Boat battery dying is common among sea captains, and the worst-case scenario is when it dies in the middle of a fishing trip. When it fails near the shore, then at least there are plenty of alternatives to jump start it. Ensuring that the boat’s battery is in perfect condition before setting out is a rule that I can’t ignore. But it can still fail at times, so can you jumpstart the battery from a car?
You can use a car to jumpstart a boat battery. But first, you have to ensure that all the electrical appliances in the boat are off. Also, one has to ensure that the terminals on the boat are correctly connected. If there is no car near, an alternative can be another boat.
In this section, I will be showing you how to jumpstart a boat battery from a car. For the process to be successful, one needs to carry it out correctly. Moreover, batteries contain electric current that may cause an explosion if there is no proper care. It is also essential to learn how to differentiate a car from a boat’s battery. Let’s jump into it!
How to Jumpstart a Boat Battery from a Car?
Step 1: Examine the battery’s surroundings
First, before anything, confirm if the battery is faulty because it is usually the leading cause of trouble on boats. You can check if it’s just a defective wire causing the issue or there may be something blocking the connection.
Step 2: Do a safety check
Electrical appliances in the boat tend to consume and use the battery’s power. Therefore, ensure that they are all off.
Step 3: Jumpstart the boat
When jump starting from a car, start by connecting all the battery terminals. Connect the positives to the positives and the negatives to the negatives. Wait for a few minutes for the battery to charge, after which you can now turn on the boat key. The engine should be working after this, and you can now detach the terminals and charge the battery as usual.
Can you Charge the Boat Battery with a Car?
Both car and boat batteries always keep up with modern technology even when each seeks to serve its purpose. While there are many advantages of each battery, at one point, it requires recharging. Different boat batteries respond to various charges, and the correct charging technique makes it last longer.
Deep cycle battery is such which one can charge from the car. It employs advanced technology and the slow-rated energy that makes it fit for car charging. However, to use a vehicle to charge it, the battery voltage must be 12. Anything less than this will damage both cars.
When charging, one makes a parallel connection between the starting battery and the deep cycle battery. One can also connect the jumper cables to the existing battery then to the deep cycle. You will also require a battery isolator when charging the battery. The isolator ensures that the car does not start and the starting battery does not discharge.
Remember, both the boat and the car have voltage regulators which facilitate the transfer of charges. The voltage regulator ensures a slow charge flow to almost a full charge so that all the batteries don’t boil. The isolator will be handy if these two batteries will be intact for a long time. If the charging is for just a while, then the isolator may not be necessary.
The engine speed needs to come up to 1500 rpm when charging, requiring an extra extension. This extension adjusts the alternator’s speed resulting in a high charging rate. One should also not swap out the batteries to avoid overcharging the car battery. If this happens, the boat battery, on the other hand, will take longer than usual since the alternator will be sending the same charge rate to the two batteries.
Are Boat Batteries Same as Car Batteries
There are distinctive features that distinguish car battery from boat battery which also impacts their efficacy. Car batteries usually work on smooth sealed roads, while boat batteries work in an environment where they can resist vibration from the waves. The design of car batteries is such that it will take up energy for cranking over the engine. The alternator then replaces the energy used up when starting the engine.
However, the tasks of boat batteries are diverse, among them being starting the engine. Once the machine is rolling, it will continue working, for instance, to ensure that the lights are on. They also ensure that the boat’s gauges are working and any other boat accessory that requires energy is functioning. So, the battery needs to be in a capacity to stay on for long before it recharges.
Both batteries usually have lead batteries, which typically contain lead plates coming from a mixture of sulphuric acid. The sulfuric acid contributes to the production of an electric charge that the battery contains. Each lead-acid battery contains different sizes of lead plates, with car batteries carrying thinner plates. On the other hand, the boat battery includes both thin and thick plates, which is why it can perform all its functions.
Their storage techniques also make them different. The boat battery needs more protection since its environment is not as smooth as that of cars. They are large and have extra plastic protection with them. Also, one can quickly distinguish these two through their cranking amps.
Boat batteries use marine cranking amps, while a car battery uses cold-cranking amps. Testing the MCA capability of a boat happens at the freezing point, but a CCA happens below it.
Conclusion
While it is possible to jumpstart the boat battery from a car, one needs to carry it out correctly by first ensuring that all electronics in the boat are off. After the boat starts, you can now disconnect the cables. It is also important to note that jumpstarting a boat from a car does not mean that these two batteries are the same. The design of each battery seeks to serve a different purpose.
