(Florida Keyz) wrote:
Yesterday, I replaced my 8 d battery on the port engine with a gell battery.
Bout the same price, but lighter ,takes up less room, and seems to work fine as
a starting batter.

Hmm, a gel cell is not a good starting battery... unless the starter load is 'way
'way less than the batteries capacity.



Got tired of replace that damn heavy batterys every year or so, only time will
tell if I screwed up.


"Wayne.B" wrote:
If you need to replace your batteries every year there is either
something wrong with your charging system or with the way you use the
batteries.

BINGO


Gel cells are particularly sensitive to damage from high
charging voltage so I would get that checked immediately. Some other
general longevity tips are to avoid discharging more than 50% (about
11.5 volts with no load), and to recharge as soon as possible. A good
3 stage charging system and a battery monitoring panel will save you a
lot in the long run.

Yes it will. The relationship between charging voltage and charging amperage is key
to how well the battery plates hold up and how much electrical charge they can store
& release repeatedly. An old 'taper charger' or ferro-resonant automotive type
charger will damage the plates & boil off the electrolyte, and a charger that is not
specifically configured for gel cells will result in early death of the gel cell
battery.


http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

http://www.marine-electronics.net/te..._faq/b_faq.htm



Another tip is to replace your 8Ds with a pair of 6 volt golf cart
batteries wired in series. Same footprint as an 8D although slightly
taller, half the weight (each), more capacity, and usually cheaper.

LOTS cheaper! My current battery bank cost about $110 at Agri-Supply, usually people
pay more than that for just one battery of less than half our capacity.

You should have a starting battery for starting your engine, unless it's a very
small engine compared to your battery bank. The surge load of a starter, and the
large momentary voltage drop, can kill a battery not designed for it. I have a bit
of math for determining this, but a simpler rule of thumb is to crank the engine
over while watching a volt meter (a digital mulitmeter set to record minimum V works
best) and see if the voltage drops below 10.5V. If yes, you need either more battery
or a dedicated starting battery.

Hope this helps.

Fair Skies
Doug King