Battery Question

[bgunscfd7]

Hey guys, I'ts been a while since I have needed an answer to a question but glad to have this forum. Need to get a new battery and was wondering what would be the best to get. I have an 1999 air nautique with PCM 5.8 HO motor. I have a Sony radio with kicker and smaller Polk tower and interior speakers nothing special. Factory ballast with pumps. I use the battery compartment in the bow under seats so I am limited by what size. I have used an optima blue top the last 2 batteries and have not been very happy, the very next year the Optima seems to die, heat up and can't hold a charge.
Thanks for your thoughts

looking forward to hearing.

[scottb7]

I am not educated on this so I will be interested to see what other say as I am nursing a battery that i don't like. I had heard that it is best to not get a deep cycle battery and just go with regular auto starting type battery. I do know that the one I have that tests out fine is indeed a deep cycle marine. It just drains so quick when used to run stereo with boat not running. And my auto starting battery act's much more normally. Of course problem is with 2 batteries it is not worth putting money into to change.

[bgunscfd7]

@scottb7 I have heard the same about deep cycle batteries. I only have a single battery. Whats the difference between a marine battery and standard auto battery? Does the marine not spill or something?

[scottb7]

I had heard that marine had thicker plates better suited to bouncing around....not sure if or how true. Still same electrolyte so no change to spill effect.

[OptimaJim]

Hi bgunscfd7,

What size battery are you using right now and what is your battery's voltage? What kind of issues are you having with it and how do you maintain it when you are off the water? Generally speaking, AGM lead-acid batteries are far more resistant to damage from vibration than their flooded lead-acid counterparts. Folks running significant electrical accessories would be better-served with a battery designed for deep-cycle use, provided it meets or exceeds the engine's requirements for cranking amps.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

[east tx skier]

After getting less than one season out of an Optima battery, I got a Delco Automotive starting battery and it has been going strong ever since (probably 3 seasons in by now). Had one on my old boat and it was going strong after 5 seasons when I sold the boat.

Assuming your battery box is the same one that is in my 1998 Ski Nautique, the height needs to be under 8". That limits you to Group 65, 48, 41, and 34. If you are just running one amp and aren't constantly listening to music with the engine off, get an automotive starting battery in one of those group sizes (65 is pretty easy to find) with as many cold cranking amps as you can. Maintain it during the off season, and it will last a long time for a reasonable amount of cost out the door.

[TX-Foilhead]

I won't throw throw Optima under the bus, got 6 years out of my last Yellow Top, new one is only a month old. Having people to troll forums though doesn't send a good message. Charging is the real key, if you're listening to the stereo and not running a while afterwards you need a charger, no battery does well sitting around half charged.

[OptimaJim]

TX-Foilhead, my presence here and on more than 1,000 other forums is to provide truthful, useful and safe information for folks who are using our products or have questions about them. If you consider my presence to be trolling, then I'm totally guilty. I'd rather post here and let folks know if they are looking for more reserve capacity in a battery, then they should look for that and not cold cranking amps. The SAE J537 test for cold cranking amps is whether a battery rated at 850CCA can deliver 850A for 30 seconds at 0°F while staying above 7.2 volts. If anyone here is using their boat in 0°F, I'd like to see pictures.

east tx skier, our batteries do come with free replacement warranties. Did your retailer not provide warranty service for you?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

[east tx skier]

TX-Foilhead, my presence here and on more than 1,000 other forums is to provide truthful, useful and safe information for folks who are using our products or have questions about them. If you consider my presence to be trolling, then I'm totally guilty. I'd rather post here and let folks know if they are looking for more reserve capacity in a battery, then they should look for that and not cold cranking amps. The SAE J537 test for cold cranking amps is whether a battery rated at 850CCA can deliver 850A for 30 seconds at 0°F while staying above 7.2 volts. If anyone here is using their boat in 0°F, I'd like to see pictures.

east tx skier, our batteries do come with free replacement warranties. Did your retailer not provide warranty service for you?

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

Jim, I did not take it back to the dealer for the warranty, which I expect would have been honored. I was irritated and decided to take the hit and go back to a battery with which I had had a good experience in the past.

I know everyone gets a dud every now and then. And I probably should have been given it another shot. But the Optimas cost a pretty penny. And I believe that cost caused me to have some pretty high expectations. When they weren't met, I went back to what had always worked for me before and wondered why I had strayed.

[OptimaJim]

If you still have the battery, it might be worth trying to recharge it. Many of the "bad" batteries returned to us under warranty are just deeply-discharged and work fine, when properly-recharged. My '97 Sport Nautique would completely discharge my battery if I accidentally left my ignition switch on, even without the key (my dealership even did that once when it was in for service). When any battery gets that deeply-discharged, many battery chargers will not recognize or charge it. In those instances, those batteries can be recovered using the parallel charging technique, described in this video.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

[airnautique2000]

OptimaJim,

Where can I find an application chart that shows what battery my 2000 Air Nautique uses?

Thx, Mike

[DanielC]

The wiring in this era Correct Craft boats is barely adequate to run a few low amp accessories. Before condemning the battery, of any type for poor performance, I would suggest running both the negative, and positive from the battery, through about 6 gauge wire, and just use the stock accessory switches/breakers to trigger a relay, that actually supply power and a ground to the stereo head unit, power amps, the heater, the horn, and any other accessories that draw more than about a half of an amp. This included perfect pass control modules.

[jmo]

Back on the original question, starter batteries are designed to put out short bursts of high amps to start your engine, marine/deep cycle batteries are designed for low amp draw over a long period of time. Guys who fish will have a deep cycle battery for their trolling motor.

So, if you have a mega stereo system you want to run, some guys will employ a dual battery set up.

If you want an optima battery, you want the red top, aka starter battery for cars.

JMO

[OptimaJim]

Mike,

Unfortunately, boat manufacturers aren't nearly as organized as the automakers in terms of sharing OE battery specs. Which engine do you have and what group size are you currently using?

I would not recommend our RedTop for any boat that has significant electrical accessories, including a large stereo, ballast tanks, showers or anything else that might be run for long periods of time with the engine off. If someone doesn't want to use our BlueTops, our YellowTops, which are designed for both starting and deep-cycle use, would also be a viable option.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

[Quinner]

Jim,

Wouldn't the D34M be the first choice for a Marine specific dual purpose battery??

The D34M will fit in your 2000 Air

My D34M just bit the dust after 5 full seasons