New battery advice for 185 sport 4.3mpi

[adamgll]

what kind of battery do you recommend? Can I get away with 100amp hour? Deep cycle or regular car starting battery.

Thanks

 

[wreckless123]

Must be a deep cycle marine battery if you dont want to be stranded on the water. You dont have to go to the dealer, they will be overpriced. Something like this would work.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/optima_products/bluetop/index.php

 

[tdappleman]

I purchased mine with 3 Interstate dual purpose wet cells - after only 2 years they would run down pretty quickly. A day on the water with the fridge and stereo and they would sometimes struggle with starting the engines - to the point the VHF low battery alarm would sound. It was also a pain to check the water level due to their location in the engine room. After some research, I just installed the Carquest NGT Extreme marine batteries and am very happy. Completely maintenance free finally! I've run the NGT's in a couple of cars and also have the Optima in a couple with no issues - I think the AGM technology is the way to go.

http://www.carquest.com/common/downloads/partsBatteriesCQ_NGT.pdf

 

[Kermit]

I also feel AGM is the way to go. I currently have an Optima Yellow top in my 4x4 with excellent results. I was at Sam's Club today and they carry the Duracell brand AGM batteries. I have no idea of their durability, etc but the Marine deep cycle/starting ones were only $99 for the group 34 units.

 

[adamgll]

I am a bit upset, the boat is almost brand new with less then 30hours and the battery is dead. The boat was boat new in 2010 but it's an 2008 model So I am sure the battery was killed in that span. In 2010 winter it was maintained really well. (charged monthly)

In my old boat I had a voyageur camper battery a bit of a hybrid and it lasted more then 5 years with zero maintenance and plenty of abuse.

To replace the voyageur battery I bought a bright yellow car battery with asian writing all over (I won't lie it looked veryyy chinese) and it was an amazing lil battery.

I personally find optima battery overpriced junk. But $100 battery to last 4-5 years is worth it.
Thanks for all the input.

 

[tdappleman]

The Optima may be a little overpriced to some but you can hardly call it junk.

 

[Merge360]

Just bought two of these to install with a Perko switch in my Sport195....

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02850134000P

 

[blaster]

I've used a lot of different batteries with various boats and cars and rv's. I have been using wal mart batteries with no problems. I used to spend money on a high dollar battery but now I go the value route. My marine starting battery was $59 and after 5 years I replaced it to be safe but it was working and tested strong. That battery replaced a 4 year old optima that died which everyone said I needed. I also had a trojan marine battery which lasted 4 years and was pretty expensive for a wet cell. I always keep a well charged jumper just in case but I have only jump started other boaters who are dead in the water.

 

[tcason]

I installed two of the batteries below.
Same spec as marine battery but 4 year warranty.

DieHard Automotive Battery, Platinum P-1 - Group Size 34

 

[adamgll]

I've used a lot of different batteries with various boats and cars and rv's. I have been using wal mart batteries with no problems. I used to spend money on a high dollar battery but now I go the value route. My marine starting battery was $59 and after 5 years I replaced it to be safe but it was working and tested strong. That battery replaced a 4 year old optima that died which everyone said I needed. I also had a trojan marine battery which lasted 4 years and was pretty expensive for a wet cell. I always keep a well charged jumper just in case but I have only jump started other boaters who are dead in the water.

Thank you, This is why I say optima is Junk. (Junk because they are overpriced for the performance you get, they are not inferior to anything, but they are not superior)

Wal-mart batteries and costco batteries are very good and cheap

 

[floriduramax1]

Optima batteries used to be very good. We stopped being a dealer for them 4-5 years ago. They went downhill for some reason. They would deliver us fresh batteries and within a couple weeks sitting on the shelf they would be very low to dead. The only AGM batteries that seem to last with deep discharging and rapid re-charging cycles is Lifeline. They are pricey, but they are very good with a very good warranty.