battery amps

8122pbrainard wrote: David, It sure sounds like you go through plenty of batteries! What do you contribute that to?

We do go through plenty of batteries and we contribute that to about 35-40 battery on our farm and toys. And we have had all different brands though out the years. Interstate, Napa, Excide, Deka, Optima, Wal-mart, etc. There all ok, some better than others. We have machines that are called shakers, they literally shake themselves to broken welds. We watch the water, keep them charged, harsh conditions, its 100-110*F when where using it. OEM battery on another machine (no vibration) Napa Legend failed in 3 years. Diesel deep well engine came with high dollar batteries (forgot the brand) failed about 3 years. I went through 3 Interstate batteries in my truck under warranty, the AGM batteries are 4-5 years old and still going strong. Tractor with good sealed battery went out in about 3.5 years. When I bought my boat, the optima battery was almost 10 years old. There are better mouse traps. My Dirtbike has a Li-ion battery and its 2 years old, so far so good.
Batteries fail because of vibration, lack of water, heat, cold, not being charged, and being built cheap. etc. I'm also not perfect when it comes to exact mainatiance like the manufacturers want me to be. AGM battery gets me a better mouse trap.

David,
It sure sounds like you go through plenty of batteries! What do you contribute that to?

On our farm we have switched to AGM batteries. AGM= Absorbed Glass Mat. You get what you pay for. These are NOT Gel batteries like Optima. They do not need special chargers. You will find that the "dual purpose or marine" battery" is both a start and deep cycle. The technology has been around for a long time (I think the 80's, they went into tanks). Our parts house carries Exide on the shelf, and a few Deka's. We started to use the Exide AGM but we were getting old batteries from the Exide warehouse. (older than a year). We now only buy Deka AGM batteries for everything. No more adding water, if i forget to charge a battery "once a month" its not a big deal because AGM does not discharge itself (its very slow). Come to think about it we don't have corroded battery cable either. AGM is made for harsh conditions. They last a long time. Do a little research and you will see they are a much better battery.

When it comes to CCA, act like a farmer, "if a little is good, more is better". (same for grease, silicone, tape, Horsepower, most things in life.)

I am installing a second battery with a selector switch. I always had two batteries on any boat I owned. Glad to see I don't need a deep cycle battery. I hate Murphy's law.

Pete, I wouldn't recommend an exide to anyone. I went through 1 a year for 4 years until I got tired of returning it under warranty and bought the one that's still in the 86. Don't think it was your batter too large just s terrible battery to start with.

Zach,
All I can say is you have better luck with batteries than I do. I went through 3 1000 amp Exides in 5 years in my X55. Then I did some research and found out about the plate support being skimped on for more lead. Guessing, the battery that's in it now is at least 10 years old!!

Just use the old one out of your car,someone will have a tool box you can use which will open up a world of other opportunities.

As a foot note, i agree, dont get one that has too many amps in a small package.   Largest case that will fit in battery box

Wow, 1,000 is much more than double what CC recommends. Manual calls for 380. I'd probably shop for something around 400-500.

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/Downloads/1991_Ski_Nautique_Owners_Manual.pdf

Don't get a marine deep cycle battery. A standard automotive battery is what you want. The deep cycle battery is designed for slow discharge...like on a trolling motor. The higher amp draw for starting is hard on the deep cycle batteries.

JQ