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Article: All charged up: successfully monitoring your batteries can mean the difference between catching a tide or not having enough juice to run your bilge pump.(Boats & gear: voltage vigilance)
- Article from:
- National Fisherman
- Article date:
- February 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Diversified Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It begins with the batteries, every trip, every day's hauling.
What if the batteries don't have enough charge capacity to start the engines? What if the alternator or regulator fails and your charging sources aren't supplying enough current to maintain the charge capacity when you're on the fishing grounds?
All the "what ifs" come down to volts, amps and hours--amp-hours. How many have you got? How long will they last? How do you know?
A major reason batteries fail prematurely is overcharging. This is followed closely by deep discharging (greater than S0 percent) and by too many charge and discharge cycles. The key to long, dependable battery ...