I just installed two new trolling motor batteries for my Minn Kota Riptide 24 volt trolling motor about a month ago. I thought they were going bad, but it ended up being a bad control board on the motor. The motor was repaired by Allstar. The motor worked great the first couple of trips, but today, nothing. I checked the voltage and the second battery was nearly dead, 11.6 volts. the first battery was 14.5 volts. Since the batteries were new, and the motor was repaired, i thought it must be my on board two bank charger. I bought two new Black and Decker electronic chargers and hooked them up. The charger on the first battery worked fine and showed 14.5 volts. continued..

The charger on the second battery showed 11.5 volts and then said to reverse the cables on the battery. So I put the negative to the positive and so forth. The second battery started charging and then stopped. Now the second battery is completely dead. No reading, no matter what connector you hook to either charger. Do hooking up the batteries with the jumper cables -to+ and +to- reverse the polarity of the batteries? Or did i just get a bad new battery?

Sounds like a bad new battery and swapping the charger leads finished it off. It happens.

agree.. you got a bad battery.

btw.. with all these new trollers.. ya'll need to disconnect the plug in when not in use.
the troller's continue to pull power from the battery.. makes the control boards go bad early!

thanks guys

What batteries are you running. If AGMs, the charger may not be compatible.

Interstate pro ecl

The Black and Decker Smart Charger (Black and Decker Smart Battery VEC1093DBD ) is mentioned in the reviews as being incompatible with Deep Cycle batteries. It is apparently sold as an automobile or cranking battery charger.

Is that the Black and Decker charger that told you incorrectly to reverse the battery leads?

http://car-battery-charger-review.toptenreviews.com/black-and-decker-smart-battery-details.html

Sorry i didnt see your post. I already returned the charger and installed a new MinnKota three bank charger. Interstate replaced the battery for free, they said it was fried.

You are gonna love the new Minn Kota charger! I have had one on each of my boats and I plug it in and forget about it. I leave it on charge for months at a time through winter and my batteries typically last upwards of 3 years.

Enjoy!