Battery Type and Longevity

Poll: Battery Type and Longevity

What's the longest a set of batteries have lasted in your boat and what type are they? This can be the last set you changed out or the set you currently have aboard. Just list the type and years of service, rounding up or down for fractions. Mine are AGMs, 4.6 years.

The Lifelines we took out when we bought the boat were about 10 years old.

1350 AH AGM bank made of 6v 'golf cart' type.


8 years and acting like new

I have 8 year old Lifelines that are on their last life. But the boat was a repo so not sure if they were well managed.

Lead Acid GC's in their 5th year and still going strong. 6 GCs forming a 12V 660AH bank.

Surrette's, close to ten years. I've heard of people getting 12 out of a set of Roll's/Surrette's.

L/A, one replaced at 5 years, it`s twin a year younger is showing similar signs of age and gets replaced as soon as I find a good 8D at a good price. My batts have to be dual appln type, the new one is 225Ah,1280CCA.(I`d like to discuss sealed v serviceable,a new thread is best.)

5 Gels - 8D
-- Engine are 1994 X 2
-- House are 2002 1 failed last year. was three , now two. All house will be replaced this spring.

Had 2 x Sonnenschein Gels made in 1994. Replaced them both last year as one failed. Bought 2 new G31gels for start (series for 24v), have 4 older gel G31s which are 2000 vintage in parallel/series for house (24v).
Gels might be the most expensive but they are "fit and forget" and have the longest service life.

The poll should be split between house and start. On many vessels the house bank units are designed very differently than start. Golf carts are designed for longer life. Start batteries not necessarily. Then how about thruster batteries which are different again in many cases.

So for the record, my starts are L A 8Ds 12V, house are LA 6V golf carts and thruster AGMs 24V. With 3 different charging systems which creates another variable for battery life. The first set of golf carts were into their 8th year and running strong when replaced, it seemed time with LAs so cheap in comparison, why not.

My thoughts then - the poll is too simplistic as battery banks are only part of a complex system with life impacted by many variables including owner neglect or non battery component failure/design flaws.

sunchaser said:

The poll should be split between house and start. On many vessels the house bank units are designed very differently than start. Golf carts are designed for longer life. Start batteries not necessarily. Then how about thruster batteries which are different again in many cases.

So for the record, my starts are L A 8Ds 12V, house are LA 6V golf carts and thruster AGMs 24V. With 3 different charging systems which creates another variable for battery life.

My thoughts then - the poll is too simplistic as battery banks are only part of a complex system with life impacted by many variables including owner neglect or non battery component failure/design flaws.

Click to expand...

Also part of longevity is the number of duty cycles. If you spend a lot of time at the dock vs anchoring out 6 months a year, the dock wins.

The temperature where your boat's batteries are mounted is a consideration; in the engine room or out. Boats in in a cooler environment, ie; PNW vs FL, those batteries in PNW will last longer.

There is another major consideration. What type of battery charger do you have? If you have a "smart charger" your batteries will outlast a "dumb" charger by a long shot. If you have flooded batteries and a smart charger you will be watering your batteries far less frequently than if you have a dumb charger.

Magic has two 8D lead acid flooded batteries for start and 12 volt house use, two 8D AGMs which provide 110 volt through a 2500 watt inverter/charger, and one sealed lead/acid group 24 as a generator starter battery. The house/start and group 24 are charged by a Promariner 40 Amp smart charger while the AGMs are charged by the inverter/charger (Xantrex, pray for me).

Howard

How about a different poll: what is the shortest battery life you have experienced. Divide the responses among: FLA starting batteries, FLA dual purpose batteries and FLA with an amp hour rating. I already know the answer.

I do believe that once you install true deep cycle FLAs, gel or AGMs, battery life is more a function of how you use them and the quality of your charger, not type.

David

Seems like an totally irrelevant conversation to me if you don't measure how many amp hours have been drawn out of them and number of cycles / depth of discharge doing so. A set that is rarely used and drawn down a minimal amount is going to last a heck of a lot longer than one taken down as much as 40-50% twice a day all year around.

I'd be more interested in short life and why you think the batteries died early. I had flooded group 31s die after couple of years because my crappy Xantrex charger was overcharging the batteries.

This seems like a good idea to keep an eye on battery SOC. Anyone use something like this?

http://www.balmar.net/PDF/SMARTGAUGE MANUAL.pdf

Installation looks easy enough even for an electrical idiot like me-- three wires. ?

This gauge seems like it might a good idea to install BEFORE replacing a battery bank, to make sure the batteries are toast.

Here is a test of the Smartguage...

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/smart_gauge

cardude01 said:

This seems like a good idea to keep an eye on battery SOC. Anyone use something like this?

http://www.balmar.net/PDF/SMARTGAUGE MANUAL.pdf

Installation looks easy enough even for an electrical idiot like me-- three wires. ?

This gauge seems like it might a good idea to install BEFORE replacing a battery bank, to make sure the batteries are toast.

Here is a test of the Smartguage...

Smart Gauge Battery Monitoring Unit Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

Click to expand...

Some discussion and links here.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s4/balmar-smart-gauge-19727.html

?????

Thanks

BlueYonder said:

I'd be more interested in short life and why you think the batteries died early. I had flooded group 31s die after couple of years because my crappy Xantrex charger was overcharging the batteries.

Click to expand...

I have the same concern about my Xantrex. Both of the house bank sets that failed in 4.5 years are bulging noticeably. Photos from last year show they were that way way when I bought the boat, but I'm sure this bitterly cold winter and not disconnecting them didn't help. I'll get the Xantrex checked out in a few weeks.

I knew this was about as unscientific as a poll could be, but couldn't fit all the variables I'd like into the 10-field limit. Sounds like a lot of good ideas for followups, but someone else is welcome to do the honors.

I am willing to bet most batteries are killed prematurely rather than Dying a natural death

motion30 said:

I am willing to bet most batteries are killed prematurely rather than Dying a natural death

Click to expand...

I agree!!
The OEM battery charger on my boat killed a pair of LA 8-D's that were barely 2 years old, when it was going bad. Even though we only turned it on when we were on the boat.

The replacement Xantrex Truecharger, a smartcharger, babies them along maintaining them 24 - 7 at the dock. I average about 9 years on a battery bank before I change them out. I've got one bank due now. Switched to LA 4-D's many years ago because of the lighter weight.

Cripes, this all sounds like calling for a vote at the General Assembly of the UN!

Edit. Bruce will PM you the name of very good battery guys, with prices to match up here on the northern beaches.(sorry for the slight hijack)

I just installed new house and start betteries. If you take care and service your floods and don't cook them, the will give just as long or longer service than AGM or Gels at less cost.

Greetings from across the pond!

Victron Energie 4 x 200Ah with smart charger 16 years old, flattened to nowt several times. work a treat (wish i had not said that)

Thanks
Roy

East Penn LA 8Ds, 1 start and 1 house. The start was in the boat in boat when we bought it in 2010. The house is a deep cycle and I replaced it in 2012, I have a ProMariner 1260c3 charger that I installed right after buying the boat. I have to add less than 1/2 a quart of water per year.