What's your favorite deep cycle battery?

[Harps]

And why?

How long do they last in a charge and overall battery life?

 

What's your favorite charging system setup while we're at it too?

[fishinwrench]

Kinda depends on whether you are using it long and hard, or once every other month.  

I'm a fan of Exide 27MDC myself, mostly because the local vendor is a cool guy and I know the ones I get are as fresh as they come.  My least favorite are the Super Start's that O'Rielly's sells because they boil over easy, making a mess of everything....and they don't last long.

I charge at 10amps on a Auto deep cycle setting that runs them up to 15v then cools until voltage falls back to 13.5v.  The length of time for that cool down cycle to happen is the best way I know to measure the quality of the battery, a good strong (fresh) deep cycle battery will take 8-10 minutes.  One that is about ready to puke will take only 2 minutes on the cool down cycle and after several cycles the battery will be pretty warm when you put your hand on it. This tells you alot more than a "load test".  

When my cool down cycles get down to less than 5 minutes I buy new ones and sell my old ones for 25.00 to someone that can't afford a new one.  At the rate I use them that is about every 24 months. Whoever I sell them to may get 2 more years out of them, but this way I never have to worry about battery failure.

[Champ188]

I've had very little trouble with Pro-Guide but Wrench knows what he's talking about regarding the cool-down cycle. You'll also preserve the life of your batteries by running as much trolling motor as you can afford, i.e. a 36-volt will not stress your batteries as much as a 24-volt because you just aren't gonna be running it as hard.

[176champion]

Trolling motor batteries i have are 2 super start's group 31...i have an on board dual pro 2 bank charger( 15 amps per bank) which which charges the batteries as fishingwrench has described.

Crank battery is a group 27 super start and i use a noco 1.5 amp smart charger on it, which is more of a maintenance charger.

I have had the batteries a year with no complaints yet...i got a good price on then which was hard to turn down

[Harps]

Thanks guys!

Champ188, I've bought a boat that's already equipped with a 12-volt TM and I don't plan on changing it anytime soon. It's also just a 15-foot jon boat so space is a premium and one TM/accessory battery is all I want to deal with. It does have a smaller battery for the motor and running lights.

I do want to install an on-board charger so the batteries can be tucked away yet still easily charged.

Been eyeballing the AGM batteries — I like the options of mounting in any position and supposed extended life. Anybody use them?

[Flysmallie]

9 minutes ago, Harps said:

Been eyeballing the AGM batteries — I like the options of mounting in any position and supposed extended life. Anybody use them?

Yep. In my kayak. 

[fishinwrench]

Harps, unless you just want the extra weight onboard you do not need 2 batteries for that rig.  A single deep cycle battery will do it all.  

You are aware of all the 12v aluminum rigs I've had over time, and I have always just run a single battery, even on multiple day outings where I couldn't plug in a charger overnight. 

[Harps]

4 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Harps, unless you just want the extra weight onboard you do not need 2 batteries for that rig.  A single deep cycle battery will do it all.  

You are aware of all the 12v aluminum rigs I've had over time, and I have always just run a single battery, even on multiple day outings where I couldn't plug in a charger overnight. 

I thought you only fished around home and bunked your boats in the shop every night.

I guess I could go with one battery, but the boat is already wired for two. Guess I could rewire it....I'll have to think about it.

I pulled the batteries out and put them on a charger and the smaller motor cranking battery took a charge, so I may be able to get a season out of it anyway. The big battery for the TM and accessories is dead meat though.

I do plan on adding a radio to it sometime.

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, Harps said:

I thought you only fished around home and bunked your boats in the shop every night.

Usually but not always.  And even if I did, what difference would it make where the boat sat overnight if a battery charger wasn't hooked up to it?    If you want the extra expense and weight of a second battery that's fine with me.  I was just offering you an option.

[Harps]

I may go to one battery with it, I just don't feel like re-wiring right now. It would definitely be nice to not have two to save space, weight and cost.

So back to the charging regimen in your first post Wrench: A decent on-board does all that for me, correct? And one battery would allow a lower-cost charger as well.