Starter battery preventive replacement?

[Expidia]

I noticed when I was re-installing my 2007 starter battery on Sat. for my 40 hp merc it said 2 year warranty. It is the OEM battery that came with the rig. I don't have it in front of me, but it was probably one that the dealer tosses in with the package.

So I'm entering the start of season 4 and since I tend to run it down with the stereo while lounging around in coves for 2 or 3 hours at a time each weekend . . .
I'm thinking even though it still sounds strong, 4 seasons is expecting a lot and running down a starter battery is not good for it's life anyway.

I'm thinking a dual purpose battery from probably Wally World. A dual purpose would help the running it down from the stereo issue.
The label does not say how many years it's rated for. I can run with the troller battery upfront as a spare, but prefer to keep the weight down and only have it onboard when fishing with the electric troller.

I'm sure if the battery final gives out I could use the rope to turn it over as it's only a 40hp.
But I'm thinking of preventing future problems, since it's already years old.

Think I'm jumping the gun here with a new battery and might as well try and squeeze out another season or two as long as it sounds strong cranking wise?

How big a capacity should I go for, I'd like to keep the dimensions close to the tray it sits in now but since I use the stereo for hours with the O/B off, should I buy a higher capacity one, if I replace it. I'm sure the OEM one was as minimum as they could get away with.
Thx

 

[boat1010]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

It might just be me BUT, I usually replace the batteries in mine every couple of years. Just because there isn't much worse than the battery going bad in the middle of the lake when a storm is coming in. Some times I will push it one extra year, but I always have a "jump box" in the boat with me just incase. just my thoughts..

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

It might just be me BUT, I usually replace the batteries in mine every couple of years. Just because there isn't much worse than the battery going bad in the middle of the lake when a storm is coming in. Some times I will push it one extra year, but I always have a "jump box" in the boat with me just incase. just my thoughts..

Thx for the response. Ya, I just wanted to hear it from someone else. I'd be pushing the 4th season out of it and I also just remembered that I run the Sirius radio interface along with the stereo too, so I'm probably lucky it went for 3 seasons with that type of draw down.

I just had the impeller replaced $100. Bought another gas filter element $17 for this tiny paper filter. And probably now another $100 for a new battery and have not even got the bottom of the boat wet yet . . . This stuff adds up quickly

 

[robert graham]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Better go on down to Autozone or Walmart and get a new battery. After 3 years you've about got your service out of that "original equipment" battery. No need to risk getting stuck down the river. Good Luck!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Check the yellow pages and see if you have an Interstate Battery near you. Go visit them and they will sell you a "blem" real cheap and it might be worth looking into. All of my batteries are from there and purchased that way.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

My last battery had a 36 month guarantee. It lasted me 7 seasons. And even then the only reason I replaced it was to upgrade to an AGM and get rid of all the acid hassles.

I know a lot of people say get a crap Wallyworld battery and replace it every 2 years. Wastefull and poor economics if you ask me. If you buy a reasonably good battery and maintain it properly it shoud give you good long service.

A fully charged 12 v battery should show about 12.6-12.7 volts. I just observe the voltmeter in my boat before I start it every week to be sure I have a good charge. I have a hand-held meter that I use in my other boats that don't have one on the dashboard. None ever fall below about 12.4 volts all summer long as long as I knew it was good when I put it in.

If I'm trolling with the kicker and have the stereo and Sonar going without the main engine running I just monitor the voltage. Mt depthfinder has a voltmeter that displays right in the main screen. Never have to worry about whether the engine will start or not.

Over the off-season I recharge every 6 weeks. I note what the voltage had dropped to and how long it took to come back up. In that time period if the volts drops below 12 or takes longer than 30 minutes to recharge then I know come April it'll be replaced.

I use a West Marine automatic charger. Only use deep cycle batteries. Won't use a battery tender either. Lots of people swear by them, but my method has served me for 45 years so why change now.

About 8 years ago I switched to AGM. The family boat still has that original one and it shows no signs of needing replacement. Just this week I replaced the last acid battery in the fleet.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Better go on down to Autozone or Walmart and get a new battery. After 3 years you've about got your service out of that "original equipment" battery. No need to risk getting stuck down the river. Good Luck!

I mentioned Wally because no matter where you are there is always a Wally. And I hear they are tops if you need a quick warranty replacement. I figure maybe turning over a small outboard does not drain the battery down like cranking an I/O or an inboard. But I guess 3 years is 3 years and the plates breakdown with age no matter how you treat it. I'm sure the plates breakdown even faster when you run a starter battery down as compared to a deep cycle.

On a side note: seems iboats must not sell batteries or I would have been edited for mentioning the dreaded "Wally". Are we slipping back into socialized boating forum platform again when we could never mention a competitor in a post? If this is their new policy that's sad because the pendulum always swings too far in the other direction and iboats just might see an opposite response from what they intended by banning any mention of a competitor in a post.

I for one apreciate these free forums and gave iboats the business if they were in the ballpark. But now that we are being edited again, I never even checked if iboats sold marine batteries just for that reason.

So is it just a few moderators that feel they need to edit us or is it a new policy of the iboats management?

