Battery Advise Please

[megafish71]

OK guys and girls the time has come for me to replace the batteries in my boat. Currently running 2 century heavy duty marine lead acid batteries. ( will have to have a look to see the exact model battery ) While these have served me well for the past 3 years I think the continual bumping about on the rough trips has taken its toll on them. Have been considering upgrading to some gel style batteries. Just after some feedback on what you guys think, and any particular brand or model battery you have had a good or even a bad run out of.

Running all the usual electronics (GPS, sounder, stereo, VHF, lights and a deckwash). Most of my fishing is night fishing so the current draw of all of the lights and periodic running of the deckwash knocks the main battery around a bit. Most of the time changing over to the other battery to get things going again in the morning.

Any advise will be great.

Ron

[barfly]

megafish go and talk to john fromJ AND J BATTERIESat wynum he will point you in the right direction cheers barfly

[marlinqld]

i run 2 sea masters..my second set. wouldnt use anything else

[megafish71]

My current batteries are Century N70ZM.
Barfly, Im up in sunny Cairns, just a tad too longer drive to drop in at Wynum, But thanks all the same. Most battery shops are busy pushing there products, which is fine, but I was after some first hand feedback.

Marlin_Mike, I tried a goggle on Seamaster batteries, but failed to find any matches. Do you have a bit more info on them.

Cheers Ron

[timddo]

i've got a seamaster battery on my boat, use it as main batter and an old car batter as spare, only had my batter for 4 months, and i'm not a battery expert. The battery does me fine. runs everything all nite.

[marlinqld]

try this site Ron

http://www.supercharge.com.au/products_specs_marine.htm

I think i have the M50 or M70 in mine.cant remember....will check tonight and post again.... they really are a quality battery IMHO.

Mike

[megafish71]

try this site Ron

http://www.supercharge.com.au/products_specs_marine.htm

I think i have the M50 or M70 in mine.cant remember....will check tonight and post again.... they really are a quality battery IMHO.

Mike

Thanks for the link Mike, will look into them.

Cheers Ron

[Moffy]

Ron,

I used to have a sealed dry cell (gel?) battery in my tinny - running radio, gps, sounder and bilge pump (and lights at night) - was a pretty good battery - not hooked up to the motor so only got charged back up manually after each trip.

can't recall having any issues with it - and the low maintenance was great - having it hooked up tp motor would mean it was fit and forget for quite a while.

Moffy.

[Payneful]

Hey Ron

Go down to the battery factory on buchan street. Ask for a Fullriver AGM battery. AGM batteries are the latest technology. They can successfully used for both starting and deep cycle, have very low self discharge rates, awesome cranking amps and don't need topping up with water. They usually last a lot longer than your typical wet cell battery. A big plus is that they won't spill if knocked over in the boat. I wouldn't recommend a gel type battery it wouldn't last long in your application and are very sensitive to charging regimes.

Cheers

Sam

[Huntsman]

Ive got a another question for you lads.

ive got a dual battery setup as well, brand new, one large marine designed one (not sure of brand) and one standard car battery. They are rigged up to the motor (175hp Johnson) so they get charged when driving. Question is, how long does it take / or how fast does the engine charge these batteries?
If you try and charge them with the normal dc charging pack that you buy from supercheap or somewhere, it normally takes all night to charge.

for e.g. - if i want to have the stereo, cb, and fishfinder on the whole time im on water (say 6hrs) would a 1hr drive home replenish the batteries sufficiently?

Cheers

[megafish71]

Hey Ron

Go down to the battery factory on buchan street. Ask for a Fullriver AGM battery. AGM batteries are the latest technology. They can successfully used for both starting and deep cycle, have very low self discharge rates, awesome cranking amps and don't need topping up with water. They usually last a lot longer than your typical wet cell battery. A big plus is that they won't spill if knocked over in the boat. I wouldn't recommend a gel type battery it wouldn't last long in your application and are very sensitive to charging regimes.

Cheers

Sam

Thanks Sam, Thats the sort of info I've been after, was going to head down to the battery factory and see what they had to offer, I will check these out.

Thanks again
Ron