battery Info

I have a bad 8G8D battery, does anyone know where to get a deal on one?

What is it used for? If it is a starting battery, you can start anything up to an 8 liter engine with a much lighter Group 31.

If it is a house battery, then your best alternative is a pair of 6V golf cart batteries wired in series.

Check with Costco or Sams for the best pricing on both.

David

More info is needed to recommend the right replacement.

Is it standard lead acid, AGM, or gel?

How many in the bank, and how old are the other batteries in the bank?

If the others are getting on in age you may be better off replacing all. One bad apple (or battery) often spoils the rest.

If you're in the St Pete area electro battery has 8Ds for $175 exchange.

AusCan said:

More info is needed to recommend the right replacement.

Is it standard lead acid, AGM, or gel?

How many in the bank, and how old are the other batteries in the bank?

If the others are getting on in age you may be better off replacing all. One bad apple (or battery) often spoils the rest.

Click to expand...

Sorry about that, it is used to start 1 of the engines and is GEL, so I was wondering since AGM and with Gel there is no maintenance then why GEL. I'm not an electrical minded person and I tried to understand the difference but at this time I'm not convinced of choosing one over the other.

I would avoid the West Marine in Kitty Hawk for sure. Check with Ken(?) at Yacht Doc in Manteo or any number of the yards in Wancheese. Maybe call Winky at Wancheese Dock and Haul. He knows everyone The Manteo NAPA has marine supplies, but I didn't note their batteries, but I bet they would be your best bet for a quick and dirty replacement until you figure out if you want to change up your rig.

Tom
are you guys staying on the boat in manteo now?

Our boat is in Southport NC (about 2hrs for you) thanks for giving me some places to check.

No... Two weeks ago we moved down to Morehead City for a change of scenery.

So if you are down in Southport, you can take your pick of truck repair places up on 17/421 around where I-140 intersects in the west side of the river. In a ports city like ILM, there are tons of options for cheap 8Ds.

Great we're not to far from each other, Sandy and I would like to meet you guys. We're at the boat every weekend getting to know it and fix things.

I've decided to use 2 31 group batteries for replacement of the 8D starting battery. I need to see if the starting batteries are charged by the alternator only or are they also charged by the battery charger.

How long did it take you to get from Manteo to Morehead and at what speed?

Alternator and charger should connect to a buss bar and only go to the house bank. Then use a Blue Seas ACR to charge the starters batts. There are other ways, but this is the simplest with fewer points of failure.

We can thru old house channel and down the middle of the Pamlico Sound. Glass flat for the second time.

Fact about trip I posted on the boats Facebook page:

120.5 mile journey
8.5 hours dock-to-dock
152 gallons burned
20.2 gal per hr burn rate (low for this boat)
1 A-hole sportfish passed (iD10t error)
16.5 avg mph speed
5.5 ft shallowest water
38.4 deepest water noticed
2 panic attacks
5 Tums taken with coffee
1 gaffers hook overboard
$24 for my custom margarita at Floyd's
4 Facebook friends fooled

Tom.B said:

Alternator and charger should connect to a buss bar and only go to the house bank. Then use a Blue Seas ACR to charge the starters batts. There are other ways, but this is the simplest with fewer points of failure.

Click to expand...

I agree with you but I see two other equally simple and maybe cheaper ways.
1. Use a Xantrex Echo Charger if your house and start batteries are of the same type. Very cheap and easy install.
2. Use a Duo-charger where you can set a different charge profile for your start battery as well as provide thermal sensing if you want. This is nice when often the start battery is in the ER and the house bank is not.

Again, I agree to send all charging sources to the house bank and then charge the start battery from there.

My boat uses Duo-chargers to charge the engine start battery, the genset start battery, and the thruster bank. All the charging from alternator, battery charger, and genset go directly to the house bank.

I also have an ACR connecting the house to the start battery, but I disconnected it, relying solely on the Duo-charger which the PO had bypassed in favor of the ACR.

Tom.B said:

Alternator and charger should connect to a buss bar and only go to the house bank. Then use a Blue Seas ACR to charge the starters batts. There are other ways, but this is the simplest with fewer points of failure.

We can thru old house channel and down the middle of the Pamlico Sound. Glass flat for the second time.

Fact about trip I posted on the boats Facebook page:

120.5 mile journey
8.5 hours dock-to-dock
152 gallons burned
20.2 gal per hr burn rate (low for this boat)
1 A-hole sportfish passed (iD10t error)
16.5 avg mph speed
5.5 ft shallowest water
38.4 deepest water noticed
2 panic attacks
5 Tums taken with coffee
1 gaffers hook overboard
$24 for my custom margarita at Floyd's
4 Facebook friends fooled

Click to expand...

Tom I tried to look up Skinny Dippin on facebook but it didn't show you r boat I was going to read your posts.