 

[trendsetter240]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

There is no need to replace the battery unless it is showing signs of wear. The signs would be:

1. Not holding a charge of 12.6 when left sitting for a day or two with a full charge.

2. Not accepting a charge and coming up to at least 13.1v on the charger or connected to your running outboard.

3. Dropping below 12v at any point during what you consider regular use. Or failing to crank your motor with a full charge.

If none of the above then you're all good. Might get another 3 seasons out of it; it's not impossible. If you do decided to get a new battery then yeah I'd agree a dual purpose bat would be ideal for your purposes.

Cheers!

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Check the yellow pages and see if you have an Interstate Battery near you. Go visit them and they will sell you a "blem" real cheap and it might be worth looking into. All of my batteries are from there and purchased that way.

Good suggestion Bob, They have a location 10 min from me. I'll check my current capacity when I get home and move it up a little and give them a call.

I'd like to give them business because when my Daughter bought 2 deep cycles for trolling a few years ago she did not know not to leave them in a discharged state for very long and they lasted only one season either for that reason or they might have been defective too. She complained to ****'s Sporting where she bought them and they said they were made by interstate and go back to them to see if they will do anything for you. She did and the guy there ordered her 2 new batteries at no charge.

For that reason alone I'd like to buy batteries from them if I can.

Never thought of a blem. It's in the hatch locker anyway!

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Add to what previous poster said.

12.0V is pretty much the 50% point of the battery capacity. If you can put a known load on the battery and measure occasionally(no load) to see whn 12.0 occurs, you will know what capacity your battery has left in it.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

My last battery had a 36 month guarantee. It lasted me 7 seasons. And even then the only reason I replaced it was to upgrade to an AGM and get rid of all the acid hassles.

I know a lot of people say get a crap Wallyworld battery and replace it every 2 years. Wastefull and poor economics if you ask me. If you buy a reasonably good battery and maintain it properly it shoud give you good long service.

A fully charged 12 v battery should show about 12.6-12.7 volts. I just observe the voltmeter in my boat before I start it every week to be sure I have a good charge. I have a hand-held meter that I use in my other boats that don't have one on the dashboard. None ever fall below about 12.4 volts all summer long as long as I knew it was good when I put it in.

If I'm trolling with the kicker and have the stereo and Sonar going without the main engine running I just monitor the voltage. Mt depthfinder has a voltmeter that displays right in the main screen. Never have to worry about whether the engine will start or not.

Over the off-season I recharge every 6 weeks. I note what the voltage had dropped to and how long it took to come back up. In that time period if the volts drops below 12 or takes longer than 30 minutes to recharge then I know come April it'll be replaced.

I use a West Marine automatic charger. Only use deep cycle batteries. Won't use a battery tender either. Lots of people swear by them, but my method has served me for 45 years so why change now.

About 8 years ago I switched to AGM. The family boat still has that original one and it shows no signs of needing replacement. Just this week I replaced the last acid battery in the fleet.

Thx. I also checked the Optima line reviews before I posted here. Seems $150 for their dual purpose is very pricey when I could spend 1/2 that twice on a std dual purpose lead acid and get maybe 10 years off two.
Seems there are newer technologies out there like the gels but unless one has a specific need like acid not sloshing around it's probably over kill for my small rig.

What you say is true about getting many years out of a battery if you take care of it. That's why I started the thread to see how long one can last. But my main concern is that I've been misusing the purpose of a starter battery by constantly running it down. That;s ok for a deep cycle but I read that when you do that with a starter the silver (I think) drops off the plates and accummulates at the bottom. At some point the build up will short a cell or cells out.

So that's why I was leaning towards a dual purpose so I don't ruin a new starter battery by running it down.

I like they way you check the voltage. I did not know how to assess the state of a battery as to how it will still hold a charge other than bringing it to sears and letting them put it on a tester that runs it down under load and tells me how long it takes to come back.

I didn't realize I could do it like you do with an ohm meter maybe.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

What you say is true about getting many years out of a battery if you take care of it. That's why I started the thread to see how long one can last. But my main concern is that I've been misusing the purpose of a starter battery by constantly running it down. That;s ok for a deep cycle but I read that when you do that with a starter the silver (I think) drops off the plates and accummulates at the bottom. At some point the build up will short a cell or cells out.

That's pretty much true for starter batteries. The plates are a different type of construction so as to have a greater surface area but don't like being fully discharged. Only takes a few deep discharges of a starter battery to totally kill it.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

well for me there is NO WAY I would replace a working battery if all I had to start was a 40 hp outboard with a pull starter.... Of course that assumes A: that you are strong enough to easily start it and B: that it starts easily....

I would run it till it drops and then buy a new one.....

also when and if you do buy a new one.......for such a small engine I personally would strongly consider a deep cycle... after all this isn't a 400 hp v8 we're cranking here .... However I have a meter to check amperage draw of the starter against allowable for the battery.... (I am not certain that it would work out but I would look into it) Another thought would be to have a small starting battery... think pwc .... and run the radio off the trolling battery

then you could save weight and eat your cake too

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

you might try pull starting once to see how it is. Be sure no one is around b/c the cord whips back dangerously.
Also, carry jumper cables, if not for you, for someone else.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Geez, I went down the basement to top off the batteries on the charger and I counted 7 batteries. 2 starters and 5 deep cycle. I only have the 1 starter and a deep cycle one for my Minn Kota.

