Questions about deep cycle battery and charger

[rhymobot]

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

1. I am going to buy a refurb deep cycle from this guy on kijiji:

 

Kijiji Battery

 

$60 firm instead of buying a new one from CT for $100 plus fee and tax. Good idea or no?

 

 

2. I have this car battery charger in my garage already:

 

Battery Charger

 

Will this charge a deep cycle battery or do I have to buy a charger specific to deep cycle?

[Live2fish85]

I would buy new its 40 more and a warranty. The battery could be bad you never know. As for the charger im not possitive.

[mercman]

For conventional 12V lead acid batteries

 

part of the description.Dont think deep cycle are considered `conventional`

 

For 79 bucks, get the minn kota portable charger

Edited August 4, 2011 by mercman

[BillM]

I have that exact charger, it does fine with a deep cycle battery. I use it all the time when charging the battery for my pontoon.

 

+1 on buying a new battery with a warranty.

Edited August 4, 2011 by BillM

[rhymobot]

I would buy new its 40 more and a warranty. The battery could be bad you never know. As for the charger im not possitive.

 

 

the refurb will be half since new will be $113 with the tax and add the environmental fee or whatever it is and it's gonna be over $120. plus the refurb guy says he gives a 12 week warranty. i'm thinking for $60 it's probably worth the risk.

[Dabluz]

If you are buying a veritable deep cycle battery.....your battery charger will not completely recharge your battery. I know what I'm saying because I worked at an aviation battery shop when in the military and I recently did a lot of reading on the internet and in the manuals supplied with the battery chargers.

 

To keep a long story short....you need a charger that can recharge deep cycle batteries when you have a deep cycle battery.

 

First of all, not all "so - called" marine batteries are actually deep cycle batteries. Most are a combination of deep cycle and starting batteries.

 

Second of all....Canadian Tire only has 1 or 2 chargers (expensive) capable of completely recharging deep cycle batteries. I found out the hard way. I bought a brand new Eliminator Intelligent battey charger and it was not able to recharge my brand new deep cycle "Demone" battery. It even indicated that the battery should be replaced. I had an 3 year old (deep cycle???) "Nautilus" battery and the charger indicated that it had to be replaced and that's why I have a brand new "Demone" battery. Anyway, since the charger said that my new Demone battery was also no good, the seller sent it back to the manufacturer. 6 weeks later, the battery came back with a note saying that all it needed was to be recharged. I looked pretty stupid, especially after I had told the seller that I knew a lot about batteries.

 

I now have a Schumacher charger bought at Wal Mart and it works perfectly. There are at least 3 models to choose from. I bought the "Ship and Shore" model that can recharge at a rate of 15/10/2 amps. On top of that, they are very inexpensive.

 

The Schumacher recharged my old deep cycle battery and my new deep cycle battery.

Edited August 4, 2011 by Dabluz

[rhymobot]

I have that exact charger, it does fine with a deep cycle battery. I use it all the time when charging the battery for my pontoon.

 

+1 on buying a new battery with a warranty.

 

 

actually the guy at cdn tire showed me a $35 charger shown here that he says he uses for charging his deep cycle. said it's been working fine for him.

[Billy Bob]

Go to the nearest mirror and give yourself a BIG KISS as you are about to screw yourself royal on both accounts.....

[DRIFTER_016]

I have that exact charger, it does fine with a deep cycle battery. I use it all the time when charging the battery for my pontoon.

 

+1 on buying a new battery with a warranty.

 

 

I also have this same charger and it works fine.

On my boat I have the Nautilus 3 bank onboard charger and it also works extremely well.

 

+2 on the new battery.

[Dabluz]

actually the guy at cdn tire showed me a $35 charger shown here that he says he uses for charging his deep cycle. said it's been working fine for him.

 

 

 

Your guy at Canadian Tire is wrong. Right now, even the young girls at the customer service desk know that Eliminator chargers do not recharge "real" deep cycle batteries due to the fact that there are many many returns of those chargers.

 

On top of that, 2 amps is way too low. Imagine trolling for 5 hours at an average of 6 amps (about 6 lbs of thrust). It would take more than 15 hours under ideal circumstances to recharge that battery.

[rhymobot]

If you are buying a veritable deep cycle battery.....your battery charger will not completely recharge your battery. I know what I'm saying because I worked at an aviation battery shop when in the military and I recently did a lot of reading on the internet and in the manuals supplied with the battery chargers.

 

To keep a long story short....you need a charger that can recharge deep cycle batteries when you have a deep cycle battery.

 

First of all, not all "so - called" marine batteries are actually deep cycle batteries. Most are a combination of deep cycle and starting batteries.

 

Second of all....Canadian Tire only has 1 or 2 chargers (expensive) capable of completely recharging deep cycle batteries. I found out the hard way. I bought a brand new Eliminator Intelligent battey charger and it was not able to recharge my brand new deep cycle "Demone" battery. It even indicated that the battery should be replaced. I had an 3 year old (deep cycle???) "Nautilus" battery and the charger indicated that it had to be replaced and that's why I have a brand new "Demone" battery. Anyway, since the charger said that my new Demone battery was also no good, the seller sent it back to the manufacturer. 6 weeks later, the battery came back with a note saying that all it needed was to be recharged. I looked pretty stupid, especially after I had told the seller that I knew a lot about batteries.

