WHICH BATTERY

[alandvs]

Hi Guys!

I only use the battery to start the outboard which when started charges the battery. The battery is left on a trickle charger when not in use (5watt) Which would be best for me a leasure battery or a car battery?

Thanks in advance to you savvy guys

Alan

[StevieP]

I found a 60 a/h is more than enough a car or truck battery is better as your only cranking the engine and not drawing all the power. Leisure batteries are deep cycle which means they can nearly be drained and recharged without causing damage to the battery cells...hope this info helps

[guest]

It depends on the size of the engine, and the MCA (Marine Cranking Amps) figure of the battery is the thing you need to check. A Mercury 75, for example, needs a battery with 1000 MCA. Obviously a smaller engine will require less, have a look at the Owner's Manual. For most small engines, I think that a car battery would suffice - best thing is just to try it.

Leisure batteries are actually not very good for starting - they are designed to provide steady power for the accessories - lights, etc, and not very good at surges of power then nothing, as happens with starting an engine, and it could even damage them. Better to go for a starter battery.

Having said that, there are some dual leisure/starting batteries available now - see http://www.tayna.co.uk/Enduroline-Marin ... 365-1.html. Not sure how good they are, but they have 4 year warranties. We bought two Enduroline 105s this year, so far so good, but perhaps a bit too early to say.

[daveinglasgow]

car batteries lose charge so Leisure batteries is the way to go. Oh and we have never had a problem starting an engine with them!

[guest]

Well, I am sure a leisure battery can start an engine, but the question is whether it is the best for the job and good for the battery in terms of its lifespan? You could probably get a racehorse to plough a field and it might be able to get the job done in the end, but would it last very long?

But these new calcium-technology dual starter/leisure batteries may be the way to go - will let you know in four years time!

The OP doesn't say what sort of engine they have, but we had a 60 Ah battery which didn't have enough grunt to start our Optimax 75 DFI - it has to spin up the air and fuel compressors as well as start the engine - hence getting the 105 Ah ones. Fingers crossed they keep being up to the job.

[daveinglasgow]

well we use them all the time and we start engines every day. car batteries lose charge and are a pain.

Oh and 60 amp will never start a 75 opti! if you bought from a dealer they should be shot.

Having said all that if you have some way of charging a car battery i.e. solar panel etc it will be fine but it would not be my first choice, so it would depend what I had lying around as a solar panel will cost less the £20.00.

Dave
ps like you we have also not got enough data on these new batteries so please keep us posted on how you find them.

[ladydawn]

Just thought i,d give my two pennarth in to the discussion. I bought a Numax CXV 113 ahr marine battery 3 months ago, this is a dual type of battery in that it gives 1000 cca (cold cranking amps) for starting and has a high reserve for consumers like lights,radio,bilge pump etc. i,ve got a 75 hp Honda 4 stroke on the back of my Family four and when i hit the start button it nigh on jumps off the boat with the starting torqe ! But Daveinglasgow is right when he says 60 amp car batteries are not up to the job, as they simply have not got the reserves for all the other onboard goodies, let alone starting a big lump like a 75 hp 4 stroke. a boat engine is exactly the same as a car engine in so much as when running all other consumers like lights ,radio and the like are powered by the engine, but just like a car if you leave your lights on,even an interior courtesy light, the battery will be flat come morning !!!!

[guest]

No, rest assured the dealer didn't supply the 60 Ah battery, so no need for loss of life there - it was just one I had lying around and tried one day.

I am not arguing for car batteries specifically, but the original question from alanvs was whether a car battery or leisure battery was best but they didn't say what size o/b they had - my points were (a) that for a smallish engine a car battery would probably do what they need, (b) that a dedicated starter battery would be better than a traditional deep cycle leisure battery, and (c) a dual starter/leisure battery may be the best of all worlds.

I am surprised that a car battery losing charge is really an issue as if it is being charged by the alternator when the engine is running, then it must be kept topped up pretty well. The only thing would be if it is lying around in a workshop or over the winter, then it could be a problem.

Will keep you posted on the performance of the Enduroline batteries. We keep our ones topped up with a CTEK M100 charger over the winter, with a Voltage Sensitive Relay connecting them, so they should be getting good treatment.

[alandvs]

Phew! Thanks guys...lots of advice..some conflicting but very helpful. I have an old 50 horse mercury. I have 85 and 100 amphour batteries at the moment but thought a large car battery would turn the engine over a bit faster. I am going to get a large car battery and try it...see how it performs. I have just bought a portable battery tester and also a battery charger that goes to trickle charge automaticaly when fully charged..think I will be pretty well kitted up. Don't go out to sea after dark so never use nav lights and such, I only use a usb car stereo to listen to Gilbert o'Sullivan and Charly Pride. Sue cooks some of the thirty or forty Sea Bass on a little gas cooker so don't really need battery power for much else. Thanks for all your advice....(ok i lied about the amount of fish caught)

Alan

[ladydawn]

30 or 40 sea bass eh,that lot must cost a fortune down at Waitrose !!!!!!!