Starting battery

[Ghostshad]

I gota get a starting battery. Can anyone recommend a Good Hot starting battery that cold weather won't kill? That's got plenty of cranking amps.

[GRiver]

I have given up on batteries…..I just get the Walmart cheap marine starting battery anymore. I think they are engineered not to last but a day or two past warranty.

 Cold weather is brutal, I mean beat down brutal on them if ya don’t keep some kind of battery tender on them.

 

[Jig Man]

There aren’t many battery manufacturers.  Several brands are produced by the same company.  Just get a marine cranking battery and keep it charged.  Check your motor manual for recommended ccas.  Then get a battery with more.

[Way2slow]

There is not a battery made on this planet that will not self-discharge, regardless of the weather.  Sitting in a boat in a hot location, they are going to self-discharge even faster.  If not stored on a maintainer, most have to be recharged a minimum of every two months, some even sooner.  Storing them in a cool, dry location helps, but a good maintainer is almost a must.  Note is said a good maintainer, a lot of maintainers are nothing but junk.  Like fishing lures, make to catch the fisherman, not the fish.  Also, a battery needs to be cycled periodically, just sitting for long extended periods on a maintainer, the cells will still start to breakdown.  

[Bankc]

Get an AGM.  They handle the cold better than gel cell, lead acid, or even lithium.  And they have higher cold cranking amps, usually.  

As for brand, as other's have noted, it doesn't really matter.  The chemistry behind them is old, proven, and standardized.  There aren't that many manufacturers out there anyway.  One might have a better warranty than others, but if you've ever tried to make good on a battery's warranty, then you'll know that warranties aren't worth much more than the paper they're written on.  Last time I had a battery die prematurely (two years into a three-year warranty), my "warranty" was worth about $15 toward the purchase of a new battery.   

[MN Fisher]

16 minutes ago, Bankc said:

Get an AGM.  They handle the cold better than gel cell, lead acid, or even lithium.  And they have higher cold cranking amps, usually.  

Just make sure it's rated as a starting battery - some aren't, they're for deep-cycle use only.

[WRB]

Deep cycle marine battery come in 3 types.

1. Deep cycle for trolling motor use.

2. Marine cranking battery for starting you engine.

3. Dual use Deep Cycle and Cranking battery.

Aviod #3.

Tom

[Way2slow]

I'm just the opposite, #3 known as a Dual-Purpose battery, I buy the biggest, baddest one I can for my cranking battery.  I run everything but the TM off my cranking battery.  Cranking batteries and not designed to handle much discharge, they are designed to give a high surge current for a short time.  The cells in a Dual-Purpose battery have a small grid section for the high current surge and then a more dense or even solid plate section designed to handle the discharge your pumps, and other stuff are putting on it all day. 

I don't think there's an outboard made that puts more demand on a cranking battery than the old 225 Ficht and other Evinrude DFI V-6s and I ran one for 10 years, never having a problem with it not cranking.

[gim]

On 10/18/2022 at 5:38 AM, GRiver said:

I think they are engineered not to last but a day or two past warranty.

 Cold weather is brutal, I mean beat down brutal on them if ya don’t keep some kind of battery tender on them.

I just replaced my original cranking/starter battery that came with boat from 2015 in May with a new Duracell one.  The original was a standard interstate cranking one, maybe 100 bucks.  I only use my batteries for 6 months because we have this thing called winter up here and the lakes have ice.  I always fully charged them and then periodically used a maintainer in the off season.

 

My point is, if you take care of the battery, even in cold temps, it should last a lot longer than the warranty it has.  If you're only getting 1 or 2 days beyond the warranty out of your battery, something is wrong and its user error, not because the battery is junk.  My boat has a main power switch that I turn off so there isn't any chance of a slow discharge when they are not in use.

 

Technically, a guy could just buy one of those standard batteries every year and take it back in for a replacement under warranty if you had the will power to do so.  That way you'd always have a battery less than a year old and you'd only have to pay for the original purchase of it (plus your time and gas to haul it back for replacement of course).

[WRB]

Group 24 Marine AGM cranking battery will start your cold OB.

If you are using the cranking battery for a house battery to run higher amp draw electronics and livewell pumps all day  a Group 34M marine dual purpose works or a house battery.

Deep cycle Group 31 for trolling motor use.

Depends on space, weight and budget.

Tom

[GRiver]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

  If you're only getting 1 or 2 days beyond the warranty out of your battery, something is wrong and its user error, not because the battery is junk. 

Sorry for the misunderstanding Gimruis, I was being sarcastic about them lasting 1-2 days after warranty. It seems if you by a 12 month battery they last 12 months plus 1 or 2 more days and they go ka- put.  24 month battery or 60 month battery … you look at the paper work and your like “ #&$% it , I bought it yesterday 24 months ago” 

when I live wren it got cold and I put my boat away for the winter, I started pulling my batteries and putting tenders on them for the winter in my shop.