Thread: Who make the best deep cycle battery?

Originally Posted by Gpd387

I know Im reply to an older post, but in playing catch up...How do I know if a battery has heavy plates and should I be looking at the highest amp-hour rating as possible?

Thanks

Eric

Heavy plates are in all deep-cycle batteries. If the battery is marketed as a deep-cycle you can bet it has heavy plates. Don't pay attention to AH. There are too many ways to measure it to use it as a comparison unless you really want to dig into the specs. Look at RC measured at 25A. That is a standardized test so it should be an apples to apples comparison.

Originally Posted by CatFan

Batteries have no memory. I never unplug mine except when I fish. If you do unplug them, plug them back in every few weeks.

What kind of charging system are you using where you can leave them plugged up except when fishing?

Originally Posted by Ky Slab

What kind of charging system are you using where you can leave them plugged up except when fishing?

A NOCO Genius charger. Most onboard chargers are designed to be plugged in all the time.

Been researching batteries since I just bought my first 36v TM and it's do in tomorrow, found a lot good info on here as well as looking at other reviews. I came across the info below while looking at what Walmart had to offer and found it quite helpful. Nothing that's probably not already been posted on here before but I kinda used it make my decision to switch from going with Interstate to the EverStart Maxx Marine Battery, Group Size 29DC which will save me about $150. I had considered the Optima's (which are made by the same company) but at close to $300 each with the Walmart EverStart Maxx and 2 year warranty on the down side I would still get 6 years out of it and on an upside maybe 10 yrs. or more for the same money when compared to the Optima.

from Walmart review: by elcodo
Chatted with a battery engineer at Johnson Controls yesterday. He said that "Johnson Controls is very pleased the Wal-Mart group 29 RV battery is rated very highly by the leading consumer product review company" The engineer also said "Batteries sold by us to different vendors are likely to have different internal construction". This implies a Johnson Control battery sold to Wal-Mart may have different internals than a Johnson Controls battery sold to COSTCO or Interstate battery. Read the foregoing again: It reads MAY and it reads DIFFERENT. It does not read BETTER or WORSE. My personal advice as an old and cranky, retired, lead acid battery design engineer, is to weigh every well represented Johnson Controls RV battery and choose the heaviest. The circular stick on tag on the battery case indicates when the battery was manufactured. In my case, I dug through a pile of groups 29's to find a battery manufactured the month before I purchased it. I do NOT discharge an RV battery to less than 12.15 volts I do NOT allow a discharged battery to sit for longer than a week before it is FULLY recharged. A near fully recharged battery will have bubbles rising in the cell electrolyte. If you cannot see any bubbling THE BATTERY IS NOT, REPEAT NOT, properly recharged. A majority of SMART battery chargers are IDIOTS. They can not fully recharge a battery due to sloppy design. Use the bubbling guide mentioned above. Your brain is a billion times smarter then a 29 cent integrated circuit.

Has anybody tried the Sam's Golf cart batteries GC12? I am going to try 2 and see how they hold up. I think they weigh 90 Lbs.

Don

I am an interstate man!

Originally Posted by dallman

Has anybody tried the Sam's Golf cart batteries GC12? I am going to try 2 and see how they hold up. I think they weigh 90 Lbs.

Don

Curious if you tried that battery .... I've been thinking about using them when my current trolling motor pair die.

Originally Posted by BobB

Curious if you tried that battery .... I've been thinking about using them when my current trolling motor pair die.

Those are made by US Battery. I'd expect they'd be decent batteries. About 82lbs each.