CD25 battery

[Jay B.]

I am in need of a new battery for Glimmer. The current battery charges up just fine but once put into use it drains very quickly. The only thing we are using the battery for is the lights and bilge pump as we have an outboard motor. I am not sure what size battery to purchase. I want to purchase one before I go to the boat (an hour away). I was thinking about getting an Optima battery as the one in my Jeep has been great. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[tartansailor]

If you are going for a real upscale battery, (Optima) get the one with the yellow top. That is designed to outperform the blue one, which is still very, very good, but you need a special charger for those.

Avoid the deep cycle batteries from WalMart etc, as they do not hold a full charge for long.

My favorite is (2) Trojan 6v golf cart batteries.
That IMHO is the best bang for the buck for reliability, durability and cost.

Dick

[Jay B.]

Thanks for the reply. So you like the yellow top over the blue top? Which one needs the special charger? I've got a regular car battery charger as well as a solar panel for the boat.

Where do you get the Trojan batteries? I guess you wire those in series to get 12 volts?

I've seen some folks talking about the Diehard platinum batteries...any experience with those?

[seajunkie]

My favorite is (2) Trojan 6v golf cart batteries.

Dick, where do you mount those on your 25? Do you put one starboard and one port, or both on the same side?

[kerlandsen]

Interesting that you would bring up the subject of which side to put batteries.

My sea Sprite 28 had a slight list to starboard. It also had two 12v batteries on the starboard side. I figured it had to be the batteries making it list.

Last week I moved one of them. I had to make a neat nest for it in the lazzarette, and some new wires.

Floated the boat yesterday and it appears to be very level.
I am happy with the project.

I figured it was 65 lbs and I moved from 24" off center to 24" to port. Resulting in a significant moment.

Kyle

[Jay B.]

Well, I ended up buying a battery from Costco last night. We'll see how it works out...can't beat the price. Plus I needed it on a rather short notice and I wanted to throw it on the charger last night. Since my battery use is minimum it should last pretty good. It is an 85 amp hour...the one I have in there is 65 so it is an upgrade from that. The size it about right too.

[Klem]

I realize that I am a little late seeing this since I have been out sailing but I think that you were wise to go with something other than optima. They used to be very good batteries but they changed manufacturers a few years ago and the quality has really gone down. I personally bought 2 a few years ago which didn't last very long at all in an application where the previous set of batteries lasted 9 years. If you look on the car and truck forums, you will see that a lot of people are having problems with the Optimas.

If you want the best automotive type batteries, I would recommend Odyssey. They are quite expensive but can be bought as the Sears Diehard Platinum for about 30% off. They are AGM's and are the best available in my opinion. There are versions with both marine and automotive terminals. While this is what I run in my diesel truck, the boat simply gets Napa brand batteries which seem to work just fine.

[Maine Sail]

Avoid the deep cycle batteries from WalMart etc, as they do not hold a full charge for long.



Dick

Hmmm the five year, 24/7 on the hook cruise, my vessel undertook with the PO's from Labrador to South America and up to Alaska has shown otherwise. The boat only spent less than 10% of the cruise tied into a dock. The boat was equipped with Wal*Mart batts that were used for five straight years of live aboard cruising not a two month season with the occasional weekend overnight.

It is also wired and used "dumb" regulation... The batts were still performing well when I bought the boat at year six. The Wal*Mart batts are made by Johnson Controls and can be good performers.

I have since replaced the bank and also went with the Wal*Mart MAXX 29 batteries after the PO's stellar performance. The new ones are going on their fourth season and just tested within a % of a brand new one. Later when I get a chance I will post the performance print out from the $1500.00+ tester they were tested with.. I still use dumb regulation...

Good batts can be killed easily by poor habits and "cheap" batts can perform surprisingly well if cared for..

[Kilgore]

Pulling up an old thread on the same topic rather than start a new one.

I'm replacing a Powermaster Red for house duty. Regarding use: I mostly daysail and found that the radio and instruments use around .4 amps. My running and cabin lights are LED. Outboard has a charger (Tohatsu 6 sailpro, manual start) and I've a 1 sqft solar panel to keep it topped off when I'm at the slip. Battery is in the stock location in the port cockpit locker.

Options are another Powermaster (local marina carries the blue) vs. Optima or go AGM or paired 6v golf cart batteries. It would be nice to drop some weight if possible.

Opinions?

[hilbert]

Also on the subject of list and which side to put batteries, my CD had two batteries on the starboard side:


and about 70lbs of lead hidden underneath for good measure: