So, I bought my first bass boat, a 04'pt 175 the boat is in immaculate condition too, it has two batteries and a Guest 6amp charger, the starter batt is a Maxx 29, 875cca and the trolling batt is a Intestate 500cca, both are 2012' models.

 I had plugged in the charger 2 weeks ago upon buying the boat, earlier this week I had smelt a rotten egg odor in my garage didnt put two and two together till the following day when I remembered what a frying battery smelt like, bingo! so I removed both batteries and went to top the cells off with distilled water, both batteries needed filled but the larger starting battery had 4 dry cells, and the smaller one showed 73% power after a slow trickle charge. Ok so much for the history......

 Now I am assuming the batteries just need replacement and there isnt a problum with the charger over charging? or is there anyway of checking the charger? if I need to replace batteries, I would like to run 2 battery for the trolling as I did on my 13ft boat and need to know if I just wire the batteries in parallel like I have done with my old boat, (Neg to neg and Pos to Pos)? The Tracker owners manual shows a few wiring options, but none apply. If money was unlimited I would buy a 24v trolling motor too go with the dual battery set up, but thats not in the buget!

 Also does quality vary that much in brands of marine style batteries? Thanks

Anyone have advise on what size and type of batteries to run? would it be best to run 2 batteries in paralel for the trolling motor? and is there a way to check the charger? 

I went with Wal-Mart batteries last year and they are great.

 

Wal-Mart will also replace them if you have the original sales slip.

 

The 24 size for the motor and a 27 for the trolling motors.

 

I have my 24-volt system parallel.

 

Consider investing in a voltage meter to check the charger and other aspects of your boat's electrical system.

 

Just make sure you have enough room for the batteries.

I am assuming, Walmart's guarantee is for the advertised life of the battery, which is true of the Napa I deal with.

 

I have to go to BPS today and will find out what cca's the batteries should be too.

 

I think I have a cheap volt meter, do You know what voltage the charger should be putting out? seems like I read 13.3 or so.

The normal Everstart batteries that they sell have a 12 month warranty from the date of purchase. The Everstart Maxx batteries have a 24 month warranty from the date of purchase. Both are good batteries but if you are using a 12v (in parallel) or 24v (in series) make sure to get the batteries as new as possible with them both being made at the same time, same size, etc. I've used the regular Everstarts on my 24v system for 2 years now with no issues whatsoever. My cranking battery is an Optima but I had an issue in the past with my cranking battery and just splurged on a sealed AGM battery for that.

 

A volt meter should read 12.6v for a perfect battery. Each 12v battery has 6 cells, each producing 2.1v. The charge you are seeing at 13.3 is a surface charge, not the actual charge. The higher charge is normally seem when charging or just after it is taken off the charger. Hook it to the trolling motor and run it for a few minutes and then try the voltage reading again. This will give you a much more accurate reading since it wipes the surface charge out.

 

Hope this helps.

I had a similar problem when my charger went bad. One bank did not sense the full charge and was overcharging the battery on that bank. I got the rotten egg smell too. So, I only plugged in the charger the night before til i got a new unit.