Marine Battery

[gohelm]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Optima bluetops + Ctek 7000 left on all winter. Never had a problem, the batteries have always lasted as long as I've owned the boats. The previous boat had the original batteries in it after 6 years. Fit & forget.

hear hear! they are an investment but DO work!

[Searider]

I think the OP must have some sort of underlying problem or small current drain that's causing him problems.

I'm not sure a traction (deep cycle?) bettery is what he really needs.

FWIW the main battery in my RIB was fitted by the previous owner in 2004 when the Optimax was fitted. The boat gets used through the summer periodically and left for a week to 3 weeks without use. During the winter the boat can be left for 2 months or more without going near it. I've never needed to charge the battery except for one time. This was when I left the battery isolator on one October and by Christmas the fancy AGM spiral wound second battery i'd fitted was totally discharged and could not be brought back to life. The bilge level sensor had discharged it.

So, the OP shouldn't balme his batteries or lack of regular charging but maybe investigate the possibility of another underlying problem.

Is there an isolator switch fitted? And if so is this switched off when leaving the boat?

[Erin]

Maybe I've just been lucky, but I've not yet had any battery problems in either of my ribs. The first boat was sold after 4 years and my current is now in it's third season.

I let the engine look after it during the summer and in the winter just leave it on the boat. Admittedly it never really gets cold here and freezes otherwise I'd bring it indoors. The only time I ever charge it is if I've been tinkering when layed up and have been using the radio or other electronics for an extended period. Both batteries were basic marine squadron sealed types. As long as it is stored in a fairly charged state and properly disconnected from any unecessary loads then it ought to be fine. Not really much different from a car except for less regular use.

[Ian Austin]

Hi
If i have to replace any batteries for customers i use Numax CXV series and have had very good service from them, one customer is dry stored with no shore power and left for 5 month, still had enough power in the battery to start the engines.

Aquafax » Marine & Industrial Equipment

[dougcrock]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Optima bluetops + Ctek 7000 left on all winter. Never had a problem, the batteries have always lasted as long as I've owned the boats. The previous boat had the original batteries in it after 6 years. Fit & forget.

had mine (2of) on previous rib about 1998 doing about 200hrs /yr still going ok on this rib

[SPR]

Originally Posted by Searider

I think the OP must have some sort of underlying problem or small current drain that's causing him problems....

Is there an isolator switch fitted? And if so is this switched off when leaving the boat?

Battery removed from boat and stored inside, behaves it self during the season...

S.

[SPR]

Originally Posted by Ian Austin

Hi
If i have to replace any batteries for customers i use Numax CXV series and have had very good service from them, one customer is dry stored with no shore power and left for 5 month, still had enough power in the battery to start the engines.

Aquafax » Marine & Industrial Equipment

Its the numax i am buying with a ctech charger for winter...hopefully it will survive next winter!

[nigelbread]

Hi Aldi and lidl ocassionaly have cheap effective intelegent chargers that work well.
One thing to watch out for is discharged battery freezing.
"a severely discharged battery can freeze at -1°C."
Nigel.

[SPR]

-27C last winter might have wiped it out! will keep eye on for cheap one...as its a winter purchase!

S.

[9D280]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

I just used normal car batteries in my old boat because that's all you can buy around here

I had to perform an emergency replacement on tthe super deep cycle highcapacity etc etc battery midway through an event back when the Yam was still buring premix. Couldn't find a direct replacement that afternoon, so bought the smallest, cheapest battery I could find at the local tyre & battrery place on the assumption it was a "get out of jail" purchase, and I'd replace it later. Cost me £35, no name on it.

Here we are 4 years later, 2 of which it sat doing nothing as I rebuilt the Merc, and it's still going strong......

Granted my engine is "standalone" once running, and if need be I can pull a bit of string to bring it to life, but I'm with BM on this one! :Thumbs:

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by nigelbread

One thing to watch out for is discharged battery freezing.
"a severely discharged battery can freeze at -1°C."

Any normal starting battery that is "severely discharged" on a regular basis will be f'ked sooner rather than later anyway. Speaking as somebody who sells vehicle batteries at work.

