Help me choose a cranking battery
My graphs are HB Helix 12 Mega SI at console and HB 1199 at bow. Dual Power Poles, 4 livewell pumps, 2 recirc pumps, 2 bilge pumps, LED deck lights & Hydrowave. Motor is 2000 175 HP EFI. As you can see, my boat has the potential to need a lot of juice. I only have room for 1 battery. My on board charger can be set to charge any style of battery... I want the BEST, what do you recommend??
Does your outboard have an alternator or stator?Originally Posted by Bartman
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
You will get plenty of responses on brands. I’d go with a group31 whatever you choose.
I have no clue lol. I think it has a stator?? 2000 Merc 175 EFI
According to "Google" I have a stator
I've used the odyssey pc2150 with no complaints. Trying a northstar battery this time to compare. They say they're some of best but definitely not the cheapest in price
If it has a stator, you need to watch your regulators for overheating. The bottom line is that your outboard charging system was not designed to handle a big electrical load like you have. Because of that, Mercury recommends against deep-cycle or AGM batteries with stator systems. Even if your charging system didn’t have overheating possibilities,it just doesn’t have that much charging capacity to meet the demands of your equipment.
IMO, it doesn’t matter what battery you use, the source of problems is the large electrical load from all the equipment. EFIs aren’t very demanding for cranking needs, so you can get by with a deep-cycle battery. An Everstart Maxx 29 is pretty close to the best you can get when considering warranty exchange availability. A Trojan SCS225 might be the king, but they aren’t widely available. You could go with one of the big AGMs, but you would only gain longer battery life at 3-4 times the price of the Everstart.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
Thank you for taking the time for a very detailed explanation. I'm aware of the regulators overheating. We about burnt my buddies boat up with his 200 EFI after fishing all day and making a 15 mile run back..... Just to clarify, Mercury says no for deep cycles but you feel it would be OK??
What year/model and brand of motor are you running?
It’s either use a big battery, don’t use any electronics or get a new motor. Option one will work, even though you are working the charging system harder than was planned for when it was built.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
I had a 225 Mercury EFI a few years back and got a Everstart Maxx 29 like was suggested above and it was flawless
Or option 3, get a new boat haha. That will come in 4 years when my son gets out of college... Thanks again. I'll give the Everstart Maxx 29 a try
Why would somebody build a bass boat motor that couldn't charge an AGM battery? Doesn't make sense to me.
AGMs weren't widely available when stator engines were built.
And they can charge an AGM just fine. The issue is more to do with the amount of charging they do than the battery type. The engines were designed to handle replacing the power used for cranking the engine and maybe running pumps and a flasher. Nearly constant running of the charging system at or near maximum capacity can result in overheating of the regulators.
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity,
nothing else matters.
The AGM was patented in 1972. The spiral cell AGM Optima battery has been around a long time. Johnson Controls bought Optima Batteries inc. in 1992. Looks like they have a shorter recharge time than a flooded wet cell lead acid battery. Shorter recharge time means higher current. Still seems to me an outboard charging system currently in production should be designed for this environment.
Bartman my motor was 250 pro xs that I used odyssey on. Sorry I didn't pay attention to motor you had
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