DaveHam

What brand of batteries do you have in your boat? My 1997 312 Fastech came with a pair of Deka Marine Masters which will no longer hold a charge. Should I stick with marine batteries or will automotive do just as well? I'd like to get some that are 100% maintenance free so you don't have to add water. I've read both pro & con about the Optima brand. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

DaveHam

pullmytrigger

Im going through this right now
I have terrible luck with marine batteries, cant seem to get much more than a couple of years out of them and this is on several different boats
I know marine batt cranking power is rated at 32deg F while automotive batteries are rated at 0 deg F.
An articale in Poker Runs America last month reccomends an automotive batt as your primary battery for starting your engine and a marine battery for powering your toys (stereo, electronics etc)...sounds pretty reasonable
Ive done some checking with local garages and such and the overwhelming consensus is that the AC Delco freedom battery is the best battery going . And Im a Canadian, it gets facking cold up here. The guy who owns the garage I go to is an exide dealer and he has an AC Delco in his truck!
What I hear about the marine batteries is, do not let them get cold, kinda hard to do around here towards the end of the season
Well, I dont have too much in the way of electroics and such in my boat ,so off I went to the local GM dealer yesterday and picked up two brand new AC Delco Freedom batteries for the Fountain. The counter guy wanted to know what car I was putting it in, I sat my old battery on the counter and said "its going in a boat", he says "Oh AC delco makes a marine version, thats what youll need" I said "I DONT WANT ANYTHING THAT HAS A MARINE RATING OR ANYTHING THAT HAS THE WORD MARINE ANYWHERE IN ITS TITLE, I WANT A CAR BATTERY THE SAME SIZE AS THIS" ...."Oh ok buddy, you sure?" "YES I AM VERY SURE!" "ok, ok"
I had to go to the local Parts Source and pick up a couple of sets of top post to marine adapters but other than that no sweat
.....I feel much better now.....doug

pullmytrigger

oh yes, and my batteries are removed from the boat at the end of the season, brought in the house stored at the bottom of the basement stairs on a 1 inch thick piece of plywood and trickle charged for an hour or so a couple of times through the winter.
.....still feeling much better....doug

deboatmon

I think you are making a huge mistake not using Marine batteries. The plate construction is significantly different and the general makeup is different. Auto batteries are designed to see a charge on a regular/daily basis and see loads that are of typically high amperage but short duration. Marine batteries can deliver power for longer periods of time. I believe that is typical of most boaters needs. That doesn't even touch on the physical properties. Marine batteries can withstand the pounding better than non-marine batteries.

I personally use four ( 4 ) group 27 Interstate Marine batteries with a total reserve of about 500 amps. I also have a four bank 30 amp shorepower charger installed to maintain the batteries properly.

mrp

Optima is the way to go. No water, can leave it in boat in the off season no problem, 24 month warranty, Shock resistance,1/3 more cranking power and take up less space. Yes you pay more up front but pays off in the long run.

mcollinstn

Optima does not require adding water. You MUST make sure that you have a properly-working regulator on your boat, else you can boil them out and they are then junk.

Gel batteries require a different setting on the voltage regulator to avoid the above problem and cannot accept a fast charge without outgassing.

ANY flooded battery will require adding water in a boat, and if you insist on getting one that has the caps glued on, you are asking for short battery life. (gels and optima/agm's are not flooded batteries).

Optima has the best "MARINE" warranty out there. Optima, and other AGM batteries are truly "vibration tolerant". They can accept a rapid charge without outgassing. They can be totally submerged with no damage. They are more accepting of being stored in a low state of charge and will recover better than a flooded battery. They are also expensive. They WILL freeze and be trashed if stored in cold weather in a discharged state (regardless of what salesmen may say - I've personally done it with two different brands of AGM's in tractors).

As far as marine batteries being more heavily constructed, this is more of a rule of thumb than a fact. I've shook the plates out of a Die Hard Marine, Delco Voyager Marine, and Interstate Marine. In the same boat, I had a "loaner" battery out of a station wagon that lasted without being shook apart. It was a Hester automotive nothing-special battery. I don't believe HALF of the hype about ALL marine batteries being constructed in a special manner.

I had DEKA's in my Formula and they lasted longer than any marine battery I have ever owned, including the one set of Optimas I had.

Optima cannot boast ANY more power per pound than a normal flooded battery, unless you specifically look only at cranking power (which most batteries have the 450 amps we seem to need).

You want the BEST battery, look at the Optimas.
You want the least amount of trouble and least amount of money over a seven year span? Get AutoZone Gold Automotive batteries.

Automotive batteries work well if you are not subjecting them to constant discharge. You guys who use your boat to go places can use automotive batteries. You guys who run the motors for ten minutes to get to the cove and then play the tunes all day long need to stick with a deep cycle battery.

Optima/AGM style batteries are beautiful for bass fishermen with trolling motors. Those batteries cycle all the time.

If you rarely see your battery drop below 10.5 volts, then a standard flooded battery will be a better bargain.

pullmytrigger

deboatmon- If marine batteries are so much better then why cant I get more than a couple of years out of them?? Even if I get an extra season out of these AC Delcos Ill be miles ahead of the marine batteries.

Crazyhorse

Battery life can be affected by a lot of things, such as charging system condition, how often the batteries topped off with distilled water, how many constant-drain items like clocks and radios are left hooked up while the boat is not in use. And there's always my personal pet peeve, leaving the battery cables hooked up during winter lay-up. In short, it may not be all the battery's fault that you're holding a funeral service for them every couple of years,,,,,,,,,
I look at it this way though, if I spend $120 every two years on batteries I'm better off than needing to call someone for a tow after being at anchor for an afternoon with the radio playing mood music.

SSComp

Sam's club. Deep cycle/Starting size 27 ....$49.00. I have 3 and I buy a new one each year. Never had one go bad. Someone (fish chaser) always buys the old one for $20 or so.

I also have a very long set of jumper cables. I always seem to be jumping someone's dead boat. They're nice for trouble shooting too

deboatmon

Twin 29, I can't say for sure why your battery life is what it is. I can say from my experience that the charging system, the quality of all connections, and type of use have an effect on battery life. A quality shorepower charging system seems very important to battery life. A smart system works well.

Maybe you should consider looking at other factors in your boat for the battery life.