My dad and I are going fishing at Livingston next weekend. We got our boat out of storage to prep it for the 3 day trek. For the second time our Everstart Maxx battery was dead as a doornail. We don't go fishing as much as we'd like, usually once every month, but the past 2 times this battery has been dead after we got it out of storage. It's not the cranking battery, it's the secondary one we use for the electronics and trolling motor. We also DISCONNECT the leads before we put the boat back into storage so it can't be a leak. But it's so dead our charger won't accept it to charge.

Walmart's good at taking them back without hassle (18 month replacement warranty) but these batteries, in my experience are a piece of junk. The only reason I got that brand was because I had to get a battery at 1am one time and Walmart was the only choice. Is this a common complaint with this brand of batteries?

I have never had a problem. It probably has a internal short. Take it back and they will replace it quicker than you could charge it.

Just about any battery that sits for awhile will do that. At least many of the brands I have used (I have not tried the 180.00 batts)

When you use the boat and put it back in storage do you charge the batt before storage? Or just put it up after use?

That can make a big difference... putting a half drained battery in storage and letting it sit for a month causes it to drain down.

Try charging it before you put it in storage... Or bring them to the house and put them on the trickle charger right away.

Regards

I asked a similar question on these batteries here a while back, and it seems mixed results between people who've had good luck with them and those that haven't. There was more positive reports than negatives if I recall - especially with the replacements available at a WalMart close enough to most anywhere your liable to be. Some people reported very good luck with them. I'd absolutely agree with the suggestion to either charge them before you put the boat up, or even better - take them with you so you can charge them up properly at home. Worst thing you can do is put one up for storeage that's either drained or partially drained. Best to charge them as soon as possible after a trip and then keep them topped off. If they have caps that can be removed, it means water can boil off even though they might claim they're maintenance free, so don't forget to check the water level and top off with distilled water as needed. Your practice of disconnecting them when not in use is a very good idea - I'd keep doing that in any case. Do a search here for batteries or battery and if you dig a little bit, you'll find some very informative stuff about batteries, chargers, voltages, etc.

Good luck with it,....Jon

i use one for the cranking,a nd all electronics.... had it for a year now.. never a problem. it hardly ever drains, and I make sure and get it charged when I get home from the lake.

never a problem with mine. I charge it when I get back home and top it off the night before a fishing trip.

All I use. My last one lasted 6-7 years.

I dont use Walmart batteries. The last ones I bought were from Academy. I didnt pay much attention to them when I bought them(2). I always plug the onboard charger in as soon as I get home. I bought both on 3-8-07. One of them has already needed to be replaced. I noticed on the battery that it was a year old when I bought it. There should be a date stamp somewhere on the battery. You may be getting old batteries to start off with. Even though you bought it as new. I noticed my other one has a 5-06 date on it. Hopefully its not getting ready to go south on me. Just my thought.

Been using them for quite a while and have had no trouble out of them. The trick is to charge them as soon as you get back and I leave a maintenance charger on mine all the time until I am ready to go. Battery seems to last about four years for me, but you have to keep the water checked in them because it will boil out.

Had them o nmy last few boats and love them. I fish alot and they have been trouble free. Any battery that is not properly maintained will have issues. I like the fact that if I have any problems there are a lot of Wal Marts around to swap them out.

As above you should always recharge as soon as you get back from fishing before you store your boat and check the battery for fluid loss and refill regularly. That should improve your luck with any battery.

I bought an everstart deep cycle(not MAXX)two years ago. Paid less than $40 for it. It sat outside all winter in the bottom of my old boat hooked up to the trolling motor. Took it off in the spring expecting it to be GONE! It was almost fully charged still and is now the cranking battery on my new (to me)boat. It's still going strong.

I have always charged mine as soon as I return from a trip -- I have never had a moment's problem with the EverStart battery.

Never personally used them. My sponsorship uses Continentals. I don't care for them. But he uses them, because they don't ask any questions on replacement. He also has Interstate batteries. I like them alot better. The Interstates that I have had, I was very impressed with. The boat I sold to my brother had two in it and are still good (3years). I have already had to replace my Continentals from March '06 to November '06 on my new boat.

We have Walmart batteries for on trolling motor. NO problems here either. But we did buy an Continental cranking battery that lasted only 1 trip. Bought an Interstate to replace it. And took the continental back for a full refund.