Another battery question....

[FlyGuy65]

Stock Sea Ray 175 w/ 3.0 mercruiser. OEM battery is an Interstate 27m with 800 CCA. Brought the battery into an auto store for a free battery check, and they said replace the battery, it's 'only' producing 680 CCA. A little online research shows a lot of marine 27m size batteries brand new only rated at 550 CCA. Big question: does this battery need to be replaced because it's only producing 85% or so of rated CCA, or is it still good as it's producing more CCA than some brand new batteries? (The water level was low in one of the cells - top of plate just showing.) Don't want to deal with dead battery on the lake, but always the possibility of replacing a good old battery with a bad new one.

Thanks,
John

 

[pckeen]

Did you have problems with the battery before you took it in?

If not, I would take it elsewhere for a second opinion.

 

[Grandad]

How old is the battery? Perhaps their assessment also included the battery's age. I figure a good battery should last about 5 years if it's been properly maintained. After 5 years, at the first sign of trouble, I replace it. Divide the price of the battery by its age in years (perhaps $20 per year), then think about how much of a pain it will be to have a failure that you could have avoided. - Grandad

 

[bruceb58]

Sounds like it's still good to me. A 3.0 does not require even close to 680CCA. You have plenty of margin.

 

[oldjeep]

Stock Sea Ray 175 w/ 3.0 mercruiser. OEM battery is an Interstate 27m with 800 CCA. Brought the battery into an auto store for a free battery check, and they said replace the battery, it's 'only' producing 680 CCA. A little online research shows a lot of marine 27m size batteries brand new only rated at 550 CCA. Big question: does this battery need to be replaced because it's only producing 85% or so of rated CCA, or is it still good as it's producing more CCA than some brand new batteries? (The water level was low in one of the cells - top of plate just showing.) Don't want to deal with dead battery on the lake, but always the possibility of replacing a good old battery with a bad new one.

Thanks,
John

Couple thoughts
1) Sounds like plenty of CCA for your boat
2) If you are seeing 550CCA for a group 27M battery then you are looking at deep cycle/hybrids not marine starting batteries. If you buy a replacement make sure you understand the difference.

 

[joe009]

try getting a battery minder and put it on your battery.it maintains the battery and desulfates the plates.it has been known to restore dead batterys

 

[FlyGuy65]

Couple thoughts
1) Sounds like plenty of CCA for your boat
2) If you are seeing 550CCA for a group 27M battery then you are looking at deep cycle/hybrids not marine starting batteries. If you buy a replacement make sure you understand the difference.

Had to double check the auto website. Sure enough - the brand name is 'Super Start', but they make both deep cycle (490 CCA) and starting batteries (840 CCA). Thanks!

 

[Chris1956]

Gee, in my experience starting batteries work for 5 years (maybe 6), and then they fail completely. I never heard of one slowly loosing CCA. Also, they tend to fail when you first start the motor for the day.

I suppose you could have a lousy tuned engine that requires a lot of cranking when warm to start. In that case you could have a failure, while out on the water. Of course, if you go out in a boat, with an engine as I have described, that isn't the smartest thing.

 

[H20Rat]

Gee, in my experience starting batteries work for 5 years (maybe 6), and then they fail completely. I never heard of one slowly loosing CCA. Also, they tend to fail when you first start the motor for the day.

Any battery that has a fair amount of slow discharge will always lose CCA's, just part of the aging process. In my case, I have a lot of engine-off but stereo on time on my boat, so I either run hybrid dual purpose or even deep cycle only. (single battery) The deeper the discharge, the more CCA capacity you will lose. I RARELY have a battery fail completely, mine tend to end up with so little capacity they aren't worth running any more.

Also, completely flattening a battery just once will easily drop your CCA capacity by a significant amount.

 

[bitesomthing]

think about it....................... Just go buy a new battery, the cost is well worth the aggravation you will see later. Battery is cheaper than a tank of gas.......
WHen in doubt swap it out.........