Best Battery

[David M]

As always, "best" depends on the application.

[Trim50]

This article will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about marine batteries and how to select the right battery for your needs.
Comparing marine batteries (Gel, Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM), flooded lead acid)

[Seeratlas]

I noticed that West Marine among others, touts the long life of the AGM's but unless I misread it, they talk about 300 cycles for the agm's while a good set of GolfCart type 6volters are said to go a thousand...what's the real story on "long life" ? cycles/ or sitting in a stored boat ? hehehe

seer

[wallandj]

Whichever battery you decide to buy, you might consider purchasing at a battery "warehouse" that specializes in selling just batteries (auto, truck, tractor, marine, etc.) The prices are the best I have seen, they carry reputable brands and seem to always have them in stock. Also, since they move a lot of batteries, they probably haven't been sitting around for a year.

In our case, we bought 3 Group 31 Astrolite AGMs for about $135 each from Trisate Battery in Newark, DE. Astrolites are just rebranded Dekas and made by East Penn (they even have the same catalog number). They even put them in the trunk of the car but then you have to schlep them into the boat, of course.

We have a 3 battery system similar to what you mention and like the AGMs a lot. Primarily we like the rapid charge acceptance rate (since we do not have an external three stage regulator). We do, however, have a good 3-stage 25 amp charger (Newmar) - definitely a must for AGMs or gels. We rotate the batteries through the "start" and "house positions annually.

Dave
Horizon

[hellosailor]

Surette and Rolls make Damned Expensive Batteries. But, the folks who buy them and use them according to the makers instructions, often report 10+ years of service life from them.

They are commercial-grade batteries, not consumer-grade. The price reflects the difference in construction. But unless you are willing to charge them and use them AS INSTRUCTED--you can still consume them in 3-4 years.

[Alan Wheeler]

I have just placed some information in the "study hall" in regards to this question.
Please post further question that may arise from the info, in this here thread, or start a new thread. The study hall itself is closed to posting.

[Whimsical]

I have not seen a discussion on nicad storage batteries. Why is that? doesn't anyone use them.

Mike

[fastcat435]

If price is an issue go for the Optima Bleu line and if the price is no issue go for Lithium Ion phosphate made by Valence Technology | Lithium Phosphate Batteries
We have stopped using lifeline because they will not honor warranty on a 18 month old battery.

[bill good]

Fastcat, How long have you been using the Valence Batteries? I had a look at the data for U27 but I would be worried by the high current required to charge a 200 (260) amp bank. The charge rate would only be 30 A & 65 A is recommended. How flexable have you found them?

No sign of the Basalt here in Australia!!

Regards Bill Goodward

[fastcat435]

Hallo Bill

we have been using Valence for 2 years without a sign of wear or tear
they take any type of charging slow and very fast , we actualy recharge with our electric propulsion system a max of 4 Kw per motor but a minimum of only 500 watts per hour while cruising 6 knots or so.

We use 10 tons of basalt fiber per year and that number is growing rapidly

Greetings

Gideon Goudsmit

[Jackstee]

Hi Guy's
A question that I haven't seen in the last couple of years, so don't know if it's been asked.
My HT has a single 9.9 outboard which can put out between 6-10 amps, according to the book.
(I will be fitting some solar panels in the forthcoming year)
At present I just have two 90 amp batteries.
I hope to go down the road of fitting a couple of 24 volt motors and retainingg my 9.9 as the main power thruster.

Know I see in the library that a 20 amp charge is about the minimum requirement.
So what do I do ??. Are there special monitoring/charge units you can fix to an outboard ??

Also from the old days I always remember that the basic rule was a slow charge was always the best charge. ??

Steve

[fastcat435]

A slow charge in general is in general the best charge but having a output of between 6 and 10 amps always results in less than 5 and that is almost like trickle charging , you would need at least a 20 amp alternator or other charging source to get your batteries well charged. The new Air Breeze wind generator would work well for you , probably a better bet than the solar panels and a lot cheaper per amp hour charge

I have attached the info on this unit the price in Europe is 1000 euro ex vat
because of the low weight , 6 kilo,s we mount them mast head less noise more wind and a good size wind vane

[Alan Wheeler]

I have not seen a discussion on nicad storage batteries. Why is that? doesn't anyone use them.

NiCad has many negative issues. Put them all into a nutshell and you can say that NiCad is one of the most expensive/Ahr/life of batteries. Plus with special charging required, procuring a charger capable of charging bank sizes reguired on boats would be very difficult and expensive.
At the moment, there are other battery types new to the market(see fastcat's posts on their's), but all are similar. Given a few more years, that may change and it could become far more economical to use them for genral housebank activity.

[fastcat435]

Thye prices of Lithium Ion batteries have been steadily declining by about 15 % per year while lead acid has been going up by around 10 % per year probably more in the near future, if this continues in 3 years time Lithium Ion will be cheaper per Watt H thna lead acid or agm batteries.
Look at the added bonus , in our electric version Green Motion Fastcat 435 we save well over 300 LBS or 135 kilo,s while our usable amps are 50 % higher with the lithium batterys

[Jackstee]

Hi Fastcat and tks for the info.
I could just see our 26 foot Patricia Mary wit a wind gen of nearly 4 foot diameter. But hang on, maybe we could hover at the right wind speed.

Tks anyway, I was hopeing of a quick fix, dont mind the cost, except for inboard engines that is.

Steve