Cranking Battery Advice

[vernon]

I've been searching thru the archives for info on cranking batteries and have only managed to further confuse myself!  

Hoping y'all can help me out here.

Took the boat out yesterday and after the initial starting of the engine (which was fine) every time I fired up the outboard I would lose the electronics.  Motor also was a little slow to start so I imagine the four year old AGM that came with the boat is getting kinda tired.

The motor is a 2016 Evinrude G2 250 and I run Lowrance HDS 12 and 9 inch graphs.

Some of my research has indicated that motor requires at least 1000 MCA's and 220 RCA's but I'm pretty sure that the battery that Cabela's installed falls short of that.  The boat is up at my brother's place at the moment so I can't go out to the garage and check right now but will this afternoon.

Whatever size it is it has worked just fine other than the stereo has always blipped off and come back on to some pre-set AM station every time I start the G2 which I always figured had to be due to some sort of drop in voltage.  That was a minor annoyance, however, yesterday is the first time I've ever lost the electronics which is no longer minor.

Anyways, I'm not looking to do something on the cheap but don't want to throw money away either.  Some of those $400 plus options are a little shocking to a guy on the "fixed income" though!

Regardless, I want to get whatever is best for this particular application and if it's gonna take four large to do it then I'm OK with that so long as I know it wasn't overkill and a waste of money.

Thanks for any advice y'all might be able to offer up!

 

[GNSfishing]

I'd go to Sam's and get their Duracell group 31 AGM battery with the largest CCA rating. To calculate the MCA rating of a battery compared to its CCA rating, multiply the CCA rating by 1.25 that will give you the MCA rating. The Duracell battery will be less costly also. Not to bash brands but in my experience I'd place the ProGuide  batteries at the bottom of my list others rate them highly.  But my experience with them only lasting about a year.

[dblades]

6 minutes ago, GNSfishing said:

I'd go to Sam's and get their Duracell group 31 AGM battery with the largest CCA rating. To calculate the MCA rating of a battery compared to its CCA rating, multiply the CCA rating by 1.25 that will give you the MCA rating. The Duracell battery will be less costly also. Not to bash brands but in my experience I'd place the ProGuide  batteries at the bottom of my list others rate them highly.  But my experience with them only lasting about a year.

Never had any Pro Guide battery last less than 5 years, some as long as 9.

[snagged in outlet 3]

6 minutes ago, dblades said:

Never had any Pro Guide battery last less than 5 years, some as long as 9.

I thought the last thread concluded the same thing.  I'm in the market for troller batts and that's where I was headed due to the previous threads....

[NebSchmidty]

Might be overkill for you, might not... but another option I'd throw out is to run a dedicated starting battery and then a separate deep cycle to power your gizmos.  Depending on your power needs and usage, it may allow you to get by with "cheaper" batteries by having one appropriately spec'd for starting and letting the other deal with the continuous drawdown from graphs/radio/etc.  Of course you'll require the space for the additional battery, and probably an additional charger for it as well.  Just a thought.

[fishinwrench]

I've preached it 1000 times.   I'm not typing it again.   🙄

[snagged in outlet 3]

20 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

I've preached it 1000 times.   I'm not typing it again.   🙄

Come on....

[Gumboot]

26 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

I've preached it 1000 times.   I'm not typing it again.   🙄

I haven't heard it.  

[fishinwrench]

Fine, but this is the last time 😅 

 

Trying to get ONE MORE SEASON out of a tired battery is begging for outboard charging system failure (stator & voltage regulator).    Swap that cranking battery with a 900-1000 MCA every 3rd year and you'll never have that 2000.00 repair bill. 

The most important guage on your helm is the Voltmeter.  They should make them 4" and the tach 2"... instead of the other way around.     Watch your voltmeter when starting the motor, and glance at it often when running.   If it dips much below 10v while cranking, and isn't between 13-15 while running then you need to find out WHY immediately.     Over 15v will boil your battery dry. Under 12.5 will cause numerous circuits to overheat, which will drastically shorten the life of ignition/charging system components....they are all co-dependant on each other, and none of those components are cheap.

This info is also relative to your trolling motor circuit. A trolling motor ran using tired (or near dead) battery(s) will overheat every circuit in the system and bake the brushes.  A trolling motor that is never operated with a nearly discharged battery will probably last FOREVER.  But operate it with a 40% charged battery just once and you'll loose power and shorten the overall life of that unit for good.   

 

There.   Can we pin this somewhere so I don't have to keep repeating myself?   I'd rather spend my time reminding everyone about how ignorant it is to haul bass around in livewells. 😊

[vernon]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

I've preached it 1000 times.   I'm not typing it again.   🙄

I actually went back and specifically looked for your posts in battery threads and saw where you said (on the twelfth page by the way!) that a 1000 MCA G24 should be sufficient for everything.

Guess I'm just nitpickin' cause that sounds way too easy for a simpleton like me that finds battery stuff to be like Chinese calculus.

Does that mean that RCA's are irrelevant or are they all the same for 1000MCA battery?

Just about everything I've read says I need a G30 or G31which is why I came here.  I ain't trusting no battery salesman and that's all any marine dealer is if I'm shopping for a battery.

I swear I ain't trying to be lazy - just trying to educate myself.

Which ain't easy by the way.......🤦‍♂️

If you say G24 and 1000 MCA's is all I need to know than that's what I'm gonna go looking for.