Deep Cycle Batteries

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Travy Miller on October 18, 2011 at 11:30am

optima's todd

 

Permalink Reply by Mike Floyd on October 19, 2011 at 1:48pm

I've had good luck with Interstates and they are reasonably priced.

Permalink Reply by Willie Parsons on October 19, 2011 at 5:03pm

I picked up some Deka batteries at Limit Out marine and they have proved to be very good so far. They seem to react very well to charging and hold up strong compared to the Interstate batteries I had before. Good luck with your choice.

Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on October 19, 2011 at 6:31pm

Deka's are a great choice, and very popular on the east coast. My cranking battery is a Die Hard Platinum which is a top end battery, and my other two are trojan's. The only problem I've ever had with a trojan was when a snapped a terminal post in very rough conditions on Lake Washington, but the strap broke, so it might not have been the batteries fault! Stay away from Interstate batteries, I've had two crack! My father runs the Walmart specials. They have a no questions asked return policy, so he just trades his out every year. I personally don't wan't to deal with that hastle.

Permalink Reply by William McMurry on October 19, 2011 at 6:40pm

i just run the wallies for now.... once i get my newer boat thou ill switch to a much better brand.

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on October 19, 2011 at 6:56pm

Chad gave the best advice; sorry but I can't support either Optima or Interstate as a recommendation.  Deka, Sears Die Hard Platinums, Trojans, Cabelas AGM, Odyssey (who makes the Sears Platinum) are all brands I would recommend.

 

If you fish tournaments, or big water and have to depend on your electric motor, you need a quality battery with as much Reserve Capacity (Minutes) as you can afford.  If you are meticulous and always keep your batteries charged (immediately after a trip) and you are good at watching your electrolyte levels, then a flooded cell battery offers the most Reserve Capacity for your dollar (like the Trojan SCS225).  If you sometimes procrastinate about charging, or don't check your electrolyte levels, or simply don't mind paying more for a battery with less maintenance, then spring for an AGM battery (like the Sears Platinum or Cabela's AGM).

 

Hope this helps.

 

ciao,
Marc Marcantonio

 

Permalink Reply by Steve Hastings on October 23, 2011 at 10:02pm

I recently replaced two batteries for my 3 battery 36 V system.   I replaced Trojan SCS225's with SCS225's after trying a Trojan 27TMX that I was sold by the Les Schwab at Banks Lake. Don't waste your time or money on the  27TMX.  As mentioned earlier its all about Reserve Capacity and unless you have an amazing amount of physical space, you cannot beat the SCS225.  I looked at the Les Schwab, Optima, Interstate, Napa, AC Delco, Sears, and the Cabelas AGM, but would have had to sacrifice anywhere from 45 to 85 minutes of Reserve Capacity.

As you are doing your shopping do not confuse  or be confused by sales staff. Some companies do not publish Reserve Capacity, and so the salesmen will try to equate something like Cold Cranking Amps aka. CCA or Marine Cranking Amps aka. MCA. For starting a big motor, you want to look high numbers for such things, but for running a trolling motor you want to focus on Reserve Capacity. 

Reserve Capacity is measured in minutes to deliver 25 amps to a load.  Example, it's common to see something like 180minutes @25 amps. Here is a list of common batteries comparing their reserve capacity. 

All Batteries lists are Group 27 size, which is the physical dimensions of the battery and commonly accepted in most boats.

 

Trojan SCS225 is 225 minutes at 25 amps 

Optima D27F is 140 minutes at 25 amps

Cabelas Advanced Angler AGM is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

Interstate SRM-27B is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

AC Delco DCM27SMF  160 minutes at 25 amps.

Sears Die Hard 27524  is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

Les Schwab RV Deep Cycle is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

 

Now keep in mind there are optional BCI or Group sizes that can produce better, so measuring your available space is a smart idea. Example its common for a Group 31 to fit in most boats and some of the group 31 batteries will come closer to the Trojan SCS225. There are some tractor and industrial batteries that were pretty good, but focus on Reserve Capacity and don't get sucked into the "Wow look at all the cold cranking amps"

Always re-charge your batteries as soon as possible following use. There is nothing that will reduce life of your batteries quicker than sulfation build up cause by not re-charging immediately.

 

Good Luck

Permalink Reply by Todd Parker on October 24, 2011 at 7:40am

Thanks Steve, great information!

Steve Hastings said:

I recently replaced two batteries for my 3 battery 36 V system.   I replaced Trojan SCS225's with SCS225's after trying a Trojan 27TMX that I was sold by the Les Schwab at Banks Lake. Don't waste your time or money on the  27TMX.  As mentioned earlier its all about Reserve Capacity and unless you have an amazing amount of physical space, you cannot beat the SCS225.  I looked at the Les Schwab, Optima, Interstate, Napa, AC Delco, Sears, and the Cabelas AGM, but would have had to sacrifice anywhere from 45 to 85 minutes of Reserve Capacity.

