Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

[Jim Robbins]

I'm looking at batteries for starting my older Starcraft Holiday I/O 140 H.P., 4 cyl, and I see that marine batteries have about a 12 month warranty and a car battery has a 40 plus months of warranty and for less money. I think Marine batteries are changing over the years. What are boaters using in there boats?
I want to go buy a car / truck battery with about 850 CCA and use it in my boat, am I risking anything by going this way?
Any and all advice please and thank-you.

 

[johnson89]

Re: Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

I have a small 16' bass boat with a 90hp....I use a small car battery for my starting...I have 2 deep cycles for my trolling motor....the battery has been in the boat for 3 years and going strong....marine batterys are better built to handle the rough water,I am on lakes so the ride is always smooth for me,plus I have 3 batteries on my boat....the battery is a wal-mar battery 550cca that I paid 42.00 for and has never gave me any problem...if you run any amout of lights or electronics a sec. battery is always a good idea....

 

[Thalasso]

Re: Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

Marine= Thicker case and plates.
Less chance of breaking due to vibration.
I think there are two manufacture of all batteries in the U.S. ( Johnson Control & East Penn)
Most batteries are made from recycled products

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

I see that marine batteries have about a 12 month warranty and a car battery has a 40 plus months of warranty and for less money.

That's why I'm running an automotive start battery in my boat, same battery my truck uses... The only "gotcha" about automotive batteries is that they don't have the threaded marine studs/nuts. I used tin coated brass adapters from Ace Hardware, instead of the cheap lead adapters.



I also have "marine" batteries, for the trolling motor.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

Marine= Thicker case and plates.
Less chance of breaking due to vibration.
I think there are two manufacture of all batteries in the U.S. ( Johnson Control & East Penn)
Most batteries are made from recycled products

Don't forget about US Battery ? U.S.Battery/Leader in Deep Cycle Batteries

That would be about it though, for conventional auto and marine batteries.

But there are a bunch making other types of batteries.

 

[doyall]

Re: Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

... I think there are two manufacture of all batteries in the U.S. ( Johnson Control & East Penn) ...

The list on this site jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm indicates dozens of US manufacturers and every brand name they are sold under. (Be sure to note how to identify actual battery manufacturers.)

 

[phillyg]

Re: Battery - marine battery or a car - truck battery (?)

You don't need to use a marine-specific battery to crank your motor; any good starter battery will do ya. If you need to run a house battery then marine-specific is better, but an Interstate crank/marine battery (possibly two of them) will generally do the job unless you have high demand like a large trolling motor, anchor windlass or radios/GPS/depth finder for hours on end.