There's a good argument for "buy cheap and replace often"

[SPR]

I ended buying a Numax CXS battery today got good price :d and good refund for my old unipart samson battery under warranty

[SIBer]

Ctek 7000 is great. Keeps batteries in condition and will bring them back from the dead

Proper bargain at £75 from amazon today

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_...k+7000&x=0&y=0

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by BogMonster

Any normal starting battery that is "severely discharged" on a regular basis will be f'ked sooner rather than later anyway. Speaking as somebody who sells vehicle batteries at work.

There's a good argument for "buy cheap and replace often"

True for car batteries, as you say. But don't use car batteries in a boat - use a leisure battery. They have thicker plates to withstand the internal stresses (which would buckle the plates in a car battery) created by longer cranking times and can handle deep discharge. (Ewwwww... that sounds unpleasant!! )

BTW I used to buy a standard leisure battery from Towsure and found them very good - at least four years use with no additional charging.

[Poly]

I know plenty of people who use standard car batteries quite successfully. Not sure why the cracking time would be longer on a boat. Is the need a leisure battery thing just marketing no justify higher prices?

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Richard B

True for car batteries, as you say. But don't use car batteries in a boat - use a leisure battery. They have thicker plates to withstand the internal stresses (which would buckle the plates in a car battery) created by longer cranking times and can handle deep discharge. (Ewwwww... that sounds unpleasant!! )

Should have bought an Etec then, starts straight away

I think it depends on your usage TBH. I don't sit in the boat with stuff switched on and the engine not running, not for long anyway. As an added factor, and accepting this probably doesn't apply to anybody else on here, a car battery is what I can buy locally and anything else will cost a fortune as a special import. I also know that a decent heavy duty 4x4 battery will crank a diesel engine of the same cc as my Etec for quite a long time and in my LR I can probably leave the VHF on all night and get away with it so in the boat it's unlikely to be a problem.

If you regularly expect to significantly discharge the boat battery, or have lots of power hungry stuff on board, I'd probably agree with you. I don't - my charge/discharge pattern is pretty similar to a vehicle - so personally I wouldn't worry about it. When my Osprey's battery (which I guess probably is a leisure battery) is knackered, I'll just fit the biggest 4x4 battery I can fit in the battery box.

The flip side of leisure batteries is also that size for size their CCA is usually less.

[SPR]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Not sure why the cracking time would be longer on a boat.

the reason is the leisure battery had less cold cracking power! hence if you use a leisure it seems it cranks longer!

For high instant cracking - traction battery
for low current long drain - leisure battery

or you can do what I did and bought s hybrid - never or!

regards

[Richard B]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Is the need a leisure battery thing just marketing no justify higher prices?

No, a leisure battery should have thicker plates, hence more lead, so greater price. But it's more durable. Car betteries are built light for several reasons, but deep discharge and long cranking can damage them quickly.


In normal use, a car battery will suffice. And the cold cranking thing - in normal use with a good engine you shouldn't notice any difference in performance/cranking degredation with the lower rated leisure battery.

The big difference is that if you're in a situation where things aren't optimal, the battery gets discharged and you still need to start the engine, the leisure battery has more chance of achieving this, and can take the abuse that might get thrown at it. In a situation where with the car you'd call the AA ~(other breakdown services are available!) you can't in a boat!

[captnjack]

You can get non-marine 3 stage chargers really cheap nowadays. If the boat or battery is stored indoors they can be left connected indefinitely. Seems that the OP's battery being ruined (electrolyte boiled off etc) by a poor charger to me.

[EnglishLes]

I'd like opinions on using one of these instead of a normal battery on a small (3.1m) rib with a pull cord starter.

Maplin have one for £55 with a 17ah battery, torch, 200w mains inverter, 12v sockets and air compressor.
HeavyDuty 5in1 Jump Starter Free Delivery : InCar Battery Chargers and Compressors : Maplin

By my reckoning it would be capable of running over 10 hours with plenty still left and could then be charged overnight ready for the next day.

If it lasted that long it might also be useful in an emergency when I upgrade to a bigger rib with electric start.

Thanks