Best Batteries for the boat

Hello Fellow Boaters!

Looking for opinions on batteries. I'm in the market to replace my house battery.

I currently have two NAPA starting batteries that were just replaced last year by the previous owner. Engines seem to start without a problem and I am sure those batteries will be OK as long as I top them off with water and keep them charged every few months.

The battery I am worried most about is a regular Napa battery for the house, currently runs the refrigerator, Stereo System, Interior Lights, Exterior floor lights, Navigation lights, etc. It is a regular starting battery, not a deep cycle. Also, I noticed that I only have a two bank battery charger- Hmmm One of those batteries is not being maintained! So I am looking to upgrade the battery charger, upgrade the battery, and install a battery remote inside the cabin so I an keep an eye on them if possible all 3 of them.

Thanks guys!!!

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

Hey Bubba,

Thanks for the response!

I would rather pay a little more up front and have them last. For size I am looking for some recommendations, the stereo will have a 500 Watt Amp hooked up to it as well pushing two sub woofers for when we are moored out and relaxing! However, I would like to be able to keep the refrigerator on and maybe the LED lights as well as it gets dark. I heard from someone that I may be able to get away with running A/C for the night if I had a 1,000 watt inverter with a big enough battery, I don't see me doing that, I think I would rather just upgrade to a boat that had a Genset on it....

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

Bumpty Bump... LOL Anyone have recommendations on chargers/batteries etc? :facepalm:

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

kylejb2663 said:

I heard from someone that I may be able to get away with running A/C for the night if I had a 1,000 watt inverter with a big enough battery, .

Click to expand...

Not a chance. Maybe for an hour or two. 1000 Watt inverter is going to draw over 80 amps.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

From what I understand there are really only like two main battery manufacturers: Johnson Controls and Exide. Most everything is just rebranded batteries by one of them. That being said, I've had tremendous luck with the Die Hards I've had. I have one now, a deep cycle, that just won't die! Sucker is like 7 years old! I charge them with an inexpensive Schumacher charger from Wal-Mart.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

Go buy two 6 volt golf cart batteries and run them in serial. Think about what they are made to do everyday.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

I would get some Trojan t105 batteries, as Kahuna mentioned, and buy a separate charger for them. It can be a higher current charger than the existing dual bank charger. The T105 has a rating of 225AH and 115 minutes at 75A. Of course you should not be discharging your batteries 100%. 50% is way better for them. An occasional discharge below 50% is OK.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

For that stupid 500w amp the output of which destroys the acustic environment you need to measure the current it draws as it never pumps 500w into the speakers ..you will not need to size for a 500w load ..I bet its only 50 w

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

fucawi said:

For that stupid 500w amp the output of which destroys the acustic environment you need to measure the current it draws as it never pumps 500w into the speakers ..you will not need to size for a 500w load ..I bet its only 50 w

Click to expand...

I guess you missed this:

kylejb2663 said:

However, I would like to be able to keep the refrigerator on.

Click to expand...

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

Thanks guys!! I'll take everything into consideration. I think I am going to go with Trojan's though but I am going to size up the amps needed!

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

fucawi said:

For that stupid 500w amp the output of which destroys the acustic environment you need to measure the current it draws as it never pumps 500w into the speakers ..you will not need to size for a 500w load ..I bet its only 50 w

Click to expand...

Destroys the acoustic environment, I'm confused? Amps/Subs add to the acoustical environment as long as they are tuned correctly and not turned up loud to where it sounds like you are sitting on a bomb-

The Alpine Amp is rated for 500 Watts RMS so technically it could put out 500 Watts to one subwoofer or 250 Watts to each subwoofer if I turned it to max. The head unit amp is a different story that probably only puts 20 watts RMS to each speaker.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

fucawi said:

For that stupid 500w amp the output of which destroys the acustic environment you need to measure the current it draws as it never pumps 500w into the speakers ..you will not need to size for a 500w load ..I bet its only 50 w

Click to expand...

bruceb58 said:

I guess you missed this:

Click to expand...

Thanks bruceb! Looking to run a few other things other then just the stereo!

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

kylejb2663 said:

Destroys the acoustic environment, I'm confused? Amps/Subs add to the acoustical environment as long as they are tuned correctly and not turned up loud to where it sounds like you are sitting on a bomb-

Click to expand...

Best to ignore his comments.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

delco or die hards

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

1000 Watts 120V x 83 amps with a conversion ratio of 90% which is high for a cheap converter you are looking at around 100 amps. Good luck with the battery cables. But then again you'll never get 1000 watts out of it anyway. I did install a high dollar one in a 70ft sailboat that ran a cold plate that worked well. It was cheaper to buy the inverter and run 110 volt compressor than buy a 12v system. Go figure.

Only two battery manufacturers?? Not hardly. Maybe only two that sell to walmart.

500 Watts root means square into a 4 ohm speaker is 125 amps. Albeit not constant. Going small will really hurt the refraction side of the equation lower your bass response. Remember that power only pushes the speaker one way and extremely low resistance in the speaker wires and amp circuit allow the speaker to retract while dissapating (spelling) that energy. Resistance will not allow the speaker to return in time for the next "note" hence the reason high end speaker wires have better low end response. So that's gonna be some high dollar wire.

A 1000 watt inverter is only going to give you 8 amps AC in a PERFECT world. That won't run very much. The compressor is probably around 6.5 and the pump another amp anyway. I would use a 1500 anyway to be safe. So you need to look a batteries that will give you some good amp hours at 75 amp discharge rate. Forget the 20amp rating. It means nothing.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

bruceb58 said:

Best to ignore his comments.

Click to expand...

I think kylejb2663 was making an editorial comment that he likes the peace and quiet on the water, and doesn't want to listen to someone else's choice of loud music (usually hours on end). Not to be ignored.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

bruceb58 said:

Not a chance. Maybe for an hour or two. 1000 Watt inverter is going to draw over 80 amps.

Click to expand...

Actually there is a relatively new 5000 BTU a/c unit (small) with low amp draw designed to place in the bow (tapered shape). The company does advertise it as being able to be run most of the night off a batttery. Of course, you would need a dedicated battery for it. But doable (draws 4 amps).

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

Theres really only two batteries to consider for you application if you want the best. Rolls or Optima. I prefer the Rolls for the heavy demands and Optima for quick recovery. Bear in mind that you not only need to consider RCA ratings but also time to recover. I'll use a trolling motor as an example. If you have the RCA's to run for 6 hours but it takes you 12 hours to recharge that doesn't leave you much time to get the boat on the charger and ready for the next day. Just something to think about.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

CaptainKickback said:

I think kylejb2663 was making an editorial comment that he likes the peace and quiet on the water, and doesn't want to listen to someone else's choice of loud music (usually hours on end). Not to be ignored.

Click to expand...

kylejb2663 and I were referring to Fucawi's comments.

Re: Best Batteries for the boat

kahuna123 said:

500 Watts root means square into a 4 ohm speaker is 125 amps. Albeit not constant. Going small will really hurt the refraction side of the equation lower your bass response. Remember that power only pushes the speaker one way and extremely low resistance in the speaker wires and amp circuit allow the speaker to retract while dissapating (spelling) that energy. Resistance will not allow the speaker to return in time for the next "note" hence the reason high end speaker wires have better low end response. So that's gonna be some high dollar wire.

Click to expand...

Sorry but if you really had 125 amps into a 4 ohm speaker you would be dissipating 62,500 Watts. May want to review your Ohm's law. Also, so called high dollar speaker wire is made to reduce "skin effects" for high frequency...not low frequency. It is also a waste of money as most people can't hear any difference.