Battery charging question/advice

[Cricket Too]

I have 3 batts on my boat, 2 starting and one house. Bought the boat this year and realized the PO had 690CA Deep Cycle batteries in it, all 3 are the same and they're Interstate's. It has twin '04 Evinrude DI's on it and they require 1,000CA for starting, so I am going to replace the batts..

My question is should I just replace the 2 that I use for starting/cranking and leave the one deep cycle for the house battery or should I just replace all 3 with all of the same type batts?

My starboard engine will charge the house batt if I put the house batt switch to ALL, so usually on the trip back in I will run the house batt on ALL to charge, so my concern is having that engine charge two different types and CA batts.

The new cranking batts have 135Ah reserve and the deep cycle that is in there has 140Ah of reserve, so it 's not a night and day difference, but I know the deep cycle will handle being charged and discharged better....although it rarely gets too discharged. I only run a depth finder, VHF and AM/FM radio off of it when sitting. Both sets of batts are Group 24, not that it makes a difference.

Just seeing if it's worth it to save $130 and only buy 2 batts for cranking instead of 3 batts. The deep cycle's that are in there now are fine, only a year old, just wondering about the charging thing with 2 different CA batts really. Will it do any harm to my starboard engine to charge two different batteries with two different CA ratings?


Thanks.

 

[jerryjerry05]

Re: Battery charging question/advice

No need to buy a 3rd battery.
The 2 for starting is all you need.
I have 2 and use the one I'm running on to operate the DF/radio/VHF.
The 3 don't hardly use any juice, I've never had a battery go dead after using it all day.
The `1000 CCA is way strong enough to do anything you need.
The motor doesn't know or care what it's charging. It's meant to put out a certain charge and it doesn't matter if it's hooked to one or all.
I start and run out on both or all and then set it to #1 for fishing.On the way back in I again put it on all to charge on the way back in.
Certain areas are harder on batteries, Fl. they expect them to live 3 years.So far I have one that's 3 and another that's 5.
Regular maint. and water checks make them last.

 

[Cricket Too]

Re: Battery charging question/advice

Thanks jerry. The boat needs a separate house batt, as that is how all the electronics are wired, nothing in the boat will run off the starting batts. It's a 28' Grady so the house is also set up to run the fridge, washdown, livewell, fresh water system, etc...

I rarely run the fridge, if ever, and the pumps are only run when needed every now and then, so the house batt never gets drained all that much.

But it sounds like by what you say that there is no need for me to have an identical battery for the house as the engine doesn't care if one is a 1,000CA and one is a 700CA.

That was my real concern was charging two different at the same time, but now that I think about it other than the CA they put out they are basically identical. Same make, both Group 24, both 12V...just one puts out 1,000CA and one 700CA, but I doubt the engine cares.

Thanks.

 

[V153]

Re: Battery charging question/advice

Beside maintaining water level & keeping connections clean. Something else you can do to extend battery life is charge them periodically with a "smart" charger that has a 'Recondition' (Desulfate) mode.