Battery Questions for Boat

hablover · **Joined:** Sat Dec 27, 2014 9:43 pm **Posts:** 129

I just bought a 16 foot aluminum boat but it needs a new battery. I have a 40lb bow mount trolling motor with it plus a bilge pump, aerator for livewell, and fish finder. I would like to just have one battery for the whole boat.

I am a complete noob when it comes to different types of batteries. I have done research on google but I thought I would check to see if anyone here could offer some insight on where to get one, what type to get and what size would be sufficient for a day on the water.

I see Canadian tire has normal batteries and then AGM batteries for quite a bit more but are they worth it? And are there better places in the Quinte/Belleville area to buy batteries?

Thanks!

biff · **Joined:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:30 pm **Posts:** 451

you will find a ton of opinions about batteries on this forum. Everyone has their favorite. having 1 battery for everything is kinda risky unless your motor is pull start. Trolling motors will drain batteries fast if used for starting your mains.

For your trolling motor most isolate the troller from everything else on the boat. You may get interference on your fish finder if you hook it up to a troller battery. A pretty standard minimum configuration is 1 or 2 batteries for trolling motor and 1 for everything else such as big motor/FF/other electronics. If you use your troller a lot like i do, depending on the volts that it will run on, you may want more than 1 battery for that to have reserve capacity on extended use.

For types of batteries, i have 2 Odyssey for trolling motor, 1 Canadian tire AGM Ultra XD and 1 optima. Odyssey are fantastic batteries as i moved from Optima blue tops that died after 2 years. The CT Ultra XD is on its third year without issues, so far so good. The 1 optima is 7 years old (light duty)... Me personally i would go with Odyssey but just my opinion.

b

hablover · **Joined:** Sat Dec 27, 2014 9:43 pm **Posts:** 129

biff wrote:

you will find a ton of opinions about batteries on this forum. Everyone has their favorite. having 1 battery for everything is kinda risky unless your motor is pull start. Trolling motors will drain batteries fast if used for starting your mains.

For your trolling motor most isolate the troller from everything else on the boat. You may get interference on your fish finder if you hook it up to a troller battery. A pretty standard minimum configuration is 1 or 2 batteries for trolling motor and 1 for everything else such as big motor/FF/other electronics. If you use your troller a lot like i do, depending on the volts that it will run on, you may want more than 1 battery for that to have reserve capacity on extended use.

For types of batteries, i have 2 Odyssey for trolling motor, 1 Canadian tire AGM Ultra XD and 1 optima. Odyssey are fantastic batteries as i moved from Optima blue tops that died after 2 years. The CT Ultra XD is on its third year without issues, so far so good. The 1 optima is 7 years old (light duty)... Me personally i would go with Odyssey but just my opinion.

b

That is really helpful.
I have a battery that works but doesn't hold enough juice to use a trolling motor very long but I might just put the fish finder to that then.
Also my boat is a pull cord so I don't need it to start.

Where can you find odyssey batteries? Do you find there is a big difference in brands?
Thanks so much! That already puts me in a good direction!

biff · **Joined:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:30 pm **Posts:** 451

I found a big difference between Optima Blue tops and my current Odyssey setup. I spent 3 days on a lake up north on them and they barely moved. My Optima blues went dead after 4 hours on 2 years use. They are expensive, but i use mine a lot and don't want to worry about dead batteries when i need them.

FF's don't pull alot of juice so you might get away with that one battery for that purpose. I picked up my PC-2150 extremes from a guy in Kingston who had them shipped down. There might be a distributor in the Quinte area that someone else might know of. There is also the Odyssey canadian website: https://odysseybattery.ca/marine-rv-batteries/ might have something for you. Not sure if you need that caliber of a battery, but works good for my setup.

Roblin · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2015 6:53 pm **Posts:** 842

biff is right about the two batteries.

Mine has a dedicated trolling motor battery and a house battery. Everything except the trolling motor runs off the house battery.

The two batteries are connected with a Blue Sea Automatic Charging Relay(ACR). With an ACR installed, you can charge both batteries by charging either one. The ACR also protects your house battery from getting too low to start your motor.

If your interested in an ACR, Marine Outfitters has them at a good price. Easy to install.

As far as batteries, I'd get the biggest trolling motor battery that you can stuff in your boat. You can't have too much gas!

Kidding.

Seriously, I wouldn't skimp on your batteries. If you look at the manufactures info on you trolling motor, you should get an idea of your power needs. You also should consider everything that your running on your house battery.

Here's a little info that might be helpful. https://www.trollingmotors.net/blogs/se ... r-run-time

Like biff says, everyone has they're favorites. I buy my batteries from Magnacharge in Kingston http://www.magnacharge.com/

I've had good luck with them. They service they're batteries and are very knowledgeable on boating needs. They also carry most of the odd sized coin batteries, like remote batteries at a good price.

hablover · **Joined:** Sat Dec 27, 2014 9:43 pm **Posts:** 129

Thanks so much - this is all really helpful

biff · **Joined:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 6:30 pm **Posts:** 451

I second the Blue Sea ACR Roblin. I used that on a previous Lund and loved it, highly recommended. I elected to not go with the ACR on my new boat, but just use my kicker to charge my house with an on/off/combine between house and mains... but trollers are completely isolated.

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Battery Questions for Boat

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