Alternator or other suggestions?

[Danno1972]

Update....
So I took the battery back to wal mart (yes wal mart) and had them do a test and it came back 'replace battery'.. I went ahead and went for the upgraded version--690 cold cranking amps was the most I could find in my battery size. Original battery was 625. The book says that for my engine I need a minimum of 750 cold cranking amps...?? I couldn't find that many in the battery size? Anyway it's installed--hopefully successful run when I take it out Saturday. I will post results.
Thanks again for all the tips and advice! I'm a new and very excited boat owner!

[JimN]

Originally Posted by Danno1972

It's a single battery on this x10. Just curious anyone know what battery I should have in this boat? Maybe my cold cranking amps are inadequate?
Thanks for all the replies!
Dan

CCA has nothing to do with what happens while it's running, other than how long it takes to recharge after cranking it for a long time.

What is the average time to crank it before it starts running? If it's much more than 5 seconds, it's taking too long and the battery will be run down for a while immediately after it starts.

As posted, pumps draw a bunch of current and anything that acts as an electric heater is about as bad as it gets.

You should also make sure the battery terminals/clamps are clean and tight- do the same where the ground cable bolts to the engine block. If these are dirty, you'll see exactly what you're describing.

[Danno1972]

I took the battery out and had it tested at wal mart. The result was 'replace battery'! So I got a new battery-even upgraded it to a better one--and installed it. Yesterday had the boat on the lake with no issues so far.. Fingers crossed but it looks like bad battery after all.
Thanks all!

[JimN]

Originally Posted by Danno1972

I took the battery out and had it tested at wal mart. The result was 'replace battery'! So I got a new battery-even upgraded it to a better one--and installed it. Yesterday had the boat on the lake with no issues so far.. Fingers crossed but it looks like bad battery after all.
Thanks all!

Did the old battery go dead while sitting? If so, how many times and approximately how long did it take? If it only took a few days, so a current draw test ASAP. If you see about 330mA, it would indicate a bad bridge rectifier in the alternator. If you see 15mA-~65mA, it's from accessories that have memory to save settings, like the radio and PP.