www.iFourWinns.com

I have now spent two weekends on my Vista 268 (2004) and have a question concerning the batteries. My ship system battery (number 2)seems to run down after only a couple of hours. The first weekend I had just had the boat delivered so I thought maybe it just needed a good charge and the trickle charger would do the job the week I was gone, but agian this week it did the same thing. I have not been switching the battery as instructed in the manual as again I thought after a full week in the slip plugged up I would not need to. As I understand the manual the charger does charge both batteries so I would not think I would need to alternate while driving the boat around.

I leave the boat on #1 while I am gone with the charger/refrig. breaker on.

The refrig does not seem to be working either, I can hear it running but does not cool. I looked in the book really not much you can do but turn it on and off, guess I may have to replace it.

Thanks for any advice,

Chris

How old is the battery? Another thing, if it's a deep cycle (probably a crappy Interstate) it doesn't like to sit very long discharged. The Interstate batteries seem to sulfonate rather easily. I've gone thru three on my Vista. Bought a Wally-Mart Grooup 29 for $70 and it had performed better than any of the three Iterstates I've screwed with.

If set up propery with an isolator, your engine should charge both batteries. The isolator will allow both to charge but prevent the weaker of the two bringing down the more charged one.

The best I can recommend is to charge them like you have after you check the electrolyte level on all the cells and once you believe they are fully charged test the specific gravity of the batteries ...the real way to tell.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

I am not sure how old it is and did not pay any attention to the brand. When I start the engine voltage on the number 2 battery comes up so the engine is charging it.

I will check them out next weekend.

Thanks,

Chris

The normal battery switch on the Vista 268 is to leave the battery switch in the NORMAL position, and not switch it every other day. While this is the method for a V258 or V248, a V268 dedicates a battery to the house and a battery to starting.

_________________
1999 Vista 268

Do you have the onboard charger from FW? If so, mine was defective and I had it replaced under warranty and problem solved. Understand it to be a common problem w/ FW.

My factory charger is a Guest 2620. Been on the boat for 8 seasons, so I guess I have been lucky.

_________________
1999 Vista 268

Well I would expect that it is the factory charger although I have not inspected it.

I think the switch does say normal and that is where I have left it. The terminology of battery one and battery two came from reading the manual which I found confusing as the switch is not labled 1&2.

It may partly be the manual as I downloaded it on line from FW and there were two choices of manuals for the 2004 268.

Thanks for all the repsonses,

Chris

I did not know about two manuals for the 2004 model. Do you suppose they changed the battery design back to 1/2?

But if your switch says "Normal", "Parallel", "Emergency", then it is the same kind as mine.

_________________
1999 Vista 268

Well I saw two on line one is titled 248-268 Owner Manual and the other is 2004 268 Owner's manual. I was using the first one but have both PDF on the computer so I will look at the other one.

After 3 weekends having the ships battery go dead only after a couple of hours with nothing on except the radios I called the dealer and told him the batteries must be defective/old.
They picked up my boat last week and told me I should not be leaving the battery charger on during the week that it would over-charge the batteries. I don't understand how that could be as you have to leave it on in order to have the frig. on or to get the heater to work in the winter. They replaced both batteries with gel-cells which they tell me are more tolerant to having the charger on.
My boat is a Vista 268 (2004) and I plan to be on it every weekend right now, can some of you tell me how you leave the power settings on your boat while not on it?
Also how long does your ships system battery last when you have min. drain on it?

They also replaced my frig. as it would not cool, but the frig was not the battery problem because I did not try to run it while out on the lake.

Thanks,
Chris

_________________
2004 Vista 268
Lake Whitney, Texas

Chris:

The amount of time your battery can last can be calculated by figuring the amp hours what you are keeping powered use. Don't expect to use more than 50% of the amp hour rating of your battery. Pulling your deep cycle fo a 50% discharge is about all you ever want to do with any expectation of it lasting more than one season. If discharged for a prolonged period of deeply discharged, they will sulfonate causing greatly reduced efficiency.

As to the charger, they should have a "float" mode that trickle charges the deep cycle batteries without "cooking" them. The older chargers would/could definitely cook a deep cycle or any other battery left on the charger for a long time.

Check the literature with your boat, it should be a Guest charger. if that's the case it should have a float cycle that will keep your battery topped off without damage.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

we have a 2000, 268, and our first set of interstate batteries lasted only 2 years. We kept having to fill them with water (which, as you, is not easy to do, given where they are located). Do yourself a favor, spend a little money and get 2 AGM (advance Glass Matt) batteries (we bought Lifeline brand). We can go a full weekend on the lake with using all the power (running fridge, CD player, lights, water pump, etc), they don't care if they are left fully charged, or discharged, and you can leave the boat charger on all the time and they don't care. They are totally maintenance free. We've had them 4 years now and still going strong

_________________
2000 Vista 268

thanks for the feed back I have nver heard of (advance Glass Matt) batteries. They have installed two new Gell Cell batteries so I will see how they do, I don't know the brand yet.

I will keep this email when the Gell Cells give up.

Thanks,
Chris

_________________
2004 Vista 268
Lake Whitney, Texas

Gel cell and AGM are very similar, you will be happy with either. But with gel cell, make sure your charger is compatable. They don't like fast charging. They need to be charged in phases. Most newer chargers do that, so it shouldn't be a problem, but just check it out

_________________
2000 Vista 268

Good info guys. I can only get 3 or 4 hours out of the ships system battery before the CO2 monitors start beeping. I replaced one interstate original battery this season, the other one is still going strong after 5 years.
I leave my charger on all the time, never had a problem with it , or the batteries.

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy