump seems to run 3-5 seconds longer after it has fully raised. I've had a Talon for about 4 years and this is my first power pole so I don't know if this is normal but it doesn't seem right. I checked out the installation instructions to see if there was some kind of adjustment mechanism but I can't find one. If this is not normal I would appreciate some ideas on how to fix it.

Thanks.

Check to see what the charge in the battery actually is and that the connections are on tight. Then, I'd check to see what the charger is putting out.

How sad they delivered a boat with rigging installed such that the charger is not reaching full charge on a battery. I assume you didn't make them change to a 3 bank charger? (my condolences on this mistake if you didn't.)

Assuming you have a 2 bank charger connected to ONLY two batteries, there should be a set of +/- leads from the charger to each battery - direct to the battery, not some other connection points. I also assume one charger bank is showing green and one is staying red.

Smart chargers will not charge a battery that is below "x" volts where x varies a bit by manufacturer. This is a safety feature to protect your boat. The most likely thing is that they installed a battery in such poor shape that it won't charge, so the charger status stays red. if the battery is not too far gone, you can get the charger to work with it again.

I assume you can follow the leads from the charger to identify which battery has the red LED status. Unplug the charger. No need to disconnect it from the battery. Use a conventional battery charger (like the $30 cheapie ones) to charge that battery for a few hours. Then, disconnect that charger, and plug the smart charger back in again. If you are lucky, it will recognize the battery and begin a real charge cycle.

If that does not work, you can unplug the charger, remove the +/- leads from each battery and swap bank 1 to battery 2, and bank 2 to battery 1, for instance. If that bank of the charger is bad, it will continue to show the red LED status at the same bank even though you swapped which battery is on which bank. If the battery was bad, the red LED status will move to the other bank of the charger because you swapped the leads between the two batteries.

Measuring with a voltmeter is another option, but the results won't be as clear as the above steps will provide. Try the tests I propose and reply with results. One last thing: Have you checked the electrolyte level in the batteries? They are usually not shipped filled to the "full" level, which is the bottom of the inverted neck, NOT the top of the battery. Use a battery filler bulb, and only distilled water.

^^^^^^ Good advice.

I had a similar issue with my charger when my boat was new. The three trolling batteries charged fine, but the engine battery showed red. I tested the battery and it was good. I got to tracing the wires out and discovered they had not even put the charger leads on the battery. I found the leads taped up and zip tied to the harness. I took care of it, and the wash down pump that they incorrectly installed, and called them to express my displeasure. The mechanic said it was tested and working when it left, so he lied about that. When the boat and engine manufacturer sent their surveys, they didn't get a good grade on service, which resulted in a call from both manufacturers to inquire. After that, the dealer called and offered a free first service on the engine, which I declined and used another dealer that has proven trustworthy over the years, and not near as far to drive. I could see the clowns in their service department forgetting to refill with oil or something.

Are you saying all battery's stay red are just one? You should check the wireing from charger to battery making sure + to + and - to - .

Mike, you are right! I totally misread his post. He doesn't say "one"...he says "the red lights stay on". I'm now wondering if the battery charger is even connected to any battery. I'm also going to look at what Triton dealer is around Houston because I'm thinking I'd never want to go near that place considering the insight we are getting from this owner's experiences. (They delivered a 2 bank charger in a boat with 3 batteries, for instance.)

Thanks for the feedback on the batteries. Not exactly sure what I did but got both batteries finally showing a fully charged "green" status.

Power pole pumps will continue to run for a few seconds after they complete a cycle up or down. That is normal.