Introduction
Having a deep cycle trolling motor battery can be the best investment but you will only benefit to the fullest when you can maintain it as it is supposed to be maintained. The deep cycle trolling batteries are known for fishing because they provide power for a long time. With the best battery, you can go fishing the whole day without worrying about the battery drying on you. So, how can you make sure that the battery is in its best condition? Here is how you can maintain it
Check the charge regularly
The first way to make sure that you are maintaining your battery is by checking its charge regularly. It would be very wise to charge your battery every after use. If your battery is always in use, you should monitor the charge often to avoid a situation where power runs out unexpectedly. So, how can you check the charge of your trolling motor battery? There are many tools that one can use these days. You can use a hydrometer, a digital monitor, and an Amp-hour meter among other tools. Whichever tool you choose to use, always make sure that your trolling motor battery is powered. Recharge your battery after every use. It is a recommendation to recharge whenever the charge is below 50%. Wait until the charge is full and unplug your charger. Do not at any point think of overcharging your trolling motor battery.
Prevent stratification
To take good care of your trolling motor battery, you should try to avoid stratification. This is a condition that can be caused by charging your battery halfway always. Partial charging of your battery and discharging is not good for its condition. It will not only reduce the battery performance but also it’s capacity. What it does is throw away the chemical balance in the battery. Any chemical imbalance caused by undercharging your battery can be very harmful. If this continues for a very long time, you will be left with no battery to rely on.
Allow the battery to rest
It is also very important to allow your lithium marine batteries to rest for a while. After a busy season of using the trolling motor battery, you should allow the battery to also have a period when it remains inactive until it gets enough rest or cools completely. If you overuse the battery or when you do not allow it to rest, the battery may end up burning. When that happens, the battery will not be able to perform to the best of its ability. This can easily happen because during the recharging period, a lot of heat is produced and when the battery is used without cooling, it will get corroded.
Equalization is important
This is also very important when you are taking care of your batteries. You need to make sure that the cells are in balance, especially after a recharge cycle. After the full cycle, there should be an extended low-current battery charge. This can be up to 3hrs of charging for the sake of balancing the cells.
