Battery drain with kicker

[sammygee]

Have a Thompson 240 Fisherman with a 350 main engine, and a Honda 9.9 4 stroke kicker.  I prefer to troll with the kicker cause I can control the speed perfectly, and obviously conserve gas.  Last weekend we trolled for a long time, and the main motor was not started.  When we finished trolling, and wanted to head home, the battery was dead and the main motor would not start.  We made it home safely with the kicker, thanx to calm seas.

 

Can anyone advise whether the Honda has an alternator that should keep the battery charged while trolling ???

 

In the past, I have set a timer to remind me to start the main motor every half hour or so, but neglected to do it last weekend

 

Any ideas out there on how I can keep this from reoccurring.  Maybe another battery ??  Running two batteries now. Boat has all common electronics.  Thanx

[Earl28]

Did you check the kicker with a load meter. It is most likely a bad alternator. 

[sammygee]

I will have this checked.  I would be interested to know whether others with kickers suffer from the same battery drain.  thanx again.  

[sszoldra]

My Honda 9.9 does have an alternator, but it's not enough to recharge 2 batteries after bringing up downriggers and running a auto pilot, along with the rest of the electronics that are on  all day. I run 16# torpedos and my kicker actually slows down while I'm bringing up the weights. I've never had the batteries go dead because I recharge them overnight with the on board charger.

[mr 580]

The small alternators on kickers don’t keep up with the draw used trolling especially with high speed riggers.  What position is your battery switch in?  Best bet is to run 1 or 2 position not in “both”.  When you run “both” the weaker battery draws down the better battery.  Also how old are your batteries?  I’ve had older batteries that load test as good when fully charged, but then discharge quickly.  3 years is roughly the life expectancy of a battery.  Your Honda should have an alternator.  I had a Honda and the alternator output feed was an option sold separately.  So check your wiring to see if it has been wired in to your electrical system.  With fully charged batteries, you should be able to run all day on a single battery with your second battery as a backup.  Between trips charge the battery.  My next kicker will have a larger alternator for sure.

[Chas0218]

Carry a jumper pack just in case or an extra battery. I had the same situation when I was pre-fishing for a tournament My batteries didn't come all the way up to charge overnight and I didn't realize it. I had to hand start my 150. Luckily I had my dad holding the starter as I pulled and got her turning. If you have 2 batteries use just one while trolling then switch to the other for starting. I try to keep all my electronics on a separate battery from my starting battery.

[garrymny]

That's why when I just did the transom on my Grady, I installed a 3rd cranking battery, connected only to the big motor starter.

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