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Posts: 13
| My battery has been left dead all winter. I have'nt tried it yet but do you think it's still good? If not, what is a good and not too expensive battery to buy?
I use an old Sears brand trolling motor only 24# of thrust but it only works on high. Do you think a trolling motor with 30-36lb. thrust will drain a battery faster? |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | In my experience, the only way to really know if your battery is toast is to try and charge it and see if it holds a charge. As a general rule, leaving deep cycle batteries discharged for extended periods of time is not good for the battery. As for your second question, theoretically, yes; all other things being equal, more pounds of thrust yields quicker battery discharge, but - almost all newer trolling motors are more efficient than the older ones. It wouldn't surprise me if you got more trolling time out of a new, albeit more powerful, trolling motor.
K. |
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Posts: 147
Location: Leech Lake, Walker, MN. | Buying a trolling motor battery is like buying a pair of boots, get the best you can afford. I believe the Optima brand is an excellent choice. More money but worth it, plus they weigh a lot less than standard batteries in the same size and power mode.
Good luck, Murph |
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Posts: 291
Location: Minneapolis | I really like the newer Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) deep cycle batteries. They aren't cheap (around $120 or more), but they last MUCH longer than flooded wet cells, and they're WAY more forgiving about leaving them sitting around discharged. I store my batteries in the basement during the winter. I used to have to top up the charge on my wet cells 3-4 times over the course of the winter. My AGMs (which are now 2 and 3 years old), barely discharged over the winter; I was able to fully charge them in 10 minutes! The AGMs also tolerate freezing conditions, and you never have to add water. Can you tell I like them? 
The price on AGMs is coming down. Cabelas has a line of them now and so does Gander Mtn. You may pay twice as much, but the batteries should last three times as long.
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Posts: 5874
| If your battery was left in a low state of charge over the winter, it probably froze. Even if it didn't, it definately will be damaged, not so much by the cold, but from leaving it that low stae of charge. When batteries are left that way for long periods, the plates sulfate, and the ability to fully charge is greatly reduced. Batteries should always be fully charged as soon as possible after use, and should always be fully charged before storing for the winter.
AGM technology is pretty good. Is it worth twice as much as the traditional wet cell lead-acid deep cycle batteries? Depends on the user. They do not last twice as long, they do weigh less, and reserve capacity is usually slightly less.
You do not have to bring your batteries in over the winter, for either type. As long as they are fully charged when you put her up for the winter, they will be ok. In fact, colder temps actually reduce the rate of self discharge, which will happen to all lead/acid batteries, AGM's included. If you bring your batteries in your warm basement, they will self-discharge, and you will have to top them off.
My last set of traditional batteries lasted 5 years, my present batteries are on their 3rd year, and I use my TM alot, as I like fishing the wind blown structure, and use the TM in concert with my kicker while trolling. They get a real workout, sometimes at 50%+ for 5-10 hours or more per day. I've never had them take more than a few hours to fully charge, and be ready for the next morning. No way are AGM's going to last 15 years! Might get one extra year out of them.
I pay $60 ea for my batteries. Would I pay $120 ea. for the new AGM's? Nope, but that's just me. You need to decide for yourself.
Edited by Shep 5/14/2004 1:42 PM
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Posts: 124
Location: Rice Lake,WI | Big fan of the optimas. Charge up from totally drained to full in 2 hrs. Can mount them upside down and they require zero maintainance and hardly discharge like most batteries when left sitting. Run the yellow top in the truck and well ...there solid pure and simple. Both are on there 3rd season and still kicking,they will not leak!
JT |
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Posts: 379
Location: Thief River Falls MN | I'm with Shep on this one- Re-Elect Bush. As far as Optima batteries, the pair I have couldn't even compete with the pair of Batteries Plus deep cycles I had before the Optimas. I couldn't get more than 1 moderate day of use out of the Optimas, whereas the B.P. batteries would take two days with the same conditions and use. As far as bang for the buck, IMHO the two batteries for the price of one theory is the one I support. Just my experience, maybe I got a bad battery, but won't buy more Optimas to find out.
later,
toddb |
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Posts: 1137
Location: Holly, MI | You might try this with the old battery if it does not take a charge..
Drop it hard a couple of times. This sounds funny but if there is a lot of sulfate build up on the plates you can knock a lot of it loose. Flush it out well with the hose and fill it up with new battery acid (not just water) then give it a good long slow charge. It might make another year or more. If it froze over the winter as mentioned it is toast. If you can save it with flush/acid it still will never give you peak performance as it once did and might dissapoint you when you are on the water.
You will probably be buying another battery. |
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