Battery Help

[Scotteye]

Hello- I am going battery shopping for the boat this weekend, and I am looking for suggestions. I would like to run two seperate batteries, #1 for the motor and accessories, and the #2 for the gps & locators. I know they use to make a small high output starting battery, but do they still. I have an 1850 Crestliner, so by the time I get the trolling motor batts., there is not too much room left. Any advise..brand, style?

[bucketmouth64]

I bought my first Trojan battery. So far I am very satisfied with it. If you do buy one or two make sure you get the right ones. What I mean is that there is a dual purpose battery and a deep cycle battery. The dual purpose one is for both trolling and cranking. This one runs about $70. The deep cycle one for trolling motor runs about $130.

[Whoaru99]

Another controversial topic...

Generally speaking, I have alway purchased name brand, but "normal" batteries. Normal meaning not any of the high-tech batteries and certainly not TOTL batteries. I believe I'm on year 6 with them, but have a quality OB charger and leave it plugged in almost all the time I'm not on the water.

Given this level of service, I'd be hard pressed to justify spending two or three times more on a battery.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, if you take good care of your batteries, I have not seen any particular reason to spend a ton of money on them. As far as what size, that depends on the starting needs of the motor, electrical demand, and time on the water.

If it were me, I'm not sure I'd add extra batteries for all that different stuff unless you are trying to fix some specific electrical/interference problem.

I have two group 31 batts for my trolling motor, and one 27 for the starting battery, lights, live well, GPS, graph, etc. The engine (90hp) has never failed to start after a day (or night) of fishing.

[BobT]

Since you have indicated that you prefer to use two batteries this is my suggestion.

For you starting battery you can use either a regular cranking battery similar to what you have in your car or a dual-purpose battery. The cranking battery will handle low current loads such as lights, gps, etc. just like it would in your car however, if you plan on doing a lot of night fishing where you would be using lights for extended periods of time, then it might be to your advantage to use a dual-purpose battery instead of just a cranking battery. These batteries have a certain reserve capacity and are better suited for steady loads over time.

For your trolling motor your best option is a deep cycle battery. A dual-purpose will work but they usually don't have the reserve capacity of a true deep cycle and if you want the best performance, the deep cycle is the way to go.

As far as size goes, I would check with the motor specifications for the cranking battery. For the deep cycle trolling motor battery, I would get the highest reserve capacity I could afford. It will provide you the longest time on the water and you'll put less stress on the battery because you won't totally run it dead so often.

Bob