Batteries

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JZ

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What are some of the best batteries out there? How much should I expect to pay? The boat is a Monterey 298SC (32' sport cruiser). The biggest drain will be the stereo which has two amplifiers. No inverters.
 
Get Sears Platinum AGM's. Any AGM is better, but the Sears Platinums are exceptional.
 
For the three standard wet cell deep cycle batteries on the boat I do great with Exide Nautilus Gold group 27's. Buy them at the auto parts stores and save.
 
<<...."Get Sears Platinum AGM's. Any AGM is better, but the Sears Platinums are exceptional."...>>

Greg - Do you use these as starting batts, house batts, or are they "dual use"?

Thanks.
 
Sears AGM's are going to run ~$200 each and I think all batteries have to be AGM to charge correctly. The Sears are much better than Optimas. I am assuming (yeah, I know...bad thing) you have twin screws. Four batteries will do it. 1 Port starter and 1 Starboard starter with the capacity to parrallel them for emergencies. 2 6 volt golf cart batteries in parallel for the house. Pascal uses the GC batteries in his Hatt.

If room is an issue, the Excides that yzer mentions are also at Sam's club for around $65 each. The group 31 is around $72 and has the same RC as 2 golf cart batteries. IIRC, MikeeH uses Costco with great luck.
 
AGMs are superb performers: less gassing, no maintenance and 10-15% more efficient than traditional flooded lead/acid batteries. In planning my electrical system I choose flooded batteries and a good 3-stage smart charger for the cost benefit: most amp/hrs for the least bucks over time and I can live with the monthly level checks. AGMs cost twice to three times as much as flooded batteries. I would have gone with golf cart batteries if I had room for them.
 
Costco-Kirkland-$60.00 (+/-) every three years.
 
Lifespan of flooded deep-cycle batteries is said to be 1-6 years and 4-7 years for AGMs. Three-stage smart chargers extend the lifespan of both deep-cycle types. Both are lead/acid batteries and a trickle charge when the batteries are not in use will help slow down sulfating of the plates.
 
Be careful - I am replacing mine - had to go with flooded because battery charger that came with boat will not properly charge AGM - may want to check your charger before plunging into AGM.
 
Lifeline AGMs, beyond no doubt in my mind are the best. I have 9 on my boat many are now in their 4th season. They show no signs of deterioration. They are heavy as all get out but they have a great warranty and charge and hold a charge better than any battery. Now let the Golf Cart battery guys chime in. By the way I have 3 8D's for the main house bank, 2 in parallel on the port engine, 1 on the starboard engine, 1 on the generator and 2 on the bow thruster/windlass bank. The smal batteries are all Lifeline 31 AGM's.
Bill
 
There are only three wet cell deep cycle battery manufacturers. ALL brands are made by one of those three. My preference is the Delco spec'd ones. Usually the Kirkland brand at Costco is the same spec as the Delco brand, but that could change, so verify the specs before purchase. My wet cell deep cycle batteries last 6-7 yrs using a 3-stage smart battery charger.
 
AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries have the same charge rate as “flooded” cell batteries. Here’s a couple of cut and paste’s :
Charging Procedures for Lifeline AGM Batteries
There are a lot of different opinions about battery charging and we hope this will help clear up any confusion that our customers have. AGM batteries are still technically a lead acid battery and they charge very similar to a wet cell. Regardless of what some rumors portray, AGM batteries are not as sensitive as once believed. They often get confused with Gel Batteries, which are very sensitive to voltage and they need a special charger. Lifeline AGM batteries can also be equalized to regain capacity if need be (instructions for equalizing is listed below). We also offer very personal service if you would like to reach us by telephone should you have any further questions regarding our batteries.

Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.
The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.
 
quote:
Originally posted by RumDiet

Be careful - I am replacing mine - had to go with flooded because battery charger that came with boat will not properly charge AGM - may want to check your charger before plunging into AGM.

Click to expand...


Can anyone verify this? How do you know the charger's limitations if this is true? Mine is a 2002.
 
If yours is a 2002 you can use it on AGMs. Just make sure if it has an equalization cycle that you shut that off if you have it. Otherwise, plain old flooded cell setting works fine. I was using Lifelines, but when Sears came out with theirs, they had both Auto and Marine units available. I have a Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke Diesel. She takes two cranking batteries and I'm telling you I've never heard a 7.3 spin faster than with these Sears units. The added plus is these Sear Platinums are 3rd generation AGMs (versus Optima 1 generation, Lifelines 2nd gen) which means they are much more robust in terms of heat resistance and they are not as picky about charging voltage.

There are a few other things they did'nt mention here about AGMs over wet cells. For marine use, the biggest is, they work submerged. If you accidently submerge these things, they're air tight. They keep working. Get the terminals clear of the water and you're back in business. A wet cell may be over contaminated. The SEALS use them exclusively on their boats, the biggest feature for them is, they can take a 30 caliber round right through the case and keep working, no electrolyte loss. I've seen several demonstrations of people drilling a 1/2 inch hole through each cell. Battery works. Finally, if you winter your boat and worry about AC power loss causing battery run down, AGMs do not loose charge as fast as wet cells. In fact their drop is only about 0.5% per month.

While others will tell you the intitial investment makes them overly expensive, they are in fact the cheapest battery you can buy. Since they are good for about twice the charge cycles before sulfating out, the cost per cycle is the cheapest. Don't know about you but on a boat, I buy the best battery, just like I buy the best brakes and tires for my cars. If you are near a lee shore, when you turn that key, you want that baby to turn over and do it now.
 
<<...they had both Auto and Marine units available. I have a Ford F-250 7.3L PowerStroke Diesel. She takes two cranking batteries and I'm telling you I've never heard a 7.3 spin faster than with these Sears units."..>>

Greg -

Are you using the Sears "automotive version" in the boat, too? Just wondering if these batteries are like Spray 9, where the only difference between the "marine" version and the regular version is the label.
 
No, my Lifelines are still good, but their Group 27 Marine Platinum are dual use units. The terms deep cycle versus starting are more limiting in flooded cell versus AGMs because you really don't have "plates" in an AGMs. What is more is the lead grid is not as heat sensative. However I don't think they make a Platinum group 27 or 31 auto, only Marine.
 
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