mackkie Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 Hey guys, I have done some searching on this site and google, but im not finding what i am looking for...a good recommendation as to what replacement battery i should get. Currently, I am using a trickle charger (I heard these are not good for batteries??) to charge up my batteries. The charge in my trolling motor will only last for about 30 minutes before she starts losing power/dies on me. That tells me its time for a replacement. I looked on BPS and cabelas for a deep cycle marine battery, and they have got mixed user reviews. Can someone out there recommend me a good battery (that is rather affordable) that i should use? Any help/links/advice is appreciated. Thanks Quote
Garnet Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 The ? is battery or charger or both. Check water in your battery and charge full. Get a multi meter and test battery should be 13.25 volts. plug in battery charger and test again should be more than 13.25. Nothings changed with lead/acid batterys so the heavest battery is the best. I worked in a battery manufacturing plant and Wally World and Cosco are made cheaper than Interstate, Power Surge, Delcos so you get what you pay for. Garnet Quote
jim payne Posted June 17, 2008 Posted June 17, 2008 If you have a local battery company you might want to go make friends with them and see how they treat you and if your not happy with them then alot of anglers go to Wal Mart just because of the warranty you get so check them both out and make your choice from that. These boards you can get what works for one but not another and it can get real testy about how others see what batteries are best so if you support your local guys you might find out what works best for you. Good luck. Quote
sneaker Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 I recommend you get rid of that trickle charger first. The 'smart chargers' manufactured in the last 6 years start charging the battery at 20-30 amps until the battery is 75% charged, and then fall back to 2-6 amps for the rest of the charge cycle. The battery is charged in about 10 hours. A trickle charger delivering 1-2 amps will require 4-5 days to charge a single 100 A/H battery. If you have a 24 volt motor, double the time. As you can see, you may never get the battery fully charged, and operating the system with partially charged batterys will shorten the battery life. In the above scenario (2 batterys) the second battery sits around dishcharged for a week before it gets started on the charger, hardening the sulfate coating on its plates and deteriorating the capacity of the battery. Any charger you get should completely charge a battery in 24 hours. So a charge current of at least 5 amps is required. I would go for 10 amps minimum. Good luck Quote
rondef Posted June 18, 2008 Posted June 18, 2008 I bought a Sears Diehard deep cycle marine battery this year and I am real happy with it. Quote
mackkie Posted June 18, 2008 Author Posted June 18, 2008 I bought a Sears Diehard deep cycle marine battery this year and I am real happy with it. Great - thats the info i was looking for! It seems like i will first need to look into a new battery charger and see if i really need a new battery. Based on the above post, it seems like trickle chargers are no good. Quote
Socalbassmaster Posted June 19, 2008 Posted June 19, 2008 I just got a new batt at Wal Mart the have a great 18 month warranty and if you use the heck out of them thats about what you get out of them I love it last all day for me and wal mart also sells Minn Kota seels a 2 bank charger for 100.00 it works great plug it in when you get home and leave it pluged in till you go out again it only charges when the batteries drop so it keeps them full Quote
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