New Batteries

I just had my two deep cycle b

I just had my two deep cycle batteries test and both were charge from the trickle cell charge i had them on but failed as far as strenght left in the battery. I'm in the market for a quality batteries for the right price?What do u reccomend.I plan on putting my boat in within the next few weeks. If we get a cold snap below freezing at night will this kill/freeze my new batteries/engine???

"I would be hesitant, if I liv

"I would be hesitant, if I lived in New York, to put my boat in the water this early. We froze our motor a couple years ago and cracked the block. $2 grand later we got it going again. Too risky for me."

"Why deep cycle batteries?

"Why deep cycle batteries?
Freezing doesn't hurt batteries... ever start your car in the winter?
Maybe in the polar regions you'd have to consider keeping them above -20F or something.
Like Graham said, I'd be more worried about freezing an engine full of water.
An overnight frost, isn't going to cause you problems. It takes a lot longer for the bulk of water the boat is in to change temperature than the air to change temperatures. The engine compartment will stay pretty close to the water temperature.
A long freeze that freezes the water that the boat is in, is a problem.
Getting back to the deep cycle batteries...
For starting the engine, running loads on the boat, a deep cycle won't do any better than a regular old cranking battery, just cost more.
Deep cycle batteries need deep cycles to maintain their capacity. A quick drain to start an engine and then spend the rest of the time on a trcikle charge from the alternator is not a deep cycle.
A deep cycle is from completely charged to completely discarged (ie., dead)."

"The only reason why I was lea

"The only reason why I was leaning more towards the Deep cycle is because i'm running my fishfinder and gps, stereo, live well, running lights and spot light at a drift for a while sometimes. Especially if I go offshore. Trust me I'd love to spend less money but i'd hate to pay the price because of it."

"If you will have two batterie

"If you will have two batteries, then run one starting battery and one deep cycle battery for your accessories.

Cold isn't going to hurt the batteries, just make them less efficient until they warm back up. Cold in your motor on the other hand means popped freeze plugs, and unfortunately it's fairly rare that a freeze plug pops without cracking the block"

"Carl mentions a battery strat

"Carl mentions a battery strategy that a lot of folks, including myself do. (Except both my batteries are group 24 dual purpose batteries, $76 each at West Marine). If I'm using the boat often (2-3 times a week), I'll select the battery for the day based on odd or even day of the month... odd day - #1, even - #2.(Keeps me from having to remember which one I used last time and evens out the use well enough). So that battery is it for the day. I start the engine, run out to the fishing grounds, drift, fish, run a bunch of loads, move around, etc. then come home on that battery as well. Only once after drifting for about 5 hours without running the engine, did I have to switch to the other battery to start-up. In that case, I ran home on both batteries.
If it's been a couple weeks or so in between fishing trips, I'll start-up and run out on both batteries, then once I get there, I switch to the battery for the day. With the boat in the water and no shore power, I had to assume the bilge pumps would run some and drag the batteries down a little. (One pump per battery)
The key here is not to forget to switch to only one battery when you stop and fish!
I've rescued folks with two very dead, very large, deep cylce anchors... they forgot to switch to only one while the engine wasn't running... I think they were running a 12v blender too... they were a little more concerned about having run out of ice than being DIW about 10 miles out.

Using the deep cycle for the 'drifting battery' and the cranking for the starting/running battery works great, just don't forget to switch to the drifting battery only when drifting.
When I run out on both batteries, I try to put a lanyard or something over the ignition switch so that it reminds me to turn one of the batteries off when I shut the engine down and start drifting.
Oh, and just like car batteries about 4 years like this and they are just about toast. I have them staggered so every two years, I'm buying one new battery... 5 years with the boat...so far, so good."

I have had real good luck usin

I have had real good luck using Crown Walleye 1 batteries.They crank the engine and run all my gadgets with no problems at all.The set I'm using now are gonna be 5 years old.They run about 60 bucks a piece.850MCA.

"carl;
You may want to consid

"carl;
You may want to consider a battery isolator as used commonly in RV's. The idea here is that the accessory or "house" battery is isolated from the engine battery. No matter how discharged it gets the engine battery is unaffected. Then when the engine is running both batteries are automatically charged back up to snuff. Do a search for "rv battery isolator" and you will find tons of info. Isolators are readily available at Autozone or any RV dealer for less than $75.
A big advantage with this system is you don't have to remember squat about switching batteries. The system is completely automatic, and it doesn't care how many marguarita's you have! (Wish my wife was the same.....)
Rod"

"[url=""]Guest battery Isolato

"Guest battery Isolators , read note about part numbers at bottom of description.

Professional Mariner isolators"

"Andrew;
So I gather you can

"Andrew;
So I gather you can use the Mariner isolator, but not the Guest or similar units, is that correct?
Rod"

"Rod,

I'm not sure, I j

"Rod,

I'm not sure, I just wanted to point out that the Guest description does say when it is not suitable:
<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

Isolators rated for use with as low as 10 amp alternator to a maximum of 70 amps. For 6, 12, 24 and 32 volt negative ground systems. HOW TO DETERMINE IF AN ALTERNATOR HAS ISOLATION DIODES - With batteries connected, ignition (keys) "off" and battery switch (if you have one) "on", measure the voltage between the reg/aux/61 terminal and the engine block. Set meter on 20 volt scale. (If voltage reading is zero (0), there are isolation diodes). NOTE: Guest Isolators are NOT recommended for use with engines equipped with following alternators: Neihoff, Delco 10-SI series, Hitachi LR135-31 type 110 or type 106, Leese-Neville JB series. FOR ALTERNATORS WITH ISOLATION DIODES<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>"