Marine Battery

"For an inboard which starting

"For an inboard which starting battery manufacturer do yo prefer? Also is a deep cycle battery worth having? Thanks,"

"A cranking battery is differe

"A cranking battery is different from a deep cycle battery. Cranking requires high current capacity and accessories (connected to a deep cycle) need reserve power, rated in Amp-Hours. Two different animals. The Interstate cranking battery works great, or if you prefer, Optima makes some really good ones that have other benefits.

BTW, deep cycle means going down to about 10 Vdc, not killing it completely."

"A deep cycle in the place of

"A deep cycle in the place of a cranking battery won't last any longer (4-5 years) than the significantly less expensive cranking battery.
Since they are larger, deep cycles have more chemical energy available to be converted into electrical energy, therefore have a higher capacity (amp-hours) or (rate of current flow for some period of time).
A cranking battery has only to 'shoot it's load', hopefully just once, then it's back on the charge cycle. Although they have less capacity, the plates are slightly different so that they can develope a lot of instantaneous power, but not for very long, therefore are rated at how much current they can produce (cold-cranking-amps).
(Notice there is no 'hours' in there).
When a battery discharges, sulfates from the electrolyte (acid) are deposited on the lead and lead oxide plates. This chemical process spits out electrons. When either all the sulfates are driven out of the electrolyte solution or all the surfaces of the plates are covered with sulfates, the battery is dead.
When electrons are forced back into the battery (in the opposite direction, by raising the terminal voltage above the battery's voltage), the reaction is reversed and sulfates are driven from the plates, back into solution.
It's not a perfect process. Crater pits are formed and treeing and mossing take place, all detrimental to the number of times the battery can undergo the reactions until it's dead dead.
The rate at which the battery is charged and discharged can help minimize these adverse affects. Generally, the faster you can discharge it, or the faster you can charge it, is better. A higher rate of charge and discharge, within limits (heat is produced in both reactions), promotes circulation of the electrolyte which helps evenly distribute, and evenly remove the sulfates on or from the plates; which improves the battery's service life. (Keep in mind this has nothing to do with how much power the battery provides and for how long, that is solely a function of the battery's size... and therefore cost.)
A 'cranking' battery is typically never heavily discharged and spends most of its operating life getting charged at a relatively slow rate. That's why after a few years, car and boat batteries alike, are just plain used up. The plates get shorted together through treeing and mossing, and no matter what you do with it, you just can't get it to hold a charge. That's the nature of the beast, and with some limited returns on cost versus improved performance or service life, to date no has come up with anything better.
A deep cycle in its place certaintly won't hurt anything, it'll just cost more. And unless you're planning on spending extended periods (like overnight with a bait well pump running) with the engine off, a deep cycle won't give you any better performance for starting your engine. In this latter case, you're best off with two batteries... on eof each:
- On the way to the fishing grounds, the battery switch is in 'both' to charge both batteries.
- Once you're there, switch to the deep cycle. (Don't forget, if you kill them both, you're screwed!)
- When you're done, switch to the cranking battery, fire it up and go home."

Troy:

That was by far the b

Troy:

That was by far the best battery explanation I've ever read! It's a keeper.

Jeff