dual battery problem or something else

[Bennie]

We have been experiencing a problem starting my Bennington. I have a 2012 2574 with a Verado 250. I had the dual battery switch installed from the factory. I experienced a problem when I was beached that when i go to start it just clicks like a dead battery. This past weekend I narrowed it down. If I try to start from either #1 or #2 battery it will not start. Just clicks. When I put it to all or both batteries it starts every time.

The dealer is closed today.

 

[Retired Team Member1]

We have been experiencing a problem starting my Bennington. I have a 2012 2574 with a Verado 250. I had the dual battery switch installed from the factory. I experienced a problem when I was beached that when i go to start it just clicks like a dead battery. This past weekend I narrowed it down. If I try to start from either #1 or #2 battery it will not start. Just clicks. When I put it to all or both batteries it starts every time.

The dealer is closed today.

Our first guess would be to check the battery specifications for the 250 Verado to be sure your existing batteries individually meet or exceed the specs. It's an agressive set of specs for that powerful engine and those batteries are pretty pricey. If that's not it...please let your dealer do some trouble-shooting. We're glad to hear you were not left stranded...always a good way to ruin a great day. TB

 

[Geoffrey & Brenda]

I see that T-B has already responded with a good answer, but i'll throw in a couple more things to look for.

Since it will not start on a single battery, check the connections on both batts, positive and negative connections, both must be clean and tight.

If you can access the dual battery switch, check the connections there as well, BUT, Disconnect both negative cables at the batteries before doing so, safety first.

I will assume these are new batteries?, and that this was not a problem when the boat was released to you from the dealer?

The problem may also be a charging issue, but if you are not familiar with charging system testing, that should be checked by the dealer or your marina mechanic.

Let us know what you find out.

 

[kaydano]

After checking for loose connections like Geoffrey said, and making sure they are up to snuff spec-wise, you could pull the batteries and have a load test done on them. Any auto parts store will do that for free.

Odds are you wouldn't have two bad batteries, but I swear half the time something goes wrong for me, it's two things that go wrong at the same time. Makes things an order of magnitude tougher to solve. But I love a good challenge...