Tired of cheap Batteries

[AZBoatDreamer]

Tired of cheap marine batteries lasting just less then two years.

What is your favorite Marine Battery and how long does it usually last?

What is the warrenty period for the battery you purchased?

Thanks.

 

[FastZR1]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

I don't know if I have a favorite but I get a couple years out of my batteries. Do you use a battery tender? I do and never really have premature battery troubles.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Tired of cheap marine batteries lasting just less then two years.

What is your favorite Marine Battery and how long does it usually last?

What is the warrenty period for the battery you purchased?

Thanks.

Your problem may be that you are buying "cheap" batteries. I know many love to go to Wallyworld and throw them out after a year or 2 but that's not cost effective in my mind.

I used to buy Sears Diehard batteries and always swore by them. Typically I got 8 or 9 years. These were lead acid batteries with typically a 60 month warranty. That equates to a "good" battery, not necessarily the top of the line.

Since getting into jetskis in the 1990's I switched to Deka AGM sealed batteries just for the convenience of not having acid spill. My oldest is now 8 years old, so I can't tell you how long it will last. So far, the level of charge it keeps and the time to recharge indicates its no where near needing replacement yet.

BTW, I don't believe in battery tenders. I check the voltage monthly in the off-season and charge them up if they need it or not, using a "smart charger". By charting the voltage after a month idle I can tell when they are nearing the end of their service life.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

I don't know if I have a favorite but I get a couple years out of my batteries. Do you use a battery tender? I do and never really have premature battery troubles.

A "couple" of years IS premature trouble.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

ive had walmart ones last 5 years and ive killed expensive ones at work in 3 days. batterys hate being run flat and if you want to finnish one realy quick just hook a 60amp fast charge then 150amp start boost to a flat generator battery start the generator and let the 100amp alternator kick its a gaurenteed way to kill batteries. other things that affect them are cold weather. if you lay your boat up for the winter then its a good idea to remove the batteries (place them on wood not concrete or metal floor-shelf) and leave a battery minder on them.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

buy an odyssey battery, best battery out there. however it will be double what you pay for wally world junk. also, short trips kill batteries. best thing is a start cycle followed by 15-20 minutes of charging.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

ive had walmart ones last 5 years and ive killed expensive ones at work in 3 days. batterys hate being run flat and if you want to finnish one realy quick just hook a 60amp fast charge then 150amp start boost to a flat generator battery start the generator and let the 100amp alternator kick its a gaurenteed way to kill batteries. other things that affect them are cold weather. if you lay your boat up for the winter then its a good idea to remove the batteries (place them on wood not concrete or metal floor-shelf) and leave a battery minder on them.

Not placing batteries on concrete is as obsolete as point style ignitions. When batteries had wood or hard rubber cases that was a true statement. It has not been a true statement for decades.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Buy Interstate. They won't let you down. 2 year warranty. Mine are 4 years old, not 1 issue. Knock on wood.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

i was always taught in uk garages that the concrete floor was always the coldest part of the workshop so the wood acted as a thermal barrier. maybe that is old school thinking now but its a hard habbit to break even now im in florida

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

The longevity of your battery is dependent on a number of factors other than where you bought it or who made it. For the record I'll refer to the neg pole of the battery as ground even though boats don't have grounds or earths so to speak so we use the battery to give us a the positive and negative. More appropriately its an on demand stored energy source with a difference in potential.

The way we renew the stored energy is by replacing it from an energy generation source. The alternator is the most common today. Alternators are mass produced and rather primitively because in most cases that's good enough for the normal everyday car or boat battery. However, in boats, wiring always seems to be a problem and maintaining a smooth clean load is not so easy. Corrosion is the most common but there are many causes for unstable loads. Dirty or corroded battery connections and the use of that crappy terminal grease are probably the biggest culprits. Leave them dry and clean them regularly.

This instability or sudden loss of load causes alternators to spike very high voltages and that's the number one killer of batteries. One common indication is a volt gauge that suddenly starts reading higher voltages than it was before. Under a normal load with a properly sized battery/alternator the voltmeter should never exceed 13.3 volts. These inexpensive alternators and the often just as whimpy regulators do not have the ability to know when to flood, charge and float a battery so they should never exceed safe charging voltages.

Since they are just good enough devices it's often deemed acceptable to have charging voltages in the 12.6 - 13.5v range. If your gauge is reading higher than that don't expect your batteries to last long if you don't fix the problem.

Mounting your batteries in the front instead of the rear of the boat does seem to make a difference in life also. It's reportedly because of the beating that they take and that's hard to discount considering that the batteries in my lifted F350 get beat to death and didnt last very long either. I switched to Oddysey's which are Gel Cells and haven't had any trouble since. I'm probably going to put them in my boats when the Rolls I have in them now finally give out. They are expensive and don't have any better warranty but the do charge very quickly unlike the thick plate Rolls traction batteries and they do seem to be able to withstand a lot of physical abuse.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Proper battery, proper maintenance.

Heat is a killer of batteries.
You are in Arizona.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Tired of cheap marine batteries lasting just less then two years.

Do you keep your batteries fully charged ALWAYS? Do you use a quality 3 stage charger? Are you letting them become discharged more than 50% if they are deep cycle and much much less if they are a starter type battery?

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Proper battery, proper maintenance.

Heat is a killer of batteries.
You are in Arizona.

Yep! With the heat here in South Florida, most boaters I have known consider 2 years to be good battery life.