The others are my Daughters who is a battery-holic as she uses them to troll for Trout with a Minn Kota

So my 2007 starter battery is actually an Interstate. 24 month-XHD, 800 CCA, 1000 MCA maybe Lund shipped the Interstate with the rig from the factory.

In any case I'm entering the 4th year on a 2 year battery that I've abused from the stereo.
If I can test hers somehow . . . I tried my Radio Shack ohm meter but I couldn't read the scale as it starts at 15 volts. I might go out and buy a digital tester. I might be able to bum one of her deep cycles away from her battery stash .

Good idea to see if I can rope start my 40 hp. I'll try it cold and when it's hot too!

So if I have to buy one if it's below 12 volts now, what's the next capacity up from what I listed above without getting a bigger dimension battery?

Can anyone point me to a decent handheld digital battery meter that I can use to assess each batteries condition.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Any cheap meter will work

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90899

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Any cheap meter will work

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90899

Perfect, thx Bruce!

I picked up the same one at HF. $2.99. Gotta love HF.

Out of our 7 batteries they all except one came in at around 12.5 to 12.7 volts.

One was only 2 volts and wouldn't charge as it kept reading fault on my Black and Decker battery charger.

This battery was a deep cycle that my Daughter had put on some high speed charger at a freinds lake house and it bolied over. The charger must have toasted it.

I'll take this bad battery and use it to turn in as a core exchange. I called Interstate and they said they have blems for $35 which are dual purpose and 690 CCA.

The one that's in there now is an 800 CCA but I don't need that much for the 40 HP.
They trade off is that the $35 deep cycle has a lot more reserve minutes.

For that price, I'm going to pick one up because even though the 2 year OEM one is going strong towards the 4th season it's remaining life has to be numbered.

He quoted me a 2 year, but I'll see if I can get a blem for a few bucks more that's maybe a 48 month one. $50 bucks spent is still better than $100-150. I don't know if they warranty deep cycles differently than starter batteries.

And thx again to Bob VT for the Blem idea!

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Check the yellow pages and see if you have an Interstate Battery near you. Go visit them and they will sell you a "blem" real cheap and it might be worth looking into. All of my batteries are from there and purchased that way.

What was in there OEM was an Interstate 24 month, 800 cold cranking amps, 1000 MCA.

Interstate said their dual purpose Blem was $35 for a 2 year 690 CCA and a longer reserve since it was a deep cycle model too!

 

[Expidia]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Update: Geez, doesn't anybody have any integrity anymore??

So I go down to my local Interstate battery shop to see the guy who said he has dual purpose blems in stock for $35.

The girl at the front desk says "you know, it's a used battery, right?". I said the guy said it was a blem as he was walking into the shop.

He said he calls used batteries blems . . . what a guy! what a waste of my time.

I said why would I buy a "used" battery. I already have a "used" battery in my rig that was new when I bought it

So I left. Went to Walmart and bought their dual purpose marine Everstart 24 DP-4 105 Amps, 675 Marine cranking, 540 Cold cranking for $65. They also had a similar model for $58 with slightly lower specs.

At least now with new battery and a starter/deep cycle model, I'll feel better about running it down with the stereo while anchored. This new one should be good for another 4 years. I'll keep the one that came with the boat that still has some undetermined life left as a spare.

One other note: I read on another site that it seems Walmart's Everstart brand batteries are made by Johnson Controls who are the same people who make Optima, Die Hard, Interstate, and a host of other name brand batteries.

This makes sense cause when I was in the Interstate shop today they had a few pallets stoked high with the red , yellow and blue top Optima batteries. I wondered why an Interstate shop was stocking optima batteries!

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Starter battery preventive replacement?

Update: Geez, doesn't anybody have any integrity anymore??

So I go down to my local Interstate battery shop to see the guy who said he has dual purpose blems in stock for $35.

The girl at the front desk says "you know, it's a used battery, right?". I said the guy said it was a blem as he was walking into the shop.

He said he calls used batteries blems . . . what a guy! what a waste of my time.

I said why would I buy a "used" battery. I already have a "used" battery in my rig that was new when I bought it

So I left. Went to Walmart.....................

Arrrrgh, I should have posted back earlier today. After hearing about the blems... and needing a pair of deep cycles I called the local Interstate place and asked the lady about blems. She said they don't sell blems, but did have used batteries. Like you, WT* do I want a used battery for... I asked how much new group 29 & 31 batteries were and she said $120+- For that price I'm going AGM.

So, Like you Exp,,, I'm going to hit up WalMart/Sams and buy a couple $75 deep cycles.

BTW, I have 4 batteries in my Crestliner from 2007-2008 and only 1 of them is marginal. It still starts the boat fine and holds a charge, but I can hear it gurgling while charging all the time so I know it's on the way out.