Battery Replacement- FV270

Sandkrice

Got a call today from our marina where we keep our boat in the water. They said we had a terrible odor coming from our engine compartment. They went ahead and pumped the holding tank but the smell continues. I bought the boat in 2011 and haven't changed the batteries since. I am assuming that it is a battery odor so I am going to change the 2 battery's today. I won't be buying AGM's since we are moving and selling the boat. Question is: should I replace with one deep cycle and one starting battery? The boat is 150 miles away and I am not certain what is in it currently. Thanks

TikiHut2

"Terrible Odor" isn't much to go on. Holding tank stank is different than an acrid electrical smell to me. I'd have to wonder why the batts would cause a stink at the same time unless it's a charging issue anyway. I'd ask the marina for a bit more info before you went for new batteries on a boat that's for sale. There may be enough other surprises when the buyers survey comes in and batteries may not even be on the radar.

Good luck. Mike

Sandkrice

Agreed TikiHut. We arrived at the lake and my neighbor said the smell was rough. He did say it was much better now... He thought maybe a raccoon got into the boat and expired. I can't really detect any unusual odor but my wife says she smells it as well. Electrically speaking, everything seems to be performing fine. The current battery's were made in July 2011 so I will take the chance that is the problem and replace. Thanks for the response!

frodo13056

Whoa- before you run out and buy batteries, you may want to check that the batteries didn't overheat and boil the electrolyte fluid in them. If you overcharge a battery, you get a pretty foul smell ( not sure you could confuse it with holding tank oders). It's not all that uncommon for the on-board battery chargers to fry and overcharge batteries. Typically, if you take care of your batteries, you should be able to get 4 seasons out of them - assuming you don't run them completely down or overcharge them or let the electrolyte level drop too much. The on-board chargers typically have a feedback circuit that tells the charger when to stop charging and if that circuit fails, you cook batteries. Your charger should have an LED indicator light and a gauge indicating charging rate, etc. Usually, Rinker mounts the chargers on the firewall and they have a drip shield over the charger to prevent water from hitting the charger. On mine, there are instructions telling you what the flashing LED means.

Michael T

Frodo is on to it. BTW a battery that has overcharged and boiled-out can smell just like sh** as you are getting a sulphated smell - think sulpher. If that is the case and the plates haven't burned you can refill them and re-charge them back. As was wisely said above you may have a list of demands from a new buyer, so don't doll your ride up any more than necessary until a survey comes in. MT

Sandkrice

Good advice guys. Thanks. The culprit seems to be a 13 year old that doesn't follow the "no deuces" rule on the boat!

TikiHut2

Thats a tough rule if ya gotta go. Be patient and treat that tank. A waste tank vent carbon filter should cure that. Glad it wasn't a set of batteries. Good luck in your sale. Hope you find what your looking for. Mike