Batteries

Every year it seams like I need to buy another starting battery for my boat. I've used the warranty on a couple from Walmart and tried one from autozone and oreilys. What is every one else using. Should I invest the money all at once and get an optima or are there better batteries out there for a little less money.

jekern, do you store your boat outside? Utah Winter can kill a battery. If you store inside, do you check water levels and occassionally charge during the year? The lesser priced batteries can do just fine if you pay attention to the maintenance. If you are battery lazy, a gel or AGM might be your best bet.

Jekern, even the most expensive batt will sulfate out from neglect. like Dave said bring inside and put it on a batt tender or maintainer ( they put a pulsating milliamp charge to the batt that keeps it from sulfating ) for the winter or when not in use. I have one I built into the boat and plug it in when I get back from fishing. that way they are always toped off and ready to go when I am. your batts will last for years instead of a season dfly

I've used and spend the extra money for the OPTIMAS it really wasn't worth the extra money didn't get any better performance with them as with a regular Sears Die Hard with seems odd and a lot extra money wasted . I just went to 3 odyesses for my 101 Minncoto Bow mount with is a 36 volt system them dudes are extremely expense but really working excellent on my electric/ ran the electric all day trolling and only used up 1/4 of its voltage. I run two batterys for my main motor and electronics that two down riggers and run a Sear Die Hard for my kicker and two down riggers

My boat does sit outside. I charge the batteries up before every trip and that is all the maint. I do. I do bring them in for the 5 months in the winter. I have never used a battery maintainer, I will look into them. I bought my last battery in April and it was shot buy Labor Day. I have had my trolling motor battery's for 4 years now and they still seam to be strong. I think I will tear into the boat and look for some bad wiring or something out of the ordinary. There has to be a reason for them to not last more than a year.

I have the luxury of keeping my boat in the garage. Purchased a Die Hard Gel battery 5yrs ago for my main motor and its going strong still, no complaints. Most marine/RV batteries have a 3yr limit before power starts dissipating. My second battery is usually purchased at Costco and I get about 4 seasons out of it. Once my RV battery gets to the second year I rotate it to the boat and buy a new one for the RV. Its a 2yr cycle I'm in. I have a 12 Minnkota electric which I will be mounting on the soon and this will change my battery outlook. I also have a couple of battery float chargers from Harbor Freight which help out during the winter months and are inexpensive. These are good for the long duration while the boat is not is use and will not boil the batteries. But these do not have the same capabilities as a battery tender while you are on the lake where you need to keep a full charge for electric trolling motor.

I store my boat outside under cover. My batteries are a mixture of interstates and Trojans. I leave the Trojans in my RV over the winter also. So far no issues with lows at - 10 degrees off and on through the winter. I do keep the batteries connected to a charger the cycles pulse charging with regular charging as need 24 /7. So far no issues but, doubt I will get more than 3 years out of my batteries.