Trojan Boat Forum

Just as a FYI, I went to replace my deep cycle batteries yesterday (105 amp/hr) with the same west marine ones that I had in it for the prior years and found they were $200 each (not the best battery but the worked well for the $$) so I left with that info thinking of breaking into the piggy bank to make it happen.

But I ventured into Batteries Plus and guess what I found......The exact same battery made in the same factory with a different sticker on it, and it only was $92....Less than half.

Things that make you huh.

I started buying WalMart MAXX deep cycle batteries a few years ago based on a stream in this forum. These are group 29s with 105 AH and the first set was bought 5 years ago. I replaced them last year with 2 new ones, but the old ones are still hanging in there. Price was about $75 each. I run them in parallel for my housebank (210 AH) and have run on the hook for 72 hours (Norcold reefer, lights, stereo, etc) without failure. I run a dedicated engine bank with only a group 24, but may but one of the MAXX - gp 29s in its place.

That's why I avoid West Marine like the plague.

Unless you anchor out a lot , your wasting money on a deep cycle battery

dad and i were talking about this very subject this afternoon.....btw...his 79th birthday will be tomorrow, the 7th..... anyway, he always used interstate batteries on our 1972 f-36 tri cabin and never had a problem.
btw... if any of you fellow 'trojaners' want to wish him a happy birthday, his email is m.m.bocknek@gmail.com i know he would enjoy hearing from all of you guys.........

aaron

prowlersfish wrote:Unless you anchor out a lot , your wasting money on a deep cycle battery

Paul is right on.

I have replaced severial sets of batteries for people in the harbor. I can't tell you how many people I know that insist on deep cycle batteries. These people are in slips with the boat conected to shore power. They all have built in battery chargers, They might anchor for a couple of hours at the most. A lot of the time they run their generators when they're anchored, for that mater they run them the moment they disconect from shore power. Trying to convince them that they don't need deep cycle batteries is like trying to beat a dead horse. I get no where, so I quite trying and get them deep cycle batteries.

Deep cycle are great .... for trolling motors and sail boats .

prowlersfish wrote:Deep cycle are great .... for trolling motors and sail boats .

You'd want them if you've using an inverter instead of a generator. No doubt deep cycles have their place, but most of us don’t need them.

gjrylands wrote:

prowlersfish wrote:Deep cycle are great .... for trolling motors and sail boats .

You'd want them if you've using an inverter instead of a generator. No doubt deep cycles have their place, but most of us don’t need them.

Does this mean most boaters here are daytrippers?
One of the joys of being on the east side of Georgian Bay is that I stay out on the hook all weekend and during my 3 week summer vacation.
My deep cycle is a Lifeline AGM battery, love it, it even maintains it's charge all winter disconnected in the boat at below freezing levels.

If you stay on the hook a lot sure a deep cycle is fine . but if your running from place to place then then a cranking battery is what you need . it all depends on how you use the boat . my coment on trolling motors and sail boats is becuse they are not charging the battery when in use like a power boater would in most cases. I used to run one cranking battery and one deep cycle . I found I get longer life out of cranking batteries.

ready123 wrote:

gjrylands wrote:

prowlersfish wrote:Deep cycle are great .... for trolling motors and sail boats .

You'd want them if you've using an inverter instead of a generator. No doubt deep cycles have their place, but most of us don’t need them.

Does this mean most boaters here are daytrippers?
One of the joys of being on the east side of Georgian Bay is that I stay out on the hook all weekend and during my 3 week summer vacation.
My deep cycle is a Lifeline AGM battery, love it, it even maintains it's charge all winter disconnected in the boat at below freezing levels.

? Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying about CHICAGO boaters. The vast majority of them has never spent a single night on the hook, and probably never will. I’m also not saying that Chicago boaters don’t need deep cycles. Thousands of them moor on cans and star docks and don’t have shore power. They should have deep cycle batteries. Without shore power a stuck bilge pump or a light left on can drain a battery in a hurry.

I have vacationed in your neck of the woods, traveling to the North Channel. I loved it. We only returned to port to take on fuel and provisions. If that was where I normally boated I would certainly have deep cycle batteries. We made efforts to conserve battery power, even though only one of the battery banks was dedicated to the house power. The other bank was dedicated to starting the engines. We had two bilge pumps hooked up to different banks. The primary pump was wired to the house bank, the other to the starting as a backup. That way we knew we could always start the engines and charge the other bank, and we would have a working bilge pump. As I said in my earlier post "deep cycles have their place." I only meant that you should evaluate how you use your boat and buy what you need to handle your lifestyle. Don’t automatically buy deep cycle batteries because some salesman told you that what boats need.

Well, unfortunately or fortunately I came to my own conclusions by my own experiences. Oh yeah and I already bought the deep cycle batteries, but i at least got them for half price.

Actually for years I used to run regular cranking batteries but found that we spend allot of time on the hook at some local dunes and floating rendezvous without a generator. So I was continually running them down with, radio playing multiple speakers, inverter, (2) fridges, lights, multiple cell phones always being charged, ect, ect. I am a power boater, more power the better eh? (Actually I do equally as much off shore sailing time as power boat time, and will also admit I also own a few sailboats)

So when I switched to deep cycle for house (I also rotate the house battery to give everything equal playing time) this worked out in my favor. Or maybe it was just my perception????

In reality the ones I got are considered a hybrid (cranking/deepcycle) battery, AKA cheap deep cycle battery constructed with more lead paste on thinner plates otherwise I would have spent $300 each. So I still got out pretty cheap, but I will tell everyone what I tell my wife : "Its my perception that makes me happy, and for me that's all that counts"

Mac32 wrote:Well, unfortunately or fortunately I came to my own conclusions by my own experiences. Oh yeah and I already bought the deep cycle batteries, but i at least got them for half price.

Actually for years I used to run regular cranking batteries but found that we spend allot of time on the hook at some local dunes and floating rendezvous without a generator. So I was continually running them down with, radio playing multiple speakers, inverter, (2) fridges, lights, multiple cell phones always being charged, ect, ect. I am a power boater, more power the better eh? (Actually I do equally as much off shore sailing time as power boat time, and will also admit I also own a few sailboats)

So when I switched to deep cycle for house (I also rotate the house battery to give everything equal playing time) this worked out in my favor. Or maybe it was just my perception????

In reality the ones I got are considered a hybrid (cranking/deepcycle) battery, AKA cheap deep cycle battery constructed with more lead paste on thinner plates otherwise I would have spent $300 each. So I still got out pretty cheap, but I will tell everyone what I tell my wife : "Its my perception that makes me happy, and for me that's what really counts"

You have described exactly what a deep cycle battery is meant to do; that being major discharge before charging. Starting batteries don't like being drained. In my opinion it seriously hurts them. After being totally drained they never seam to come back to their original capacity, but again, that's my opinion.

Yea, West is overpriced on everything. I on;y go in there to look around, i hardly ever buy anything there.

Had to return my 1 year old deep cycle battery to Advance yesterday. They had them on sale fo $86.... Not bad....