Need battery help

[HOOKED]

I'm replacing two deep cycle and one cranking battery on my boat. Just called the local outboard place to inquire about the sealed (maintenance free) batteries. He said he did not recommend them due to them messing up the charging system. I actually have an inboard/outboard mercruiser. Had Interstate batteries in them.

Has anyone had problems with the sealed batteries (Optima, etc.)?

[gonnawin]

hey me and my buddy dale went out to the lake friday night, we ended up sitting there for a good minute cause his crankin battery was dead, it was a 2004 0r 05 maitenence free battery, and charged his battery to the max, hit the lake dead, id take the store guys advice, good luck

[sac-a-lait]

I have the YELLOW TOP Optima and it does great everytime.

[CatFan]

I'm replacing two deep cycle and one cranking battery on my boat. Just called the local outboard place to inquire about the sealed (maintenance free) batteries. He said he did not recommend them due to them messing up the charging system. I actually have an inboard/outboard mercruiser. Had Interstate batteries in them.

Has anyone had problems with the sealed batteries (Optima, etc.)?

Find a new dealer. Yours doesn't know what he's talking about. There are three basic sealed batteries used in boats. There's the spiral cell like the Optimas, standard AGMs and sealed standard lead acid. In spite of common belief, the Optimas won't give you a longer day on the water than any other new set of good deep cycle batteries, but they will stay like new for a much longer period. They cost roughly twice as much. The charging system has an easier job with the Optimas because they have a much lower internal resistance, so less power is wasted as heat.

[Moose1am]

I am going on my third season with the Optima Blue Top Batteries. Not one problem with them. You can't go wrong with the Optima Batteries. I have heard nothing but good reviews on them. I did a lot of talking to people about batteries three years ago and went with these and I am glad that I did. I'll let everyone know in a few more years if they last twice as long as the regular lead acid plate type batteries. I expect to get at least 6 years out of these two optima.

Oh and if you take care of the batteries they will last longer. Keep them charged up and recharge them as soon as you get back from fishing that day. A charged up battery will last longer.

I used deep cycle Optima for the last two years running my trolling motor on lakes that are electric trolling motor only. So I put them to the test. They get me to the fishing spots and back. And I have plenty of juice to hover in winds of up to 15 mph or less. My boat is light weight and it tends to move with the wind so I have to use my trolling motor a lot on even calm days. I consider a calm day as any time the wind is less than 10mph. I love dead calm days but we don't get many of them until late July around here. Then we get the doldrums and air stagnation. It gets too hot to fish in the daytime at that time of the year unless you have an umbrella or access to some shade.

I'm replacing two deep cycle and one cranking battery on my boat. Just called the local outboard place to inquire about the sealed (maintenance free) batteries. He said he did not recommend them due to them messing up the charging system. I actually have an inboard/outboard mercruiser. Had Interstate batteries in them.

Has anyone had problems with the sealed batteries (Optima, etc.)?

[Moose1am]

The spiral design of the Optima also makes them less resistant to vibration damage. The lead cells are hard to shake around with the way they are designed. And you can turn them upside down and use them without fear of them leaking.

They do charge up faster. I have use mine all day long and not yet wore it down to where it would not move my boat or get my trolling motor working. I sometimes fish with the trolling motor for more than 8 hours and I very seldom if ever tie off or anchor. I use my Minn-Kota All Terrain 50 to hover over the brush piles all day long.

The spec sheets say that they use more pure lead Pb 204 and that's why they offer so little resistance to current and take on a charge without overheating. But that I don't know about. All I know if that I can use mine Optima all day and have it recharged in less then 4 hours. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Find a new dealer. Yours doesn't know what he's talking about. There are three basic sealed batteries used in boats. There's the spiral cell like the Optimas, standard AGMs and sealed standard lead acid. In spite of common belief, the Optimas won't give you a longer day on the water than any other new set of good deep cycle batteries, but they will stay like new for a much longer period. They cost roughly twice as much. The charging system has an easier job with the Optimas because they have a much lower internal resistance, so less power is wasted as heat.