Deep cycle for starting battery?!?!?!

[BigTerp]

So my starting battery is crapping out on me. It is an Exide dual purpose group 27 size. I had a lighting strike earlier this summer that took out several things in my house including my on board charger as it was plugged in at the time. It destroyed bank #1 on the charger which goes to my starting battery. Pretty sure that's why it's going bad. Only a little over a year old, which sucks!! I'm considering going with a straight deep cycle instead of a starting battery or another dual purpose. I run the following off of my starting battery:

1994 Johnson 50/35 Jet - Requires 360 CCA /465 MCA and 90 minutes reserve capacity
LED Nav Lights
LED Stern Light
Stereo
2 HID Driving Lights
LED Interior Lights
12V Plug
Sonar

I know I don't want just a straight starting battery because of it's lack in deep cycle capabilities. Dual purpose batteries are more pricey then a deep cycle, but are they worth the extra $? A WalMart Everstart group 27 deep cycle has 750 MCA. Which is more than my current Exide dual purpose. What do you all think? Am I OK with a straight depe cycle? Or should I get another dual purpose?

 

[earl60446]

I don't see why you want a deep cycle, regular starting battery (cheaper) should do you fine.
Tim

 

[Dark3]

I would go with a group 29 or 31 deep cycle with the HIDs. I would stay away from the everstart unless maybe the maxx series 29's. Batteries are what enable all the other investments to work. Its IMO the most important time to not be cheap. I run two interstate srm 29's in paralell 12v for my TM only and a optima red top for my sonar and start/tilt

 

[onthewater102]

Of everything you listed there is next to no current draw from anything apart from the HID lights and Stereo, so I guess it comes down to how often do you use them? If you're big into running at night with the HID's on (I have a few friends who are all but exclusively night fishermen) and blast the stereo every time you're on the water then you might want to go deep cycle, but if you're like me and have only used your lighting on a handful of occasions (including when you initially tested them after installing them) then I wouldn't worry about it. LED's don't draw much current, certainly not worth considering, and HID's draw very little compared to halogens, but over time draw enough to invest in a deep cycle if you use them a lot. You don't list a trolling motor on here as drawing on this battery either.

Most aftermarket speakers are 8 ohms, which isn't going to draw much more than 1.5 amp/hr per speaker. Even if you had 4 of them plus the headunit's needs, their draw would be roughly 2/3 what you'd draw running a 55lb thrust 12v trolling motor on 10% power (very lowest speed possible) for the duration of the time the stereo was going...hardly a deep draw on the battery. Unless that stereo runs for 3hrs+ every time you take the boat out, or you're really blasting it, I wouldn't even bother with a deep cycle and would just get a straight starting battery. That is based on assuming the draw to be ~7 amps for the stereo, 3 hours would be 21AH - most starting batteries in the size you're looking at have 44-50 AH, so you're not quite crossing 50% draw. Go up to a larger size and you're definitely OK.

 

[BigTerp]

Thanks for the responses!! I don't think I have room to move up a size in battery groups, my group 27 fits snuggly in its hatch now. I run my trolling motor off a separate group 27 deep cycle. As far as what I run, during the summer and while fishing the stereo is on 99%of the time. During the fall/winter while duck hunting we run the hids a lot. But the motor is running most of the time the hids are on. We do use them to set decoys with the motor off. I figure my stereo pulls around 8amps and the lights pull about 7amps together.

With all of this said, I'm still unsure if I should go with a deep cycle or starting battery. What brands do you guys recommend?

 

[Dark3]

Starting= Optima
Deep cycle=Interstate, caveat: to bad you cant fit a bigger battery because the srm-29 is an excellent battery

 

[JoshKeller]

starting batteries are recommended for the new motors because they draw much more current than your motor. (optimax requires somethign like 1000 cca). knowing the areas and times you fish, a deep cycle will start your motor fine.. i start mine with a small lawn mower battery. your motor will charge the battery as well on those 15 mile runs. im willing to bet your radio draws quite a bit less amps. I checked my clarion, and at half volume, it only drew like 2.8 amps or so.

as for what brand.... $80 for an everstart is hard to beat since there are at least 6 24 hr wal marts in this area to swap out a bad one at any time. Just look at the date stickers and get the newest one you see. Theres only 2 or 3 manufacturers of all lead wet cell batteries,ro (johnson controls, east penn manufacturing) so you might as well go with ease of replacement.

 

[snatch]

I use the sears gel batteries they are light blue, they are great batteries, they do cost 2x as a regular acid battery. But they last a lot longer in use and in longevity. they go on sale all the time. You can mount them any way and NEVER have to add water, my troller batteries are 6 yrs old and still last for days without a recharge when I am in the Everglades..

 

[snatch]

they are dual purpose, as well

 

[BigTerp]

JoshKeller » September 10th, 2014, 11:29 pm[/url]"]starting batteries are recommended for the new motors because they draw much more current than your motor. (optimax requires somethign like 1000 cca). knowing the areas and times you fish, a deep cycle will start your motor fine.. i start mine with a small lawn mower battery. your motor will charge the battery as well on those 15 mile runs. im willing to bet your radio draws quite a bit less amps. I checked my clarion, and at half volume, it only drew like 2.8 amps or so.

as for what brand.... $80 for an everstart is hard to beat since there are at least 6 24 hr wal marts in this area to swap out a bad one at any time. Just look at the date stickers and get the newest one you see. Theres only 2 or 3 manufacturers of all lead wet cell batteries,ro (johnson controls, east penn manufacturing) so you might as well go with ease of replacement.

Thanks Josh!! You're probably right on the radio, I just like to overshoot my max amp draw when figuring out wiring, fuses, batteries, etc. Was at WalMart last night and the Everstarts were $83. The Everstart Maxx is $108 but comes with a 5 year warranty and has 810CCA!! The Maxx seems to be way more than I'll need in terms of CCA, but the extended warranty is nice. It also seems bigger than a standard group 27 battery, is that the case?? My exide group 27 already fits snugly enough. Think I'm going to go with the standard Everstart unless someone can convince me otherwise. Need to get something before duck season comes in next month and the cold weather sets it.

 

[BigTerp]

Actually the Maxx at my local WalMart is an automotive battery, not deep cycle. Looks like I'll be getting the standard Everstart. Thanks for all the help!!

 

[JoshKeller]

one of the everstarts in my boat is 4 years old... just keep em charged up and they do fine. they have a 12 month swap out warranty, so IF one fails, you can go get another one at 4 am.

 

[lovedr79]

i have 1 battery on my boat, deep cycle. it powers everything, starts the motor and runs the TM......... been working great for 3 years now.

 

[Dark3]

Man, it looks like most of you are easy on batteries. I wish I could say the same. I have 3 batteries (currently 2 interstate 29's and one optima red top). They are always charged right away with a NOCO Genius and used average of once a week , 8 months a year, I get about 3 years out of them

 

[BigTerp]

Picked up an Everstart group 27 last week for $83 after core fee reduction. Had to redo some ring terminals to match the stud on the new battery, but other than that everything has been working great. My starboard battery compartment and wiring needing some cleaning/tidying up anyway. Redid my starboard speaker wire also with some tinned marine wire. The other stuff I was using was getting pretty corroded. Need to do the same to my port side speaker. Probably remove that battery as well and get things cleaned up.

Thanks for all the help!!