Battery Choices

Mine are dual cycle from wally world. Group 24 were around $80-90 each. Mine are new this summer, but the previous ones were there for at least 5 years (came with the boat). Replaced them when they fairly suddenly would only take a surface charge.

One thing to be aware of is that according to CR there are northern and southern formulations of the Walmart batteries, at least for the car batteries. They are supposed to be tailored for the expected conditions of where they are used. You probably want to get the correct ones for your primary boating area.
 
For a smaller C-Dory, I'd not hesitate to get 1 start and 1 house both AGM, Gr 31
from Sam's Club.

For a larger C-Dory, I'd up to 2 house AGMs, Gr 31.

Add a good AC 'smart' shore charger AND you'll worry less about your batteries
adding solar charging for when you're 'out there', on a trailer, etc.

Keeping all batteries exactly the same simplifies charging and increases longevity
(with reasonable use).

Aye.
 
Agree 100% with Foggy's excellent suggestion about Sam's club (made by East Penn-Deka) Group 31 batteries. That is what we used on Thisaway. We are using the same set up for Thataway--C Dory 25--and run both chest type freezer and refrigerator off two group 31 house batteries.

One of the issues with the 22's that have older 90 hp Honda's is that they only put out 17 amps (probably less usable) for the carbureted engines. If you are going to sit one place for long periods of times--then 200 watts of solar would be sufficient to keep batteries topped off, if you have good sunshine--such as at Lake Powell.
 
I have two Group 24 dual cycle batteries from Walmart on my 22. One is used for the house and one is in reserve for starting. My boat has the Norcold fridge. Even in the summer when the fridge is used and the other loads (e.g cabin lights, fans, external lighting, electronic devices), the house battery doesn't usually go below 70% charge overnight. Before retiring, I run the motor at about 1K rpm for 20-30 minutes (depending on the battery charge level) to top it up for the night. The boat is much quieter at a higher rpm level than idle. There seems to be an amplifying resonance in the boat structure at regular idle.

During the day the usual cruising will recharge the battery fully.

Even when down below 70% charge, the battery has no trouble starting the motor.

My BF90D will charge a single battery at a rate of about 25 amps or more with the engine at the higher idle.

I have considered going to Group 27 batteries, but both my batteries are in the starboard lazarette along with the battery switch and other components. I doubt that there is enough room in there for two 27 batteries. So far the 24 batteries have worked out fine so there has not been any real incentive to change things.

FWIW, all the lighting on my boat is LED.
 
I am late to this discussion and the following may be redundant, but I have lived with battery power on boats and RVs for twenty years and know a thing or two about batteries.

There are very few (Lifeline's probably but they are expensive) 12V flooded cell batteries that are made with heavy plates and more room under the plates for sulfate build up. 6V Golf cart batteries are made that way, but it takes two and there isn't room on most C-Dory's for 2 house and 1 start battery.

OTOH there is little maybe no difference between AGM deep cycle and start batteries. Their construction inherently deals with the problems of plate usage and sulfate buildup.

So I would use the biggest 12V AGM battery that will fit in the house battery compartment, maybe a group 31. They are about double the cost of most FLAs but cheaper than a Lifeline FLA.

Ideally your shore power charger should have a setting for AGM batteries and it is marginally better to use it rather than the more common FLA charging settings. If you can change the setting, also use an AGM for the starting battery (a group 24 or 27 will do) so both will get the proper charge.

David
 
I have been using Sams club batteries for years usually get 3-4 years out of a size 27/ 105 amp hours they are duel purpose marine /rv for $75 or so plus tax and bring in an old core battery . I dont know if 27 will fit in your Lazerettes ? On the cc-23 they fit nicely . We have a tundra fridge also a 750 inverter running on these . The AGM were more $$$ and for me not worth the price Jim
 
Dr. Bob stated

" That is what we used on Thisaway. We are using the same set up for Thataway--C Dory 25--and run both chest type freezer and refrigerator off two group 31 house batteries. "

Margaret & I have been trying to figure out a freezer addon. What kind of freezer did you have and how was it powered? We have a 1800 watt inverter with house power of 4 6v golf cart batteries. and haven't found a 12v freezer that is large enough for our purpose


Gene
 
jennykatz":1pwbfp4s said:
I dont know if 27 will fit in your Lazerettes ? On the cc-23 they fit nicely . We have a tundra fridge also a 750 inverter running on these . The AGM were more $$$ and for me not worth the price Jim
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I've been sifting through all the conflicting opinions on the marine and RV forums regarding mixing/matching/charging flooded, sealed and AGM banks, but one thing nearly all agreed on was using sealed batteries inside the cabin for off-gassing issues.

