I was talking to an engineer with a local school bus manufacturer yesterday
about Rutu's progress. I mentioned that I was leaning towards a high
capacity Group 31 battery to use for the starter bank. More than the 4JH4
needs but would give me a lot of reserve. He replied that was a bad idea
on a sailboat. Seems that they no longer equip their school busses with 925
CCA Group 31's because they have a very high self discharge rate. They are
great for regular highway use but school busses like sailboats spend a lot
of time with the engine off. The 620 to 700 CCA batteries hold their charge
much better and will last a lot longer in that type service.

Just another tidbit to store away for future use.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
I was talking to an engineer with a local school bus manufacturer yesterday
about Rutu's progress. I mentioned that I was leaning towards a high
capacity Group 31 battery to use for the starter bank. More than the 4JH4
needs but would give me a lot of reserve. He replied that was a bad idea
on a sailboat. Seems that they no longer equip their school busses with 925
CCA Group 31's because they have a very high self discharge rate. They are
great for regular highway use but school busses like sailboats spend a lot
of time with the engine off. The 620 to 700 CCA batteries hold their charge
much better and will last a lot longer in that type service.

Just another tidbit to store away for future use.

I've used AGM's for my starting batteries. The self discharge is very
low, and the cost isn't that high.

Glenn Ashmore wrote:
I was talking to an engineer with a local school bus manufacturer
yesterday about Rutu's progress. I mentioned that I was leaning
towards a high capacity Group 31 battery to use for the starter bank.
More than the 4JH4 needs but would give me a lot of reserve. He
replied that was a bad idea on a sailboat. Seems that they no longer
equip their school busses with 925 CCA Group 31's because they have a
very high self discharge rate. They are great for regular highway use
but school busses like sailboats spend a lot of time with the engine
off. The 620 to 700 CCA batteries hold their charge much better and
will last a lot longer in that type service.

Just another tidbit to store away for future use.

Glenn, thanks for the info. I targeted Gr-31s as my battery
because they are cheap & readily available... the last bunch
I bought were no-maintenance types from the 'Batteries Plus'
outlet, re-labelled Exides.


Jeff wrote:
I've used AGM's for my starting batteries. The self discharge is very
low, and the cost isn't that high.


I haven't found AGMs for less than about twice the price of
'dual-purpose' Gr-31s, which are about $60 at the
farm-n-truck supply.

OTOH I'm surprised Glenn isn't buying Surrette batteries for
his boat.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 13:03:26 -0500, DSK wrote:

OTOH I'm surprised Glenn isn't buying Surrette batteries for
his boat.

Surrette and Rolls both make great batteries, no question about that.

I'm certainly curious as to why Group 31s would have a higher self
discharge rate than others. I've never heard that before and wonder
if it could possibly have been related to a specific manufacturer or a
bad batch. Any boat left unattended should have some means of keeping
the batteries topped off in my opinion.

On my old boat I used golf cart batts for everything, never had a
problem, even starting up cold 454s. My new boat is set up for 8D
starting batts and I've left it that way but added 8 golf carts in two
separate house banks.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Surrette and Rolls both make great batteries, no question about that.



They do? Why are they "better" to justify the awful price, probably
funding those fancy ads in the big boy boat rags?

Does their 400 AH battery put out more than the wetcell 400 AH battery?

Hell, for those prices the damned thing should use seawater to charge
itself!

On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 21:45:52 -0500, Larry wrote:

They do? Why are they "better" to justify the awful price, probably
funding those fancy ads in the big boy boat rags?

They take abuse really well, come with great warranties, and they
offer many different configurations for semi custom installations.


Does their 400 AH battery put out more than the wetcell 400 AH battery?

Of course not, but it will do it for many more years. Take a look at
their spec sheets for charge/recharge cycles. If you really rely on
your batteries, and especially if they are in a difficult location,
that's worth a few bucks. Replacing one of my 120 lb 8Ds from behind
a DD671 and generator without damaging your back or anything else is a
VERY interesting project, not soon to be repeated I hope.

OTOH I'm surprised Glenn isn't buying Surrette batteries for his boat.

You just gotta draw the line somewhere. Besides the Trojan distributor here
in town rents his warehouse from me. :-)

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

DSK wrote:
....


Jeff wrote:

I've used AGM's for my starting batteries. The self discharge is very
low, and the cost isn't that high.


I haven't found AGMs for less than about twice the price of
'dual-purpose' Gr-31s, which are about $60 at the farm-n-truck supply.

I found Optima's at an auto shop (PEP? Autozone?) for about $100.
We'll find out in about 3 years if they do better than the el cheapo's
they replaced.


OTOH I'm surprised Glenn isn't buying Surrette batteries for his boat.

I was in my marina office asking if they could match they price I had
for 4 Trojan 105 6 Volts ($280 from a golf cart company). They could
come close using AC Delco, but not Trojan. Just then, the Surrette
distributor walked in and started explaining to me that while Trojan's
were very good, they weren't the same as Surrette's. Since the
Surrette's cost about $800 for the set, I figured that paying a third
for a bank that's almost as good was a deal. The previous Trojans had
lasted 6 hard seasons, so I didn't think Surrettes would be much
better. OTOH, the Surrettes that came with my previous boat lasted 12
years, so it might be a tossup.

On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:12:14 -0500, Jeff wrote:

I was in my marina office asking if they could match they price I had
for 4 Trojan 105 6 Volts ($280 from a golf cart company).

Sam's Club, usually about $55 each here in FL where there are a lot of
golf carts. It's about the cheapest way to get to 440 amp-hours that
I know of.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Sam's Club, usually about $55 each here in FL where there are a lot of
golf carts. It's about the cheapest way to get to 440 amp-hours that
I know of.



OH, the shame of it all....If they find out at the yacht club you're usin'
Wally World batteries...oh, I shudder at the ugly image my mind just
flashed me....(c;

Make sure they're in a hidden battery box! Download the Surette logo from
some website and print out a little picture of it. Stick it on the side of
the battery box out where yachties can see it. You'll be the envy of the
whole dock!

Geez, we'll have to change them out in the middle of the night over at the
gas dock so noone see use......how awful....(c;