Battery recommendations: sailboat

[cjohnson]

AGM is more than twice the price of a standard deep discharge battery.

Make sure you need the power - do you discharge your standard battery during normal use?

Otherwise, save your $$$ and buy a standard, good quality deep discharge battery. It will last nearly as long with proper maintenance. Look for them on sale at your local BassPro for $90 or so.

Mickey

Can't use a normal wet cell on a sailboat, since the boat heeling may cause acid to spill. A normal battery box is not spillproof enough to endure a knockdown. Some kind of sealed cell battery is essential. I am open to other possibilities than AGM (and they are expensive) but if I can't safely hold it upside-down and shake it I can't use it in this application.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

[Mickey]

Can't use a normal wet cell on a sailboat, since the boat heeling may cause acid to spill. A normal battery box is not spillproof enough to endure a knockdown. Some kind of sealed cell battery is essential. I am open to other possibilities than AGM (and they are expensive) but if I can't safely hold it upside-down and shake it I can't use it in this application.

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I owned a J-24 for 10 years with a lead acid battery in a battery box and never had a problem with a leak, even with the rail buried pointed upwind in a race. The sealed lead $100 batteries don't leak unless they're overcharged or discharge at a rate that causes pressure inside the battery.

I'm sure that, in the weather that I have found myself in my powerboat, I have shaken my batteries very hard with no leaks. They're strapped down in a plastic tray with no apparent leakage. Power or sail, active motoring activity shakes batteries and puts them into unusual attitudes.

Enjoy whatever you purchase. $100 buys a lot of beer or a few nice bottles of wine...

[cjohnson]

I owned a J-24 for 10 years with a lead acid battery in a battery box and never had a problem with a leak, even with the rail buried pointed upwind in a race. The sealed lead $100 batteries don't leak unless they're overcharged or discharge at a rate that causes pressure inside the battery.

I'm sure that, in the weather that I have found myself in my powerboat, I have shaken my batteries very hard with no leaks. They're strapped down in a plastic tray with no apparent leakage. Power or sail, active motoring activity shakes batteries and puts them into unusual attitudes.

Enjoy whatever you purchase. $100 buys a lot of beer or a few nice bottles of wine...

I have considered sealed lead acid, but had a bad experience with one several years ago (battery burst after a couple of years service and without warning, causing damage to the boat). I think my experience was just a freak manufacturing defect, but have been shy of them ever since.

Research continues. I probably won't replace the battery for awhile yet; maybe I'll find a super-sale. I agreen the AGM price tag is a bit off-putting, but as it should only happen every 8 years or so it isn't too bad.