Thread: Battery Report..

Sounds like you need a 200 amp service. I would still run aerators,lights, gauges and recirculators off the cranker.

That is what I plan to do. Thanks.

I may not pick the best depth finders, but I do pretty well with the batteries. I've only had a boat for about nine years, but i've always bought my deep-cycle batteries at wally-world. I think I'm on my 3rd trolling battery, I bought a new one this year because I got a differant boat. I only charge them when I need to. I run my 40#thrust 12 volt trolling motor, lights, and depth finder off of it. Of course i do have a small aluminium boat not a monsterous barge..lol

I won't be able to get a monsterous barge until the kids are older.....lol

Originally Posted by Cane Pole

24v trolling. Troll only. All electronics on cranker battery. Lots of stuff here. Aerators, recirculators both on timers, sonars, gps, laptop, pda, etc. Main fuse panel in boat is from cranker battery. Also got lights, gages, etc. I got a load of stuff. Most all this stuff generates rf and impulse noise.

I created my own nightmare.

I forgot the cameras. on top and underwater types.

Cane Pole ol'buddy; I think it might be time to consider some serious counceling for OCD!!! :D Just kid'n. You keep at it! You're retired; enjoy every minute of it! See ya at the Classic!

In the past, I have used the very small 7ah gel cell batteries to power individual components to improve isolation and reduce noise. It may be lower weight and easier to place these small batteries vs. one larger one.

As an engineer who has worked with batteries for many years, I can tell you you won't find anything in a reasonable size that will supply power in a boat as long as a plain old flooded cell Trojan SC225.

The reserve capacity (the only number that really matters in non-starting use) on the Optimas is way lower than typical deep-cycles, but they will tolerate abuse and still give longer service life. The biggest Optima deep-cycle has an RC of 155 minutes, while the SC225 has an RC of 225 minutes, which is almost 50% more than the Optima. A well maintained SC225 will continuously power a TM for 70 minutes longer than the Optima, and at the end of that time, the Trojan will just slow down, while the Optima will see a quick voltage drop that makes it unusable.

Walmart batteries are made by Johnson Controls, just like AC Delcos and Optimas. The Everstart MAXX has an RC of 205, and that's the only trolling battery I use. For the price, there is nothing close.

Originally Posted by CatFan

As an engineer who has worked with batteries for many years, I can tell you you won't find anything in a reasonable size that will supply power in a boat as long as a plain old flooded cell Trojan SC225.

The reserve capacity (the only number that really matters in non-starting use) on the Optimas is way lower than typical deep-cycles, but they will tolerate abuse and still give longer service life. The biggest Optima deep-cycle has an RC of 155 minutes, while the SC225 has an RC of 225 minutes, which is almost 50% more than the Optima. A well maintained SC225 will continuously power a TM for 70 minutes longer than the Optima, and at the end of that time, the Trojan will just slow down, while the Optima will see a quick voltage drop that makes it unusable.

Walmart batteries are made by Johnson Controls, just like AC Delcos and Optimas. The Everstart MAXX has an RC of 205, and that's the only trolling battery I use. For the price, there is nothing close.

You concur then about what I was told about the flooded batteries. I don't know crap about batteries except how to run them down. My Delcos cost bout 70 bucks each (4 years ago). Rerserve capacity was 150 I believe. They still pass load tests. They want last much longer.

Is there a manufacturers ID code on the Wal Mart batteries? I know they do change manufacturers (bid base). Johnson Controls is a big conglomerate.

Could you share some more information on the batteries for the rest of us?

Thanks

Tom