Since the battery locker is already integrated/vented into the sponsons I'd considered placing an extra flooded house bat or two down below the cabin as an alternative to adding to/replacing the existing bank with AGMs.

Gene Morris":1pwbfp4s said:
Margaret & I have been trying to figure out a freezer addon. What kind of freezer did you have and how was it powered? We have a 1800 watt inverter with house power of 4 6v golf cart batteries. and haven't found a 12v freezer that is large enough for our purpose
Click to expand...
Interested as well.
 
We had used the Norcold chest type about 50 quarts--these have been labeled both Engle and Norcold. The current boat has a Norcold which has a swing motor.

We have used the Dometic 50 quart as both freezer and refrigerator. It uses the Danfoss compressor. However our first Dometic had failure of the thermistor (thermostat) about 2 weeks out of warrantee--it was a few weeks later we were back from the trip and several months after we had not been able to find anyone would could fix it. Finally the head technician at Dometic (WAECO) authorized a new unit. We kept the old unit, and added a new thermistor inside of the freezer. The original is foamed into the bottom of the insulation. You have to almost destroy the box to put a new one in. Both are still working, with the in-convience of having the cable inside the box. Even with the thermistor the refer/freezer would work--but just kept at a very low temp of about 5 degrees...Thermostat would not allow control--ran on emergency setting.

We bought a 65 qt ARB to replace the 55 qt unit. The other choice would have been another Engle--I felt that the reviews on the ARB were good, plus Pat Anderson had reported good success. with one for a number of years.

On the C Dory 22 "Thisaway" we also had a Whynter 62 qt dual chamber Refer/freezer (another C Brat had purchased this as a scratch and dent, and sold it to us for $200, since it would not fit in the cabin of his 25. That is still going. Dometic also makes a newer type of dual chamber freezer/refer. All of these can run at temperatures of 0 to about 50*F.

You pays your money and takes your choice on refer/freezers!
 
We have a Waeco 50 Qt fridge/freezer. I had the rear port side cabinet made a little bigger than standard when the boat was built.

IM000245.sized.jpg

IM000247.sized.jpg

We don't take it along on every cruise, but it's handy when we do extended trips to remote locations. Like SE Alaska or the Broughtons. Where provisions arn't always available.

Its powered by two group 31 FLA batteries, or 120 V AC when plugged in. Charged by the port motor and 200 watts of solar.
 
Nice thinking, especially being able to remove it for short trips.

Discovery":1k55yxo2 said:
Its powered by two group 31 FLA batteries, or 120 V AC when plugged in. Charged by the port motor and 200 watts of solar.
Click to expand...

Where are your house bats and cables run to?
 
The house batteries are three Group 27 FLA and are in the Stb. rear locker. Charged by the Stb. motor. The fridge/freezer batteries are two Group 31 FLA in the port rear locker. Charged by the port motor and the solar panels. I also ran a charge line from the truck 7 way plug to the port battery bank. That way the truck also keeps the fridge/freezer bank charged as we tow across country.

I have a combiner switch between the two battery banks and can make one bank of all five batteries. When we slow cruise and run on only one motor at a time, I will combine all five batteries. When I do this, I will take the key out of the ignition on the motor that is not running. I don't want to inadvertently run both alternators into the same battery bank at the same time.

I have found that the most important thing for long battery life is the quality of the battery charger one uses. I have a 'Pro Mariner' two bank 20 amp smart charger. Two banks of 10 amps each. The charger is on 24/7 whenever the boat is in storage. I check the water in the batteries once a year, usually in the Spring. It's really hard to do in the confined space.

The five batteries on 'Discovery' are 10 years old and I hope to use them for at least another year.

I would consider two battery banks consisting of two 'Battle Born" 6 V Lithium batteries in each bank. That would remove considerable weight from the rear of the TomCat, but would remove $4000 from the wallet.
 
