1 Wet and 2 deep cycle batteries

[Sparkey600]

I did search the forums but can not find and answer for this. Can any one tell me if this will work or not.When I bought my boat [ 2005 Amber jack 29'] it came with 3 wet cranking batteries about one year old. I am not sure if they or going to work becuse were we hang out there is no shore power so we will be using the Gen and 2 house batteries to run all lights Ref etc. I will change all lights to led as per the forums My main question is Can I use one wet cranking battery for the Gen and port motor and two AGM DEEP CYCLE batteries for the house and starboard motor. As per the forums I will chang the charger to the AGM type. Am I wasting my time with the old batteries, Should I throw out the 3 wet batteries [ ONLY ONE YEAR OLD ] and get all new one

 

[Nehalennia]

Usually your charger will only be able to be set for one type of battery. AGMs do have specific requirements which are similar to wet cell, but are different. I would keep them all the same type.
My charger (Promariner Pronautic 1240i) shows this:
Switch Setting 12 volt system 24 volt system Battery Type
Position Number 1 14.0 Absorption & 13.7 Float 28 & 27.4 GEL 1
Position Number 2 14.3 Absorption & 13.3 Float 28.6 & 26.6 AGM
Position Number 3 14.4 Absorption & 13.6 Float 28.8 & 27.2 Sealed Lead Acid
Position Number 4 14.4 Absorption & 13.8 Float 28.8 & 27.6 GEL 2
Position Number 5 14.6 Absorption & 13.7 Float 29.2 & 27.4 AGM 2
Position Number 6 14.8 Absorption & 13.3 Float 29.6 & 26.6 Flooded
Position Number 7 15.1 Absorption & 13.6 Float 30.2 & 27.2 Calcium
Position Number 8 15.5 Volts for Desulfation Mode 31.0 Desulfation Desulfation
Note which charging rates and voltage are recommended for your AGMs and set it to that.

 

[Sundancer]

If the batteries are only one year old, you might as well use them for the next two or three years. Since you have a gennie on board, you will always have plenty of juice! Run through a season or two and then decide. I'd keep the wet cells and upgrade the charger first. Then replace batteries later on. Get a good charger that can handle different battery types and you're set!

 

[KHARRIMAN]

If I did mine over I'd do what you are suggesting.
I would have one "cranking/starter" battery and two "house" deep cycles. I will also never go back to wet cell- only AgM. While i agree with Todd that the BEST way is to have all the same I truly don't think it will hurt to mix and match batts as long as they are compatible.
For example I have optima blue tops.... they come with a charge range.... as long as the charger is pushing amps and top voltage within the limits of each of the batteries...
I could put an optima red top as a starter as long as they are hooked onto separate banks.

I believe it is ok to mix and match wet and AGM (but not the BEST) as long as they have compatible charge characteristics. Others will chime in.

 

[BonBini]

Each time you run down those cranking batts powering your house you'll take life from them. You could very easily trash the set of three in one season. This all I believe you already know from your research.

Given your current setup: I would take two of your best crankers and dedicate one to say your port engine and one to the genny. Then get your deep cycle AGM's and isolate a house bank. Now you always have a fresh batt to start the genny or port engine.

It gets complicated when you start pondering different charging voltages. When your engines are running are all batts, house/crankers being replenished under common voltage? Do multiple lead chargers charge at different house/cranker output voltages? This I don't know on your boat. On my boat it's all common voltage.

I've seen automatic battery isolator switches exc on web sites. One could really set up quite an elaborate high tech automated system. There is also allot to be said for the reliability of simple. ...Ron

 

[Lazy Daze]

There's a gentleman on this forum that is a rep from ProMariner (his handle is "promariner"). It might be best to go directly to the source.

For what it's worth, my charger has settings for different types of batteries, but the output to each bank will be the same - there's no "mixing and matching" of outputs.

Can you use your boat batteries in another vehicle?


I found this on ProMariner's Q&A portion of their website:

Q.
What charger setting do I have to use for AGM batteries?

A.
AGM batteries can charge at the lead-acid setting on our battery chargers. Our chargers are factory set for lead-acid so you do not have to make any changes to the charger.

Q.
Can I charge a lead-acid battery and a gel-cell battery together?

A.
Our chargers charge and float lead-acid batteries at a different voltage than gel-cell batteries. You should not mix battery types because you are going to compromise a battery if you charge it at the wrong setting.

 

[Hampton]

Also, I believe the chargers sense when the batteries are charged. At this point, they go into a trickle mode (floating?). With mixed batteries, this may not ever occur which could lead to constantly over-charging at least one bank which would lead to an early failure.

Solution: Use up your wet cells until they begin to fail on you. Consider adding another charger to your system with the money you saved on replacing good batteries over the next year or two. When current batteries begin to fail, go with your current plan (pun?) on separate battery chargers.

 

[fwebster]

Other than oooching the last bit of life out of the wet cell batteries, why would you want mix them?

If it were me.......and its what I did......I would take advantage of the extended life (factor of 2.5X for me) lower maintenance (read: "none"), no explosive or corrosive fumes in the boat and get rid of all the wet cells. Worried about losing the partial life on the remaining wet cells: use them in a car, truck or tractor or donate them to Goodwill and take a tax deduction. Worried about the cost? The AGM's cost about 60% more but you get 250% more life out of them, so there is a payback or overall cost reduction.

 

[ProMariner]

Hi All!

Sorry for the delay I try to get to the forum more often but it has been a busy 2010 so far. At any rate I will try and address the concerns I have about reading the above.

1) Can you mix Flooded Lead Acid (Wet Cell) and AGM Absorbed Glass Mat. In short the answer is yes given that the charging profile is within the AGM manufactures specification. Keep in mind that we would much prefer to see batteries be the same chemistry.

2) Even though a battery my be labeled SEALED they truly are not. The batteries have a purge valve on them to release pressure that is built up during charge. Some of them even post VRLA for Valve Regulated Lead Acid.

3) Also please note that the gas purged can be explosive and corrosive in nature still. It is always recommended that you use your bildge blower to remove any fumes that might have bilt up.

Sorry if this seems a bit over causion but at the end of the day it is your life we are talking about here not to mention your families. The same precautions should be used when doing any kind of battery maintainence. Always follow the batteries safe instructions.

Jim

 

[trit21]

Other than oooching the last bit of life out of the wet cell batteries, why would you want mix them?

If it were me.......and its what I did......I would take advantage of the extended life (factor of 2.5X for me) lower maintenance (read: "none"), no explosive or corrosive fumes in the boat and get rid of all the wet cells. Worried about losing the partial life on the remaining wet cells: use them in a car, truck or tractor or donate them to Goodwill and take a tax deduction. Worried about the cost? The AGM's cost about 60% more but you get 250% more life out of them, so there is a payback or overall cost reduction.

Frank, if I a may ask, what brand of battery did you go with for your AGM?

I have been looking at the Odyssey AGM batteries, FULL 4 year replacement and they tell me even in FL you can easily get 6-8 years of service. They even mentioned they have some last about 10yr of usable service. Not inexpensive mind you but I guess you wouldn't have to worry about batteries for a long time. Odyssey PC2150 grp 31 battery was the one I was looking at, seems kind of overkill but it is what they recommended for my boat.