This fall my batteries wouldnt charge and found they were dry. Filled with water and now discover they are leaking acid from the top caps. One is also making a ticking noise. Thoughts on what I should do? Should I just replace them? Thx!

I don't know if it's right.....but I would replace them.

Do you leave them on the charger all of the time?

The battery charger on my old boat went bad and it boiled out the water.

They're toast

I unplug the charger when they are fully charged.

Being dry was either you were not checking them, or your charger is to high of voltage. If using an onboard or maintainer, make sure the float voltage (if it has afloat mode) is no higher than 13.2VDC.

What does This mean for your current batteries, they are "junk".

Thats what I was afraid of. i have a brand new minkotta charger so it should be ok.

If you want to leave the charger on I would look into a charger that can be used as a tender when the battery is full.