donquijote1954 wrote:
On Dec 19, 11:26 am, Mike Romain wrote:
donquijote1954 wrote:
I saw at WestMarine this battery "Deep Cycle AGM 32," very compact but
lasting shorter.
This website explains that AGMs are better than Gels...
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Bat...%20electrolyte
I am out of touch with the modern suppliers, but the AGM technology is
the 'spiral cell' tech I was talking about that Exide make. This is
'far' better than a liquid filled battery for boats and the gel cells,
well, they are now 'old' technology that doesn't behave nice.

I personally recommend whatever brand the biggest chain store you can
get to easy sells with the longest warranty! That way you can get a
replacement anywhere usually for free. The chain stores now sell AGM
batteries for really good prices.

Companies like 'Optima' became 'famous' with off roaders for their AGM
spiral cell batteries and the first few were good. Then they put out
crap with 'really' short warranties for big bucks. I switched back to
the chain store brands.

Back when I ran a fleet of electric boats, we only had the liquid filled
type. I ran deep cell with as many reserve amps as I could get.

I had one 18' fishing cruiser that would seat 8 run by two Mercury
Electrics powered by the 12 volt diesel truck sized (double the
footprint of a car battery) battery. One was good for 8 or 9 hours, but
I always had two on board under the bench seat. The car sized batteries
would last in a rowboat for the 8 or 9 hours usually too.

Thank you much. How about this...

"Battery - 12V AGM, Group U-1, 32Ah, 8.3"L x 5.1"W x 7.25"H, 24lbs"

For "Minn Kota Riptide 12v 40 thrust." I don't need more than 3 hours.

Then getting the charger is kind of complicated too. I read not to get
the one from the Auto Parts.



Minn Kota used to be decent trolling motors with one quirk. They had
this silly light bulb to tell you they were on. Well, it was in series
with the motor feed so when the light bulb burnt out, the motor stopped.
I don't know if the new ones are the same.

All batteries do best with a long slow trickle charge, like an overnight
one. The battery maker will give the specs on what is the best charging
rate for that battery so you just buy one that matches.

Automotive chargers are usually fast chargers because their batteries
can take that. Just buy what matches.

That battery is a 32 amp hour battery. You can pull 32 amps off it for
an hour or 10 amps for 3 hours or 5 amps for 6 hours, etc.... How many
amps does the Minn Kota draw? I couldn't find your model on the Minn
Kota site.
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/produc...=sbm_riptidesm

It implies really good battery life though.

Mike