As you are doing your shopping do not confuse  or be confused by sales staff. Some companies do not publish Reserve Capacity, and so the salesmen will try to equate something like Cold Cranking Amps aka. CCA or Marine Cranking Amps aka. MCA. For starting a big motor, you want to look high numbers for such things, but for running a trolling motor you want to focus on Reserve Capacity. 

Reserve Capacity is measured in minutes to deliver 25 amps to a load.  Example, it's common to see something like 180minutes @25 amps. Here is a list of common batteries comparing their reserve capacity. 

All Batteries lists are Group 27 size, which is the physical dimensions of the battery and commonly accepted in most boats.

 

Trojan SCS225 is 225 minutes at 25 amps 

Optima D27F is 140 minutes at 25 amps

Cabelas Advanced Angler AGM is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

Interstate SRM-27B is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

AC Delco DCM27SMF  160 minutes at 25 amps.

Sears Die Hard 27524  is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

Les Schwab RV Deep Cycle is 180 minutes at 25 amps.

 

Now keep in mind there are optional BCI or Group sizes that can produce better, so measuring your available space is a smart idea. Example its common for a Group 31 to fit in most boats and some of the group 31 batteries will come closer to the Trojan SCS225. There are some tractor and industrial batteries that were pretty good, but focus on Reserve Capacity and don't get sucked into the "Wow look at all the cold cranking amps"

Always re-charge your batteries as soon as possible following use. There is nothing that will reduce life of your batteries quicker than sulfation build up cause by not re-charging immediately.

 

Good Luck

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on October 24, 2011 at 7:04pm

Don't limit yourself to the Group 27 battery just because your boat has Grp 27 trays.  They are easy to remove and install Grp 30 or 31 trays as long as you have the physical space for them.

 

ciao,

Marc Marcantonio

Permalink Reply by Steve Hastings on October 25, 2011 at 10:10pm

@ Panic,  thanks for the tip on kibbeys, I was not familiar with them.

@John G,

Thanks glad to help.

No doubt the Trojans and the AGM's are more expensive. I paid about $180.00 each with cores at Anglers Marine.  AGM's are a little more, and Group 31's  will generally go over $200 a piece.

But for those of us that fish in wind, wind blown water, and heavy current, running out of battery mid day is not fun, and that is exactly what happened to me.  I'd rather lose use of the big motor than my trolling motor.(I've had to use my trolling motor to get from near the job corp dike at Potholes to the state park)

A little math for ya. If you have a reserve capacity of 225 minutes at 25 amp, as compared with lets say 180 minutes at 25 amp, you get 45 minutes per battery in your system of delivering up to 25 amps into the load. So the difference is 2 hours and 10 minutes difference.  Now of course in most cases you are not on the motor continuously, but in the River, or in the wind you just might be, and it can make the difference in your day. 

These are theoretical estimates but I suspect you get the idea.  Also Note in my earlier email, my system is a 3 battery 36 volt system, which means one of my trolling motor batteries also acts as a starting battery. Trolling motor is a 36v 101 Maxxum.  In a 4 battery system you may get away with a lesser battery.

And no I am not sponsored.

 

Permalink Reply by Chris Blandi on October 26, 2011 at 11:52am

Thanks for dropping some Knowledge Steve.  Very helpful for many I'm sure !

Permalink Reply by Steve Hastings on October 26, 2011 at 4:07pm

Panic,

Thanks for the followup.  Unfortunately Ampere-hour aka. Amp hour aka. Ah is another rating altogether.  It can be a very valid way to measure the battery from the perspective of how long the charge lasts also. The problem with it, it takes some calculation on the part of the buyer, and paying close attention to the numbers involved.

 

The calculation looks like this.   A X h =Ah . So for your number of 105 Ah, its the product of the Amps and  hours. So if you want to do a comparison, you need one of the other numbers, either the amps or the hours to go along with your 105 to do a comparison.

 Example, if you were to look at the Trojan SCS225, they publish on their website an Ah rating of 130Ah for 20hrs. which if you calculate, 130Ah/20hrs=6.5Amps. This means the battery will deliver 6.5 amps for 20 hours into a load. In contrast the Interstate listed above will deliver 5 amps for 20.4 hours or 102Ah, and in comparison with the Trojan, 102ah/6.5 amps = 15.69 hours which is approximately 21.5% less duration at 6.5 Amps than the Trojan.

 

So if one wants to use Ah to compare, it has its merits, but just requires some calculating and using the correct numbers.

Again, my message is not that Trojan is the only alternative, its really is not, Its just knowing what you are buying, and to help answer Todd's question, without telling him there is only one choice.

The reality is, the hardest part of the question is impossible to answer. "will it do what I want it to do" and that varies based on the trolling motor, the conditions, your wiring, do you run around all day on High or on low, etc.  So trying to find someone with very similar setup, and mimic what they are doing goes a long way in my book. For my Basscat, the trojans were required, for my tracker, Les Schwabs did great, in my RV the interstate Megatrons lasted 5 years, which is proof what keeping them charged does.

 

Laters,

Steve

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