Battery replacement for a 22' Cruiser

[Big Mac]

Thanks for all the posts, the Mary Ellen now has a pair of Optima Blue Top Dual Purpose batteries. They were a little spendy but I am sold on the no maintenance and flexibility of the dual purpose. Time will tell if they are worth it. Happy boating, Big Mac.

[Sea Wolf]

Just to fill in the gaps and make a comment as well:

Starting batteries have: (compared to deep cycle batteries)



1.Thinner plates, and thus there's room for

2 More plates, with

3. More surface area, and then

4. More surface area ='s more sites for chemical reactions, and we then get

5. More amperage or volume of power, which ='s more cranking amps.

But with the thinner plates, if the battery is deeply discharged, the plates dissolve, and do not magically reappear when trying to recharge. And the battery is ruined.


Deep cycle batteries, on the other hand-

Have fewer, thicker plates, with less total surface area, and don't provide as much surface area and cranking amperage, but do withstand heavy discharge without dissolving the plates and recover if not totally discharged, i.e., they're built for deep discharge like cabin (house) use.

My personal solution to this question about which type of battery is to buy the cheaper, but still reasonable quality with a good warranty deep cycle
group 27 batteries from Costco or Wal Mart andCostcocare of them by frequent charging and watching the electrolyte level, etc. They last 4-5 years in service for me.

Since adding the electric trolling motor, I've gone from 2 to 4 group 27 batteries and added a Honda 1000i generator for use when necessary, but the 4 27's usually don't need any help from the generator to get through most any demands placed on them, unless we troll for more than 6-7 hours continuously.

Also, for qualifiers, my ambient temperatures here in Redding, CA., do not drop the batteries below 45 degrees.

One other thought: The Owners Manual for my new 2005 Yamaha 90 EFI
motor specifies the battery requirements as:

Minimum cold cranking amps (CCA/SAE)= 380 amps

Minimum marine cranking amps (MCA/ABYC) = 502 amps

Minimum reserve capacity (RC/SAE) = 124 minutes


Which is pretty hefty, but with the electronics in the fuel, ignition, and computer control systems that simply won't work when to voltage drops below a minimum level, they're just making sure you've got enough battery reserve to get the motor started after some house use.

Joe.

[gljjr]

Here is a very interesting article on the Optima and Exide Orbital batteries done by Popular Mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/auto_technology/1266741.html

Optima has a very informative site as well. www.optimabatteries.com.