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Posts: 57
| Are these the best right now for the average joe? For an afforable price? What about dual purpose batteries, not good for trolling motor applications? Looking at hooking up those 2-520c's in my boat this year. This is my third year on the starting battery the dealer tossed in with my package, and was thinking about upgrading it for the sonar/gps use. Thanks a bunch.  |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Bruce - AGM batteries are good for folks whom don't want to have to mess around checking & replenishing the electrolyte in a wet-cell battery. Each type, starting, deepcycle, or dual purpose has a finite fit in your boat depending on how you are going to use it.
Starting only- these are designed for short high current discharges. If you want to just start your boat and fish in cold weather they have the highest cold cranking amps rating.
Dual purpose - These are a compromise between starting and deep cycle. If you're running a lot of electronics on your starting battery these may be good choice.
Deep cycle - These are designed for deep discharge at lower curret rates. You need these for your trolling motor.
Much depends on your boat-size of motor, and how you want to use the battery. If in doubt, I'd recommend dual purpose. Get the biggest you can safely fit into the battery space.
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 3/24/2008 7:45 PM
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| Bruce,
If the starting battery you have is fine, holds a charge, starts your motor...use it til it goes bad imo.
I have AGMs and they rock...couple reasons I like them...they can be run down to zero charge and sit there for 1 yr and be recharged, sure this isn't a likely scenario but lets say you only get out a few times a year, good to know you can have dead batteries for a few months, throw a charge on them and be ready...another is they are zero maintenance, if you are like me you don't want to tinker with checking fluid levels/adding water etc.. you just want them to work, well these you don't have to deal with...they are pricey, most are going to run you 2 to almost 3 x the price of a regular flooded cell battery from say wal mart...but they will last...
really it depends on your budget and what you want and expect from a battery...
check pricing at places like your local gander etc and figure out what is best for you...i have 3 agm's in my Ranger and 3 in my "cabin boat" up north and couldn't be happier with them....
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I also have the Trojan AGM 31's for my trolling motor and would never switch. They are the best batteries I have ever used. Looking to get a nice maintance free cranking battery soon as well. |
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Posts: 57
| So if I see a deal on a dual agm and find out it is not that 'fresh', like a couple of years sitting on the rack, it is not that important with this type of battery as compared to a wet cell? |
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| nope, they should give you the same warranty on it if it's new...i'd buy it if you get a deal |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Ok- I'm going to preface this with: What I'm going to say is from an electrical engineering perspective. I have been working with deep cycle batteries for over 25 years. This includes both AGM and wet cells and others. The company I work for in my day job, buy's more deep cycle batteries than anyone else in the entire world.
First if the battery has been sitting on the shelf in the store for 3 years it's crap, don't buy it! A brand new deep cycle marine battery has a 3-5 year design life. This means it will typically last for 3-5 years from the date of manufacture if kept properly charged and no discharges. They all typically have a one year warranty. So if you take that 3 year old battery home & it fails 1 yr 2 months later, too bad!
All batteries also have a cycle life. For typical marine deep cycle batteries this is going to be from 100-300 deep cycles. It all depends on the internal plate design. Deep cycle doesn't mean discharging to zero (0) volts. Typically deep cycle means discharge to 10.5 volts for a 12V jar.
Both the battery life and cycle life are dependent on proper recharge. Recharge the battery to 100% immediately. Don't leave a battery sitting in a discharged or partial discharged condition- this causes permanent damage to the plates (loss of capacity).
bn- if you had a AGM discharge to 0V, and it recovered to 100% capacity you are one very lucky person. I wouldn't try it to often. That's actually one of the disadvantages of AGM technology, i.e., they are very hard to recover from a severe deep discharge condition (0 Volts). Most of the time they become a throw away/recycle item.
Lead-acid batteries in storage should be recharged every 90 days- consult the manufacturer if you have any doubts.
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 3/24/2008 9:30 PM
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agm batteries