Need a New Battery ... Recomedations ?

[treeskier]

I have a 2002 LS 2000 which was new to me in May of 2012. The battery is a DC 24 marine battery with 500 cold cranking amps. As many of you are aware the 2 strokes are notoriously hard to start if they haven't been run in several days. Last weekend I noticed that the battery was cranking a bit weaker than normal but it started. This week I couldn't get it started without the aid of my compact jumper box. Once I put the jumper box on it fired right up. The boat started fine throughout several starts and stops without the jumper box. The battery was replaced in April 2012 right before I bought the boat. I have never used any type of maintainence charger and never really did anything to the battery except take it out in the winter and put it back in the spring. The de-winterization my boat guy does includes testing and charging the battery. Here are my questions...

1. Problem with the battery...right?
2. What should I replace it with?
3. Maintainence charger a good idea? The boat is on our lift at our house with 110v at the lift and we are here full time. If so which one?

 

[Big Shasta]

I went with the Optima blue tops - Deep cycle and starting battery. I replaced them both at the same time. Also consider running a maintainer/conditioner when you aren't running the boat at least weekly.

Group 31 - 900CCA.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/en-u...KYmzLJvNXVn9HNeOuBnXPS8Ot8xR3yN5neRoC-pXw_wcB

 

[4x15mph]

x2 on Optima. If you don't have the GroupK fuel/air separator and electric pump you should look at that. It changed my cold starting to an easy start on the first crank (3 seconds). The pump is one of the greatest mods which will save your starters and the battery.

 

[Big Shasta]

x2 on Optima. If you don't have the GroupK fuel/air separator and electric pump you should look at that. It changed my cold starting to an easy start on the first crank (3 seconds). The pump is one of the greatest mods which will save your starters and the battery.

Didn't some 2 strokers go the cheaper route of just a priming bulb to get better starts? I Like the separator and pump idea but if it breaks the budget, maybe the bulbs are another option.

 

[Bruce]

My LX210 had primer bulbs. The fuel / air separator with pump is the way to go. Mine had an Interstate group 24 marine battery. It worked very well, is a quality battery and is readily available. I also use them for computer battery backups (UPS) and have had great service from them.

I have DieHard Gold AGM group 31 batteries in my SX230. They have served me well for two seasons and I believe they will last many more. In fact I believe they still have two years of warranty left.

 

[treeskier]

I have the group k fuel air separator kit installed. I did that last season but while it definitely helped with the cold hard starts I did not have the 3sec start experience that 4x15mph has. I believe that will improve with a more stout battery with 1000 or so MCA.

 

[jetboater4life]

I purchased two AGM Dekka size 24 batteries. They are working great after a season and a half with my Blue Seas ACR switch.

 

[4x15mph]

Didn't some 2 strokers go the cheaper route of just a priming bulb to get better starts? I Like the separator and pump idea but if it breaks the budget, maybe the bulbs are another option.

Some did use the primer bulb instead and I tried that first with little luck. The primer bulb also doesnt take air out of the fuel which happens with these boats when you turn a lot of hard corners on less than a 1/2 tank of gas.

 

[PEARCE]

I'd go with an AGM battery either one or two depending on your stereo system. I would think a group 24 would be plenty. Make sure it's a starting\deep cycle type. Then get a charger\maintainer that's suited to handle the type of battery (ies) you end up with.

 

[scokill]

Have had great luck with Die Hard AGM. They replaced 3 year old deep cycle under warranty no questions asked. Get a dual bank onboard charger and just keep it plugged in when boat not in use.

 

[davel501]

Adding this for the dual battery folks following this thread. Group 24 is what our (mine at least) boats are spec'd for with the VSR. Above that it could chatter unless you go AGM due to the lower Ah from AGMs.

Here is the chart for the BEP VSRs.

 

[MikeyL]

To help you in your search for the correct battery BRAND and/or TYPE to either add or simply purchase, I offer this:

Please keep in mind there are only 2 (two) U.S. battery manufacturers for batteries that you're looking for.
1) Johnson Controls (NYSE-listed) ............
and
East Penn (ie, DEKA).

They make ALL of the brands available to you.
PERIOD.

You can google each company above to see the battery brands each makes.
What you will discover is that in almost ALL cases the differences between brand types is in WARRANTY.

What IS different - and what should be important to you and others - is BATTERY TYPE.

There are three important types, and each has characteristics that may be important to you.
Rather than take our word for it, it would do you good to GOOGLE each type and read & Learn the differences.

A) FLOODED CELL (ie, lead acid or "wet cell") - The battery type you are used to using in your car, where acid (electrolyte) is inside lead plates.

B) AGM: Advanced Glass Mat

C) GEL CELL

RIGHT BELOW is an excellent web source.
Again, you'ld be well-advised to spend a few minutes reading here.
It might keep you from wasting money.

http://www.batterystuff.com/kb/articles/battery-articles/battery-basics.html

For example, purchasing an OPTIMA "Blue Top" and using it as a starting battery to most people would not be possibly the best user of funds ($$$).

Hope this helps you ............ and remember ....... there are ONLY two (2 !) manufacturers of batteries of these types in the U.S.
ALL of your choices come off 1 of only 2 manufacturing lines.

Best Wishes, Mikey Lulejian - Lake Oconee, GA

 

[Big Shasta]

Hmmm...Just because they make all the batteries, doesn't mean they are all made to the same spec. Cheaper components in the lesser brands I'm sure.

There are optima blue tops that are starting and deep cycle batteries. It's a tradeoff I'm sure but it is designed to be a starting battery as well as run accessories. Also, keep in mind, deep cycle doesn't necessarily mean accessories ran it down, it could be deeply cycled because it didn't get a trickle charger and it sat and lost voltage over time. Horrible for starting batteries.

This is the Optima blue top 31:

Model: D31M
These batteries are designed for starting and deep cycle applications and for use in vehicles with large accessory loads.