Batteries what is your experience

[Chris-380]

Looking at AGM, already have a smart charger that will do them

seems like the wet cell deep cycle I have, lasted maybe 2 seasons…. Still a little sticker shock on the AGM’s…. 2 refrigerators seem to draw then down pretty fast, maybe 5 hours…. When I first got them, made it a day…. How long can you safely go before your batteries get low?

what is your experience, optimum blue tops, Duracell? Almost double the price, both AGM, is there a difference? What brand did you go with if it’s another?


I searched, just not a lot of info that seemed to answer what I am needing, especially recently.

thank you or any input!

 

[CaptRonn]

I go to Advance Auto and buy their off the shelf marine batteries for about a $100.

Works fine, last long time.

 

[Mark Searay]

Watching

 

[Shoyrtt]

Interstate makes a really good agm battery.
https://www.interstatebatteries.com/recreation-vehicles/marine-batteries

 

[Three Seasons]

I purchased 4 Duracell AGM’s from Batteries Plus, Ordered on line and saved 10% plus some other cash rebates. Worked great all last summer and stayed charged in storage.

Best,

 

[Craig]

Have 4 seasons on Duracells(Deka) with no issues. Got 6 plus out of the last set. Good smart charger is extremely important. Don't discharge below 50%. Temperature controlled charging is essential to longevity. I like the no touchy aspect of the AGM.

 

[Chris-380]

We have 2 refrigerators, curious how long you guys are able to go before you your batteries start to get low, to need to start the genny or get on shore power.
what voltage do you get concerned at?

I purchased 4 Duracell AGM’s from Batteries Plus, Ordered on line and saved 10% plus some other cash rebates. Worked great all last summer and stayed charged in storage.

Best,

Have 4 seasons on Duracells(Deka) with no issues. Got 6 plus out of the last set. Good smart charger is extremely important. Don't discharge below 50%. Temperature controlled charging is essential to longevity. I like the no touchy aspect of the AGM.

 

[Lazy Daze]

5 hours till they get drawn down seems very, VERY quick, even with normal wet cells. Generally, fridges don't actually draw much power because they only cycle a little bit once in a while to keep the temp proper... unless it's getting opened a lot. But someone would have to be opening the fridge and staring into it for a long, long time... and often. Does it seal well?

This isn't apples to apples because my 260DA only had a dorm-size fridge/freezer. But, I also only had one, group 27, DC battery and one starting battery. As an experiment, I once used only the DC battery and went 3 full days with only running the engine about an hour the whole time. The fridge stayed on the whole time, some stereo use, head/water system of course and the anchor light at night. On the last day, I was still able to start the engine as normal.

Do you get the fridges up to temp while still on shore power? Or, at least get them to temp while the engines are still running?

I don't really see your issue (assuming everything is working properly and the batteries are healthy) being a wet vs AGM issue. Generally speaking, even wet cells of proper size and style (DC/starting) should give you at least double the amount of years you have. I think there's another explanation here other than a simple wet vs AGM.

 

[Chris-380]

Fridges are great on shore power, they are set to 3 (out of 7 iirc). Always get to temp, regardless of shore or battery. I am confident I have run these down too far, just not paying attention to it.

it’s slowly done this. Originally I could make it a day, no issues

my thoughts on agm are
No maint
Free replacement after 2,3, or 4 years depending on which I choose.

Everyone on my dock with the interstates seem to get a couple years out of them. To be honest, I don’t mind paying extra, it’s more about the hassle of lugging 4 or 5 batteries to exchange every 2-3 years…. My last boat, after 2 years, Duracell deep cycles were shot too. Both would start find, just drain faster than when new

5 hours till they get drawn down seems very, VERY quick, even with normal wet cells. Generally, fridges don't actually draw much power because they only cycle a little bit once in a while to keep the temp proper... unless it's getting opened a lot. But someone would have to be opening the fridge and staring into it for a long, long time... and often. Does it seal well?

This isn't apples to apples because my 260DA only had a dorm-size fridge/freezer. But, I also only had one, group 27, DC battery and one starting battery. As an experiment, I once used only the DC battery and went 3 full days with only running the engine about an hour the whole time. The fridge stayed on the whole time, some stereo use, head/water system of course and the anchor light at night. On the last day, I was still able to start the engine as normal.

Do you get the fridges up to temp while still on shore power? Or, at least get them to temp while the engines are still running?

I don't really see your issue (assuming everything is working properly and the batteries are healthy) being a wet vs AGM issue. Generally speaking, even wet cells of proper size and style (DC/starting) should give you at least double the amount of years you have. I think there's another explanation here other than a simple wet vs AGM.

 

[fwebster]

My experience ......remember, this is Florida, very hot in the summer, 12 months a year use.....and my average in the first 2 years was 15 months on a set of flooded cell starting batteries. I figured I need to find a better way! So, I changed to Optima AGM's 20 years ago.....and I love them!

I am getting from 52 to 65 months out of a set of starting/house batteries. I change both banks at the same time (all 4 batteries). Our marina is an Interstate, Douglas and Optima dealer so they are in stock all the time and lugging them to the boat is just borrowing a mechanic's golf cart and driving them to the boat. I am getting 7-10 years out of the generator starting battery. I do not have a dual voltage refrigerator so we run the generator for an hour or so in the later afternoon to top off the battery charge and cool down t he freezer and refrigerator. I don't know if that is necessary because we turn off one bank when we anchor to be sure we have power to crank up the engines and we have never run the house bank down. Keeping the refrigerator, freezer and ice maker cool and t he batteries charged isn't a consideration in the late spring, summer and fall because we need to run the generator for air-conditioning anyway.

