battery type

[hotlips13]

i just bought a black and decker battery charger for my trolling motor batter and my engine starter battery. the trolling motor battery is a deep cycle and i believe the engine starter is too. in addition, both have water cells to add water too.

on the battery charger, i must select from a charger mode of either WET, GEL or AGM for the battery i wish to charge. my question is this:

Which battery charger mode, WET, GEL or AGM, do i select from for both my trolling motor battery and my engine starter battery????

as a side note, i wasn't able to locate WET, GEL or AGM on either of the two batteries however i have seen AGM labeled on some batteries in the stores.

any advice would be great. thx

[cold one sd]

Wet.

[hotlips13]

thanks for the info.....not to question you, but how do you know this? i'm not asking because i don't trust ur judgement. i ask because i'm one of those people who needs to know not only what, but why.... thanks again

[Pat K]

Wet cell batteries have been around forever. Lead plates flooded with acid and water. If it has caps and you can add water, it is a wet cell battery.

The gell cell has lead plates flooded with a thick gelatin of acid. They are sealed and zero maintainance, other than charging. If you have a Vexilar or Marcum flasher for ice fishing they use gell cell batteries.

AGM batteries have a fiberglass mat that is embedded with acid somehow that surounds lead plates.

[hotlips13]

i just saw a battery that has caps to add water but said 'AGM' technology....is this a WET cell or AGM battery?

[Whoaru99]

AGM and GEL are premium batteries. If you had AGM or GEL, the mfg most likely would have it showing on the battery to show the premium feature.

Go with WET.

[hotlips13]

thanks for the info....i plan on replacing both batteries by next year as i bought the boat used two years ago and they were in the boat when i bought them. i was noticing the charging life of the batteries were getting shorter so i'm hoping they get through the year.