Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

SteelNuttz

Seaman
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Sorry, I'm not sure what the thrust is of my trolling motor - it came with my boat and it's pretty much worn so I can't read anything other than "Minn Kota".

Anyway, I'm looking at buying one of the Everstart deep cycle batteries at Wal Mart, and I'm not sure which one I should get if I'm only going to be using the trolling motor on it.

EverStart Maxx Group Size 29 Marine Battery $99.99
EverStart Group Size 29DC Marine Battery $74.96
EverStart Maxx Group Size 24 Marine Battery $84.97

Any suggestions on what I should get? I'm not sure what all the numbers mean!! Thanks.
 
Joined
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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

get the biggest dual marine you can fit in the boat for the cheapest price. If you lack space and need to get the max out of a smaller battery then its going to be more expensive.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Make sure they are actual deep cycle batteries, not the dual purpose ones, not all Walmarts carry deep cycle models and will try to sell you the wrong ones. Saying Marine on it doesn't mean it's a deep cycle.
 

tazrig

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Make sure they are actual deep cycle batteries, not the dual purpose ones, not all Walmarts carry deep cycle models and will try to sell you the wrong ones. Saying Marine on it doesn't mean it's a deep cycle.

^^^+1 If you are only (especially) using it for an electric trolling motor you need a "deep cycle" as they are designed to be deeply discharged and to then accept a full recharge many more times than a conventional marine battery. If you have the funds I'd suggest an AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery. They are designed to be more deeply discharged and then fully recharged much more than even a deep cycle battery. They also self discharge much slower than regular deep cycles so you don't have to keep charging them over the winter months. Of the AGM batteries Oddysey is one of the best but there are others also.
 

colbyt

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Group sizes run from 24 to 31 (not positive about the 31). When I shopped last year I found the most amps and amp hours for my buck to be in the size 27 group. My wally world did not have true deep cycle batteries. The local Sam's Club did.
 

SteelNuttz

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

I don't want to spend a ton, and these three all say that they are deep cycle and indicate "trolling motors" as one of the uses on the front of them.

My other concern is the charger that I currently have, it's a 1.5amp trickle charger, will this be ok to charge it as long as I don't drain the whole battery?
 

colbyt

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Based on prior experiences, not good, of my own you need a smart charger. I am only repeating things I have read with the following statements. A battery tender type charger that is always connected will make you battery last longer. The big trick is to get back on the charger as soon as you are through using it and keep it topped up over the winter.

I bought one on Ebay delivered for about $43.00.
 

ondarvr

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

A 1.5 amp trickle charger won't charge a low battery, but it will destroy it. There is no other way to do it than get a deep cycle battery and a charger capable of doing the job.

If those are the batteries I’m thinking of, at least 2 of them are dual purpose types, which you DON’T want. The 29DC might be a deep cycle, but I wouldn’t trust them.

At one time I was able to buy the correct batteries there, but over time as they switched suppliers they started to re-label them and it was a little misleading as to what they actually were. The two Walmarts I went to in the last month looking for deep cycle batteries tried to sell me dual purpose batteries instead.
 

SteelNuttz

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ondarvr

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Battery chargers could have a complete forum unto themselves.


The 1.5 amp charger will not charge the battery, it is more of battery maintainer. It does not have the amps to charge a full sized battery, but will help keep it in good condition while not being used?.. after being fully charged.

The other one you listed will work OK (battery nerds will jump all over me for saying that), but isn't great, Serious guys spend mega $$$$ to get the best batteries and chargers.
 

NYBo

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

I beg to differ. A 1.5 amp charger will charge a battery. It will take an excruciatingly long time if the battery is discharged to a significant degree, but it will charge.
 

ondarvr

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Trying to use a 1.5 amp charger to charge depleted large deep cycle battery won't get you very far, the battery life tends to be significantly shortened due to the amount time it takes to bring it back to life, if it ever will. It may work fine on a starting battery that is never drained much and just needs to be topped off, or kept up while not in use though.
 

NYBo

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Oh, I'm not saying it's a good idea!
 

SteelNuttz

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

I bought this battery: EverStart Maxx Group Size 29 Marine Battery $99.99
and I bought this charger: Schumacher SSC-1500A Ship 'n Shore SpeedCharge Charger.

The battery that i bought is Deep Cycle, but it is not AGM. I read in a manual of my friend's shumacher charger, that you should use the AGM battery type setting for deep cycle batteries. When I charge mine, I've only been selecting "standard" battery type. The only types I have to choose from are Gel, AGM, or Standard. Am I doing this correctly? Thanks.
 

ondarvr

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Does the battery actually say deep cycle on it, or just Marine?
 

SteelNuttz

Seaman
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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

It says "Deep cycling power", but also says "Maintenance free".
 

ondarvr

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

The Everstart batteries can be rather confusing to sort out, partly because they change suppliers and design frequently, and they can be sort of misleading on what the battery is.

Their Marine batteries at one time were starting batteries, then they switched to dual purpose batteries with no change in labeling, now they try to sell the dual purpose battery as a deep cycle battery in some places. I stopped buying batteries there for that reason.
 

ondarvr

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

Just noticed I had replied earlier in this thread with the same info, carry on.
 

gm280

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Re: Which deep cycle battery to buy for trolling motor?

I haven't purchased any starting or trolling batteries yet for my boating rebuilt project, but I can tell you I won't be buying Wal-Mart batteries. While I am running their batteries in my truck and SUV, that is only because they were purchased with a three year free replacements warranty. But I have used their warranty two times now for the SUV because the battery went dead all at once without one inkling of a problem. And as I was receiving the replacement battery I asked the sells person if they had any other problems being how my battery was a mere 10 months old and dead dead... They said YES they did have a lot of problems with their batteries and in fact they had brand new batteries of the shelf (that were this year's built) that were dead even before installing them and that they couldn't recharge them either. So Wal-Mart batteries are off my list. I thing I'll look at interstate batteries... JMHO!
 
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