What do they say about boats again? Oh, wait. We have a trailer. At least we don't have to haul it out of the water to work on it. We are ticking off projects before the trip to the homeland. Tomorrow my dad comes over with the volt meter to test the Battery Tender. When we bought our used 08 550 Ultra last fall we think the battery was already cooked but I didn't know it because it was plugged in when I saw it for the first time and everything worked.
This pic is of the old battery when we took the wall apart and found out it was cracked open and one of the caps was popped off. It must have had some pressure to do that but at least there was no evidence of any acid leakage. The wood in the compartment is all perfect. That is except for the slight bit of water damage where the side marker light wires come through the outside wall but that has nothing to do with the battery. Another project.
The dogs and I went to pick her up alone since Kevin had to work. I don't know if he would have known any better. On the way home I was attached to the truck or plugged in at the campgrounds. I didn't boondock except for a few hours in the free camping at the city park in Campo Colorado. It was hot and I couldn't sleep good so I left in the middle of the night and drove to Laramie where I could plug in.
I wondered why the galley had a sulfer smell. Note to self: Sulfer smell is bad. I knew nothing about batteries before last fall. When we put her in her storage unit we tried to turn on a light and nothing. We somehow found out where the battery was, took apart the wall in the under counter storage where the battery lives and saw that it was cracked open! I bet it was like that already when I picked her up. I am just glad nothing happened when I was sleeping in her.
When we plugged her in to shore power while the battery was still in there the Battery Tender was flashing red green. No wonder. In our trailer the Battery Tender is in the same compartment with the battery. I am not looking forward to replacing it if we have to. There are a lot of wires in there and it is on the outside wall. I think a monkey might be flexible enough to get the job done but I don't know where I can find a trained repair monkey.
We took the battery home and have been camping without it and pick campgrounds with power. I went to town this spring and traded in the old core and bought a new battery. We just installed it recently because the one we bought had a bigger post for the positive wire so I had to get a bigger ring end thingy and cut off the old one to replace that. There is always something. It seems like every project I do at home or on the trailer is custom and takes at least two trips to town to complete.
We got an Interstate AGM battery that fits perfectly. It was not cheap but it has two year nationwide full replacement which gives me some peace of mind not being an electrical person or a mechanic. I only know a little about electrical from helping my dad build his house and replacing old outlets and wiring old lamps. I am learning a lot from little Mercury. Everyone has their own favorite battery manufacturer from what I hear. I asked my best friends husband which ones he likes. He is a diesel mechanic and works on buses down in the city for Metro. He has seen a lot of batteries. He likes Interstate so that is what I went for.
The manager at the Interstate store told me to be sure to check out the battery charging system because of what happened to the old battery. She said it could have been heat or a bad charger. There was definitely heat where the trailer lived in Austin Texas before we bought her. I am hoping the charger is ok but resigned to the fact that it may be malfunctioning after reading everything on the forum. We find out tomorrow.
Cindy and Kevin