My two cents on batteries. I just went through a lot of this searching for what's best a while back when I replaced my batteries. In the end, I decided that for the price, and with the stern location of battery placement, the old fashioned lead acid batteries just made the most economical sense. They've been around for a long time, and just about any battery charger will suffice! I run two batteries, but can't tell you exactly what size off the top of my head. Both batteries are marine, one being a starting battery, the other a deep cycle. Honestly, I believe the starting battery is also deep cycle. A group 27 and 31 comes to mind. But it may be a 24 and 27. I run all LED lighting, and the only other draw on the battery when the motor isn't running, would be a small fan and Cpap (without the humidifier). And my diesel fed heater, which would equate with the glow plug now and then, a blower fan and the fuel pump. I've never had a problem with all this stuff running over night. I did just purchase a small portable cooler (Engle), and plans are to leave it off overnight, supercooling it some before shutting down the motor or generator.
I do agree that a good charger does the best job at maintaining a longer life on the batteries. I have a Mastervolt 30A, which provides 3 levels of charging. I leave that on all winter while the boat is stored for the season. Regarding the battery type, just seems like if it ain't broke why fix it. I"m just not sold that the other battery types will last any longer, or at least relative to their expense. Colby
 
I thought I was done with batteries and chargers yesterday. Long story short, our travel trailers group 24 wouldn't charge over 13.3v and discharged very quickly. Come to find out the converter installed by the factory only charges to 13.3v and after almost two years of that the battery was shot. So I replaced the converter and upgraded to a Duracell group 31 AGM deep cycle.

Today I went out to do some small projects on the boat, it was cold so I tried to start the Wallas, which I've been having trouble with. Of course it wouldn't start, seeing as it was just refurbished a few months ago I called Scan Marine and they suggested trying it with the engine running and charging the battery even though the yellow indicator light wasn't blinking. Well that seems to be the problem as the heater fired right up.

Looking at my batteries on my 2002 22ft cruiser I have two Everstart group 24's, one starting and one deep cycle. Looks like they are from 09/14. I'm going to replace them both. I'm debating on upgrading to group 27's. I don't currently have any electronics, the only thing that would run at night when we overnight are the lights and the Walls heater. So from an electrical draw perspective I think going back with two Group 24's would be OK. Thoughts? Are you guys with 27's running fridges or other electronics? Even if I add radar and a plotter I'd only be using that when the engine is running mostly.

My question is should I get another starting battery for the engine and a deep cycle battery for the house? I keep reading that you should get the same type of batteries. I plan to go with the Duracell AGM's. Or should I just get two dual purpose batteries? If I get two separate ones I can just alternate which one is selected with the selector switch to charge when the engine is running.

Also I don't have an onboard charger. I have a 2002 90hp Honda which doesn't put out much amps, but I do occasionally put a portable charger on them. So is an onboard charger really necessary? I don't have $1,000 to spend on one.

Thanks
 
Several thoughts:

Bigger is always better when you are talking about batteries, so go with the G 27s. IMO there is very little if no difference between deep, dual and starting batteries when you are talking about AGMs. So go with the same for both.

You don't have a shore power charger and the charging you get from an outboard is like the converter that you replaced in your RV, it only has s fixed voltage. So your batteries are always chronically undercharged.

I would get a portable three step charger, you don't need more than 10 amps and plug it in at least once a week to bring the batteries up to full charge. Better would be a permanent shore power system with charger, but I get that you don't want to spend the money. Another solution is a small solar panel, but at least 50 watts with a suitable controller.

Check out those on this page: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i ... TI1FR9EI2D

Renogy sells pretty good stuff.

David
 
Definitely go to the group 27. There are some good reasons for AGM: do not have to have electrolyte topped off, can be put in the cabin, can be mounted in almost any direction (on side or end--but not upside down), and low self discharge. They also will take a charge faster.

The 90 Honda puts out 17 amps--but less than that is available for battery charging--most of the time the voltage is in the 14..2 to 14.5 range. OK for the AGM./

Agree with a charger after each trip to top the batteries off. Any of the recognized brands, and a 10 amp would be OK for your use---if you were staying on the boat in the marina, and running more items, then I would suggest a 20 amp--with a fan--battery charger.

The Wallas can be a significant draw at start up (8 amps) but in the 150 to 200 milliamps when running in stove--a little more in heater configuration--also LED lights may cut your use significantly.

Most RV's do use a converter--which is really not a battery charger. There are several which do have 3 stage charging module or "wizard" as they say.
 
Thanks for the replies. So I think I'm going with this Prosport 20.

https://www.amazon.com/ProMariner-43012 ... arger&th=1

Also will upgrade to 27's as I do plan to put in fans. Can I get a group 24 for the starting and group 27 for house?

The next question is the best mounting place? I was thinking under the stove on the aft bulkhead, or closer to the batteries which are located between the fuel tanks, say on the inside of the splash well over the tanks? I'l leaning towards the cabin, don't really want to be plugging in things right over the fuel tanks.

For led lights did you just get replacement led bulbs or replace the actual light fixture?

Thanks
 
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