One advantage of AGM that I love is the safety aspect of no acid or fumes in the bilge. I even built a tool box into the top of my battery box and my tools stay rust free.

Make the change to AGM's and you will ask yourself why you waited so long!~

 

[Lazy Daze]

Hmmm. While I don't have personal experience with your setup, I'm very familiar with the general setup and know of plenty of people that have similar things. Around 5 years is the general concensus for wet cell battery life with all of them.

You have Interstate, which is an excellent brand -- for wet cells, there's Deka (who also makes Duracell) and Interstate... then everyone else. And, you've got other people in the area that are experiencing similar life as you. Hard to say why there's a difference from what you and dockmates are seeing compared to what I've seen.

That said... I like that free replacement thing and the safety aspect of AGM is certainly a nice bonus. Like you said, though, it's more about the hassle than the little bit more it would cost (in boat dollars, anyways ). But if you could pay a bit more and get at least another year out of them, that might be worth trying.

Running them down too far... OK, that makes sense as to why the lifespan was shortened. But how much better are AGM's at this than wet cells? I don't have the answer - just wondering outloud on that. However, with better battery management, you should be able to get more time out of the wet cells, for sure... and even more time out of the AGM's.

 

[Chris-380]

And I ain’t the best at checking water levels in the wet cell batteries. As I get older I am better. How often do you check your levels? I think the agm is better for me. Because of levels, and also running then down too far. I have heard 12 Volta is too far, which I am comfortable I have done that (or less) a number times

I def think I am to blame on this, probably the others on the dock also… lol

Hmmm. While I don't have personal experience with your setup, I'm very familiar with the general setup and know of plenty of people that have similar things. Around 5 years is the general concensus for wet cell battery life with all of them.

You have Interstate, which is an excellent brand -- for wet cells, there's Deka (who also makes Duracell) and Interstate... then everyone else. And, you've got other people in the area that are experiencing similar life as you. Hard to say why there's a difference from what you and dockmates are seeing compared to what I've seen.

That said... I like that free replacement thing and the safety aspect of AGM is certainly a nice bonus. Like you said, though, it's more about the hassle than the little bit more it would cost (in boat dollars, anyways ). But if you could pay a bit more and get at least another year out of them, that might be worth trying.

Running them down too far... OK, that makes sense as to why the lifespan was shortened. But how much better are AGM's at this than wet cells? I don't have the answer - just wondering outloud on that. However, with better battery management, you should be able to get more time out of the wet cells, for sure... and even more time out of the AGM's.

 

[fwebster]

Looking at/checking batteries? With AGM's I look at the terminals to check for corrosion about every 2.5 years.......never had to clean the terminals in 2o years....... other than that I never even look at them.

Did I say I love AGM's!~

 

[Chris-380]

Looking at/checking batteries? With AGM's I look at the terminals to check for corrosion about every 2.5 years.......never had to clean the terminals in 2o years....... other than that I never even look at them.

Did I say I love AGM's!~

That’s what I am looking for!!!

 

[Lazy Daze]

I'm, admittedly, not very religious on checking levels in my wet cells, either. A couple times a season, max. I've also never really paid attention to voltages, either. But then... I have 24/7 access to new ones should the need "surprisingly" arise Usually, though, like you're doing (actively paying attention), you tend to start to notice things are slowing down, first. I am, however, very "on top of" all electrical connections.

 

[Shoyrtt]

A little off topic but on the battery management issue, I bit the bullet earlier this year and went with lithium with a new charger/inverter. The Victron charger/inverter has been a real game changer with its monitoring capabilities. I believe it can be used with any battery. It comes with a digital gauge that I mounted on the breaker panel, but the phone app allows for instant information about the status. The app also can set an alarm at whatever point you want. We are on the hook right now. Here is the app screen:

 

[Craig]

We have 2 refrigerators, curious how long you guys are able to go before you your batteries start to get low, to need to start the genny or get on shore power.
what voltage do you get concerned at?

I keep both mine set on 3 and get about 18 hours to 50% charge of the 2 house 31's. That includes stereo and water/toilet usage. A bit less in mids 90s heat. I use victron battery monitor to track. On just a normal day trip I usually see 25/30% discharge. 1240 pronautic charger.

 

[sbw1]

We bought off the shelf AGM batteries from West Marine which happened to be what Tiara supplied from the factory. They were replaced at 7 years in spite of showing no loss of performance. The tech who serviced our boat boat told me the alternators would begin to wear prematurely as the batteries started to go, and the alternators on my boat are more expensive to replace than the batteries. The second set of batteries were 7 years old when I sold the boat and were still going strong. I believe the new owner is still using them. So, another AGM fan.

 

[Chris-380]

I keep both mine set on 3 and get about 18 hours to 50% charge of the 2 house 31's. That includes stereo and water/toilet usage. A bit less in mids 90s heat. I use victron battery monitor to track. On just a normal day trip I usually see 25/30% discharge. 1240 pronautic charger.

Really interested in adding something to monitor the batteries, which model did you get and what does info does it tell you

 

[bbwhitejr]

Most of us with diesels do not have dedicated house batteries. I have 2- fir each engine and 1-for the gen. Do you buy cranking batteries, deep cycle batteries, or dual purpose? I went with cranking batteries because we never draw them down…generator is cranked before the shore power is unhooked….

Bennett