Does anyone have experience using a commercial battery for a cranking battery? I was at Sams Club and they didn't have any cranking batteries available but did notice the numbers on a commercial are pretty good. It was a East Penn made Duracell group 31 with 1140 MCA and i want to say around 900 cca. The cost was also only 100 dollars. Are they just charging more for the marine cranking batteries because they have "Marine" stamped on them? Labels aside this battery looks like it's a deal.
Last edited by Jaxstix; 04-15-2018 at 11:21 AM.
My self and fishing partners are using this battery. Third year now, no issues. Love it!
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NBE7234
I would look at the date decal to make sure it is not old stock. Take a multimeter and have the current voltage checked too.
I see no issues with using a commercial battery in a marine application.
USN Retired
2020 Basscat Caracal
2020 Mercury 225 ProXS 4s
I have seen a handful of guys that said they run commercial batteries for starting. I myself just picked up the exact battery your talking about but haven’t got out to the lake yet with it.
1995 Ranger 487VS / 1998 Mercury 200 EFI
I am betting they will work well, we had a fire alarm system in a building we built that required a massive amount of battery backup and those are the batteries they used. I believe the system used 8 or 10 of them, we were all discussing how we would like to have them for our boats.
Bullet 21XD, 250 PRO XS
I have this same battery in mine.Originally Posted by Esox Z518C
Going into year four with my Deka/Napa 31 commercial battery
2019 BCB Classic
Merc V8 200 4S
I got this battery last year and am a really big fan of it!
Phoenix 721 - Yamaha SHO 250 - 8' Blades
Starting year 3 with the exact Duracell commercial (rebranded Deka) purchased at Sam's Club the OP looked at. Works fantastic, and less than 1/3 the cost of the high cca AGMs (in addition to the fact that my motor is suggested not to be run with AGMs).
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
Thanks guys. Looks like the discount may be because it doesn't have Marine stamped anywhere on the label. With a year warranty i'll try it out. The specs beat a lot of the marine starting batteries out there.
Jaxstix, hope you don't mind but I have a question about these batteries.
I love the numbers on the battery but is there any concern with how much bouncing around can happen on the water? I have a freshwater boat but also have a salt boat, a Maritime Skiff, and Long Island Sound can knock your teeth out on a bad day. I'm sure a commercial battery takes a pounding as well just wanted to know if you guys that do run them feel they would hold up out there as well. Thanks in advance for your help.
I run this same Deka 31 C and I love mine for a cranking/accessory battery. I actually had mine come loose on a nasty day on Sam Rayburn last year and it flew into my bilge area, it has still worked fine since.
Colorado State University Bass Team
2000 Viper Cobra 201D, 200 merc efi
The trucks, tractors, and heavy equipment that they use them in take a beating too. Some of the experts claim that because the lead alloy is different than the other wet batteries that they are not meant to take a lot of discharge and recharge cycles. I certainly haven't seen that with mine being charged after each trip, and just starting year four. At only one hundred dollars, even if you just get two years, a 400 dollar AGM would have to last 8 years to get the same value. FYI, Sam's Club has it available in the post version (link below) as well if you prefer that to stud terminals. Like mentioned, check the date and voltage before buying, as with any battery.
prod5280399.ip
2019 BCB Classic
Merc V8 200 4S
Thanks for the quick responses guys.
Picked one up yesterday with a date of 4/18. Only thing I noticed is that the terminal threads are actually larger than the nutt they supply. I looked all around the battery area with no solution. Had to go to HD to get a 3/8 galvanized nutt. I feel like it could take a beating as well as any other battery out there. I did put some mesh liner down before installing just in case.
Now that you say that I recall having the same problem. Wasn't a huge issue as I like nylock nuts on my batteries anyhow.
2011 Skeeter ZX225
225 Yamaha HPDI Series 2
Minn Kota Ultrex 112 52"
Console: HDS 16 Carbon
Bow: HDS 12 Carbon, Solix 12 G2, Mega 360, Garmin 106 SV, LVS 34
I don't like that it only has 175 RC, the Deka 27M6 I use has 182 and it's only a few dollars more.
Great batteries for less money, go for it!
And that Deka Marine Master only has 840 cca's. If you have an Opti, that is pretty shy. Should be up at least 950 ccas to allow for accessories. IMO, the popular 100 dollar relabelled commercial Deka with 950 cca's and 175 RC is enough. Not much difference between RC of 182 of yours and 175.
If you want a different rebadged commercial Deka with 1000 ccas and even more reserve (185), here is another option. Still reasonable at 128 dollars with on line discount right now.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/sli31shp
2019 BCB Classic
Merc V8 200 4S
Didn't mean to upset there dude, like you said you have your opinion and I have mine.
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