Battery Randomly going dead....

[Waveblaster785]

Hey guys,

I was riding my 97 RN yesterday (second time this has happened) and I stop and try to start the ski and the battery is dead. Started fine about 10-15 mins before. I had been riding for about an hour prior, started and stopped probably 4 times and there was no sign of the battery power dropping. I have no real idea what is causing this.

Motor is a 785
MSD box (have it to where I can unplug, as well as an on/off switch on the dash) The switch was off when I stopped.
Total loss ignition

There's no bilge pump or anything on the ski, and it doesn't seem like a charging issue because if that was the case it would die slowly. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ed

[Matt_E]

It's not an Odyssey battery, is it?

[Waveblaster785]

It's not an Odyssey battery, is it?

It's been two different brands, but I think one was an odyssey, why is that?

IT would crank perfect, then 5 mins later, I it will barely turn the ski over.

[Matt_E]

Was the battery done for after that, or did it start working again?
If so, you may just have a bad start/stop switch.

[felix5oh]

Yeah, i get that too. I go out of town with this stupid job and if i dont disconect the negative cable its dead for sure. The 650SX doesnt do that, dont know why the SJ drains it every time.

[Swooperjet]

I just was going through the same thing. Had to be towed in 3 rides in a row. Finally found out what the problem was. I had a loose ground wire in my ebox. Took the box apart and made sure everything was tight and haven't had an issue since.
????
Not sure if that helps, but that's what my issue was.

[Waveblaster785]

I had the MSD box apart and didn't find anything.

As for the start/stop switch, my experience with those going bad is that it doesn't turn over at all. I had thought about that as well. Battery was still done after sitting for 2 hours. In my case the damn thing starts fine a few times, then all of a sudden doesn't want to turn over. But it does turn over a little, just sounds very weak when it does. With no rhyme or reason.

I haven't tried to charge it yet. But the other battery this happened with came back fine and has been running in my other ski for 2 months with a hell of alot of starts on it.

[Waveblaster785]

I'm going to just assume it's due to the total loss, I will have to put a real good charge on it next time I go out and see if I have the same problem. I might swap out batteries as well. Seems like most people get 2 days or so out of theirs without a charge, maybe I'm just not charging frequently enough. Ski is new to me, so there is a learning curve.

Stock ignition and MSD Enhancer, here I come, lol.

[IN2-H2O]

After 7 yrs with no problems my SJ just started doing the same thing this year. I've tried different batteries with the same results. I've been thru the E-box too and found nothing. I was actually wondering if this was a sign that my brushes are starting to seize and that I should service my starter. If the brushes were not making full contact with the commutator then the machine wouldn't start and it would seem like a dead battery. Unfortunately I'm away from home and can't get back to my machine to work on it for months.

[keefer]

Charge the battery after each ride on a TL. Check for parasitic current drain on the battery from failing bilge switches. A rotten main ground can also cause intermittant problems. The post about the starter is a good thing to check if you have eliminated the other easier to check options. I have seen several starters become intermittant like that when the brush assembly goes bad. Good luck with it, intermittant electrical probs are a PIA.