Battery Question (trolling motor on a canoe)

[Tokyo Tony]

Hey guys, a couple questions specific to using a trolling motor on a canoe.

I have a 15' canoe with a flat back, with a 30 lb thrust trolling motor. I usually have to get a new battery each year, and I only get a new one when the last one is totally dead. I'm wondering how to get more life out of my batteries - I think I'm charging them wrong.

I just bought a deep cycle trolling battery, 115 amp hours, 720 marine crank amps, 600 cold crank amps. First of all, what the heck does that mean? I'm pretty sure that's a good battery for my situation (the guy at Wal-Mart was 100% clueless).

Are these batteries charged when you buy them, or should I charge it a bit before tomorrow?

My charger is made for cars (I think). It has three settings: 2 amp, 4 amp, and 200 amp. Should I charge with 2 or 4 amps, and for how long? I read that I should charge the battery immediately after use to extend the life...I assume that's correct.

I think that's all. I appreciate any advice you all have

[Team_Dougherty]

That battery is more than enough for a 30LB motor. you should put the battery on a charger when you buy it. You should also buy a fully automatic charger made for deep cycle batteries. You should charge it with 10amps, 20 amps max. A fully automatic charger will start with the full rated current and taper down to under an amp when the battery get near full charge and will turn off when fully charged. It will then monitor the state of charge and turn on to keep the battery topped up. The battery should be on this charger when ever you are not using it to get maximum life out of the battery.

read here for the answers to your other questions.

www.batteryfaq.org

[Tokyo Tony]

Cool, thanks for the info. Just ordered one online, should be here in a few days. That should take care of things  8-)

[Splat]

115amp hour basically means you can either

A: draw 1 amp for 115 hours

or

B: Draw 115amps for 1 hour

Bill