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Which Maintanence free Group 31 lead/acid batteries?

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by Capt J, Aug 27, 2012.

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  1. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Hey guys, one of the boats I manage has 18 Group 31 maintanence free lead/acids. I'd like to stay with maintanence free and lead/acid. I will NOT use Deka's as I've had 6 of them completely grenade in 3 instances on 3 seperate yachts over the years (group 31 marine master maintanence free lead/acid), I never heard an explosion as loud. What brands do you recommend. The boat currently has Interstate's (31-ECL's which aren't even considered a marine battery on their site, and they're almost 2 1/2 years old and the gen batteries just died. Interstate is a choice, also Diehards (sears) I've been considering......not sure what else I'd trust/use......Any preferences? I get mixed advice on the West Marine ones.
  2. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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  3. Bill106

    Bill106 Senior Member

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    I've had equally good luck with Exide and Interstate sealed/lead acid batt's. Like Fish, we normally recommend and use AGM's or spiral's now (Optima, Odessey and Deka but had some bad luck with Deka's of late) having a local Interstate distributorship has helped sway me to them when I get a requiest for lead/acid. Check with your local battery shop/supplier, those quantities should get a decent price break and delivery!
  4. Fishtigua

    Fishtigua Senior Member

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    I better add that to never mix Gel batteries with lead/acids in a bank. They charge a different rates
  5. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I primarily use Deka lead acid non-maintanence free on most of the yachts and have for a decade or so and have had no issues with them and they've been reliable.

    But I've had major issues with the Group 31 marine master maintanence free's...... I have 6 of them grenade on 3 different yachts.......literally blow up like a bomb going off, and throwing battery pieces up to 5' from the battery. the Deka label goes over all of the screw in caps on them. The last set were 9 months old, and failed and deka told me that they failed because I didn't put water in them, and they're maintanence free and you'd have to razor knife around all of the screw in caps because they have their thick plastic deka label over all of the caps......the owner had to eat them and bought AGM's......

    I looked at the AGM angle.......lead/acids are about $135 each, AGM's are around $280 each x 18. The AGMS are about 26lbs heavier each which would add about 500 lbs to the boat, and I'm not convinced economically it would be worth it to spend over twice as much and I know they wouldn't last over twice as long.....a year or so longer, maybe. The current interstates aren't marine rated, they don't seem to have a group 31 thats marine rated, but they're 2 1/2 years old.

    A few years back I pulled an Interstsate out of a Boston Whaler tender, because it was a little weak cranking the motor over, but still started it. The battery was 6 years old!

    FYI: I've also seen a lot of failures with the Optima's and usually they'll distort the cases and lids on them. One yacht manufacturer was using them, mostly group 31's and they had tons of issues on a lot of their yachts with them. Odyssey's have always been great from what I've experienced......also the sealed gel's in the grey case.....I have routinely seen them go 6, 7, etc years on many yachts.
  6. Swamp fox

    Swamp fox Member

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    I have Lifelines on the Marlow I'm on. The original ones lasted for 7 years. They aren't cheap, but are completely sealed and maintenance free. I got them through Interstate.
  7. timvail

    timvail Senior Member

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    Lead acid

    I have surrette batteries in our 350 Catalina, 4 x 6 volt deep cycle that are starting and house batteries. In their 14 season and still going strong. Never let them get below 40 percent discharge before using the genny. Expensive but reliable and worth it from my point of view.