Replacing my battery

[joewithaboat]

Re: Replacing my battery

Not sure if this is true or not so check for yourself... I heard from more than one person that optima had been bought out in the last couple years and the new production is not up to the old standard. My batteries are 3 years old at this point and work well except for the problem i mentioned earlier. So im not sure if mine are the original or the newer.

One of the people telling me this works where they sell them. I believe about half of what he tells me usually but... He says optima returns/ failures seem to be on the increase.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Replacing my battery

+1, and, rather than charging once a month, I keep them on a float charger that keeps them at top charge without overcharding. You can get them pretty cheap. Put the batteries on shelf in basement on charges, haven't had a problem with them yet. (I'm knocking on wood right now).

I haven't tried one of the float chargers and am a little leery of them. I am technician for a major Cell phone company. We have tons of batteries, (literally)! They are kept floating at 13.2 volts. (and 1500 Amps!)


There is a magic window between 13.0 and 13.5 volts, depending on the specific battery, where you can charge indefinitely, but you will not cause the electrolyte to revert to hydrogen and oxygen. Or, in plain English, if you pick the right voltage you won?t boil off the water.

The good side is you can leave the charger on forever. The bad side is that from 11 volts, it takes the better part of a week to get them back up to a full charge if you are only charging to 13 volts. That is usually not an issue for emergency backup batteries that are only used once or twice a year. Not a pratical option for your car or boat, unless you could guarantee that the engine would remain running for at least 12 hours after each start. This is why your car/boat charges to the upper 14 volts and you need to keep checking the water level.

If you have ever put a meter to your ?Floating? Batteries, do you know what voltage the little float chargers maintain?

 

[Bill3434]

Re: Replacing my battery

Ok sounds good to me and what would be a battery life for my kind of boat and I would like to make sure the battery stays charged after every use, what is your suggestion.

I just yank mine out the day before I go out and charge it. In the winter it's inside and charged on a regular basis. I'm using a marine battery from autozone works great.

 

[Bill3434]

Re: Replacing my battery

I've had batteries that have lasted two or three times as long as they are supposed to and I have had batteries I have had to take back to the store to be replaced in full. Had a good battery for my truck the 1st time it was abused that was it. Got a small duralast that sat outside for two years with no use and was able to bring it back to life, took a couple of months of charging but it's still hanging in there. I tried the same thing with my good battery it was just a wast of time. I'll be sticking with the ones I get from autozone they seem to work and I won't be crying a lot when it dies.