Some may get more, but they are the lucky ones, not the rule.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Under a normal load with a properly sized battery/alternator the voltmeter should never exceed 13.3 volts. These inexpensive alternators and the often just as whimpy regulators do not have the ability to know when to flood, charge and float a battery so they should never exceed safe charging voltages.

Since they are just good enough devices it's often deemed acceptable to have charging voltages in the 12.6 - 13.5v range. If your gauge is reading higher than that don't expect your batteries to last long if you don't fix the problem.
.

Normal operating voltage (regulated) for a 12 volt auto/boat/truck system is 13.6 - 14.2 volts. Anythng less than that will result in a battery that NEVER reaches full charge. 12.6 volts loaded or unloaded is not charging. You cannot fix something that isn't broken. But yu certain can break something that isn't broken.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Yep! With the heat here in South Florida, most boaters I have known consider 2 years to be good battery life.

Some may get more, but they are the lucky ones, not the rule.

Temperature has a great deal to do with battery life. I'll bet batteries in your Florida cars don't last much beyond two years either. Up here in the tundra even a cheap battery will last five years. I just replaced the one in my 2006 Impala.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Normal operating voltage (regulated) for a 12 volt auto/boat/truck system is 13.6 - 14.2 volts. Anythng less than that will result in a battery that NEVER reaches full charge. 12.6 volts loaded or unloaded is not charging. You cannot fix something that isn't broken. But yu certain can break something that isn't broken.

Silvertip, you are correct. This is what we are told and have learned to accept. In reality the reading is an average between high and low spikes from the stator. That's a pretty broad range when you think about it. Voltage could actually be spiking well past 20v and have gaps all the way back to zero yet the gauge will show that its within specs. It simply can't react fast enough nor could you read it. If you isolate an O scope and take a look at what the alternator is putting out it becomes obvious that it's not even close to being clean.

It's not suprising that we accept it and just buy new batteries every couple of years or so. However, if you want them to last there are ways to clean that alternator output up and then charge the batteries correctly. They make a smart alternator regulator (SAR) that fixes the problem but they do not work well on outboard charging systems until you get into motor sizes that use a automotive hot style alternator. As motor vehicles advanced with the addition of sensitive electronics, the need for SAR type systems became obvious and so they are present in most modern vehicles. I've yet to come accross one that was factory installed on a boat.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Yes I buy walmart batteries and the Marine batteries only come with one year warrenty. I'm lucky to get two years out of them. Yes I live in AZ and the Batteries sit in the heat most of their life either in the boat or in the Garage. Our summers are long

In the off season is there is really an off season in AZ I hook them up to a Smart charger once a while to top them off.
Should I be doing this with a Float Charger instead? Am I just wasting money if I buy expensive Battieries? Are the 5 yr warrenty pro rated or 100% replaced during the 5 years from Sears.

Thanks all for the replies

 

[dingbat]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Am I just wasting money if I buy expensive Battieries? Are the 5 yr warrenty pro rated or 100% replaced during the 5 years from Sears.

Thanks all for the replies

Warranties are the big gotchas with batteries.

Most warranties are pro-rated such that we’re paying full price for a replacement after the first year. I use Optima in the vehicles since I get a free replacement for 3 years from date of purchase.

On the boat, I go back and forth between AC/Delco and Interstate deep cycle batteries. They both have a 12 month warranty, no pro-rate, but I’ve always gotten 4-6 years out of them so I can’t complain

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Yes I buy walmart batteries and the Marine batteries only come with one year warrenty. I'm lucky to get two years out of them. Yes I live in AZ and the Batteries sit in the heat most of their life either in the boat or in the Garage. Our summers are long

In the off season is there is really an off season in AZ I hook them up to a Smart charger once a while to top them off.
Should I be doing this with a Float Charger instead? Am I just wasting money if I buy expensive Battieries? Are the 5 yr warrenty pro rated or 100% replaced during the 5 years from Sears.

Thanks all for the replies

I'm of the opinion that you should only buy expensive batteries if your boat has a charging system that will support the correct charging cycles, (generalized terminology). If you don't, the finest battery you can buy won't last much longer.

There's several schools of thought about how to charge batteries in the off season but in reality there is only one proper way when dealing with standard lead acid batteries. That's the flood, charge, float method. Do battery tenders work? Well, sort of but you're actually better off letting them discharge to about 80% and then sending them through a normal charge cycle. The need to be dilligent about this is critical so most people opt for the tender because the end result is generally a fully charged battery but there will be some loss of life from overcharging as many have also found. You can read about that controversy in many threads here.

Here's the deal, a marine starting/deep cycle (combo) battery needs to be recharged when it reaches about 60%. A deepcycle lead/acid or AGM can go to 40% and a Gel can go to 20%. All batteries have a maximum number of charge cycles that they can withstand. For most lead acid it's 180-200. AGMS are about 120 and Gel's are closer to 100.

Think about it, if you only charge a battery when it truly needs it, you'll get far more use (life) from it then charging it all the time.

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Tired of cheap Batteries

Temperature has a great deal to do with battery life. I'll bet batteries in your Florida cars don't last much beyond two years either. Up here in the tundra even a cheap battery will last five years. I just replaced the one in my 2006 Impala.

You're right. Cars here in South Florida get about the same battery life. Every Sears battery I have bought (only for the car, not the boat) I've taken in for warranty replacement.

For the boat, I have always gotten my 2 years out of Interstate batteries and the price is good.