 

I now have a Schumacher charger bought at Wal Mart and it works perfectly. There are at least 3 models to choose from. I bought the "Ship and Shore" model that can recharge at a rate of 15/10/2 amps. On top of that, they are very inexpensive.

 

The Schumacher recharged my old deep cycle battery and my new deep cycle battery.

 

 

About how much does this Schumacher thing cost?

[Dabluz]

About how much does this Schumacher thing cost?

 

 

The 15 amp model sells for 61 dollars,

[Dabluz]

I also have this same charger and it works fine.

On my boat I have the Nautilus 3 bank onboard charger and it also works extremely well.

 

+2 on the new battery.

 

The 3 bank charger is very expensive. Yes....it's nice to be able to recharge 3 batteries at the same time however...these multibank chargers work in such a way that each battery is charged for a short time one after another. This may mean that it will take 3 times longer to recharge 3 batteries than if you had 3 less expensive chargers that are each charging 1 battery.

[Billy Bob]

The 15 amp model sells for 61 dollars,

And with tax about $100.00.....

[Dabluz]

I would buy the refurb battery. I would immediately recharge it fully and then use it until the battery voltage dropped down to 11 volts (close to empty) and then recharge it to see how long it takes to recharge it.

 

Remember that 10 lbs of thrust consumes about 10 amps. A 30 lb thrust motor at half speed is about 15 lbs of thrust or 15 amps.

 

A battery that has 100 minutes of reserve capacity means that it can give you 25 amps of power for 100 minutes.

 

To recharge a battery that has given you 25 amps for 2 hours will take a good 5 hours at 10 amps. Actually it will be more than 5 hours because there is loss of energy due to heat generation and other things. Also, a charger's current output decreases when the battery becomes charged. This adds to the time of charge.

[DRIFTER_016]

The 3 bank charger is very expensive. Yes....it's nice to be able to recharge 3 batteries at the same time however...these multibank chargers work in such a way that each battery is charged for a short time one after another. This may mean that it will take 3 times longer to recharge 3 batteries than if you had 3 less expensive chargers that are each charging 1 battery.

 

 

Not expensive when it's on sale.

I paid $125 for mine.

While I do have it hooked to all 3 batteries in my rig it is generally only charging the 2 that run my TM. It fully charges in short order and keeps the starting battery fully topped up as a bonus, plus I can leave it plugged in all the time and not have to worry about pulling the batteries in the winter now.

[HTHM]

There are two things that one should never buy used or refurbished, the first is hygiene products, the second is batteries.

Regarding the charger, you have had a lot of very good advice from some very knowledgable people, i suggest that you listen to what they are saying.

Good luck, whichever way you decide to go!

Edited August 4, 2011 by HTHM

[adolson]

I'm new to owning a battery and a charger, and here's what I can tell you: I bought a Schumacher (model SEM-1562A or so much-1562A, not sure which). It said it was for recharging small batteries, including deep cycle, and maintaining them. Well, after a few trips in the canoe, the battery level said recharge when I checked it with the Minn Kota motor, so I hooked it up. After I don't know how many hours (many), it said it was charged. Took it out, the motor said it was about half (low)! The stupid charger doesn't fill it up all the way. It doesn't even take as long as the manual says it should before the light goes green! I keep disconnecting a lead and putting it back on, then it charges some more, repeat over and over. Do not buy this model. I need a new charger now.

 

+1 to buying a new battery. I'd never buy used batteries. Also, I wouldn't order from Hong Kong or whatever. I did that with a NiMH battery from DealExtreme, the thing is crap. Worst battery life ever.

[Live2fish85]

the refurb will be half since new will be $113 with the tax and add the environmental fee or whatever it is and it's gonna be over $120. plus the refurb guy says he gives a 12 week warranty. i'm thinking for $60 it's probably worth the risk.

 

Just because he says he will give it a 12 week warranty doesn't mean he will. I have heard lots of things like that and when you call back no answer no returned call. But hey buy it and see, if your lucky it will be fine if not you will wish you listened to everyones thoughts. But as others said never buy a used battery. I know people that have sold things on kijiji and they aren't always honest.

 

Also being cheap generally cost you more in the end. I've seen it alot even with new things. You get what you pay for.

Edited August 4, 2011 by Live2fish85

[bubbles]

I would never buy a usd battery, I am in the market to replace one now and never even considered it.

 

I have an older (7 years?) nautilus charger and it has never done me wrong. If I run down the battery after a day on the water it takes 12-18 hours to charge it back up. I have no ideal if that is good or bad nbut I do know that it works for me!

 

I have been using the Nautilus batteries too, any opinion on others out there? Anybody know who makes the Cosco ones?

[JTorra]

Getting dragged into this one....

 

Buy a new deep cycle battery. Yes, they are about $100. Wait until Crappy Tire puts their Nautilus charger on sale for $59.99 (which they do about every two week during the summer) Add taxes = approx. $180

 

Annualized, based on the average life expectancy of a deep cycle battery (5 years , who knows how long the charger will last!) this setup costs about $36 a year.

 

The deep cycle needs a proper three stage charge (bulk, absorption and float) to maximize it's life and the CT charger does that just fine.

 

I have found that being cheap can get expensive. The first time you have to cut your fishing trip short, go to shore, drive to find a replacement battery because yours crapped out after one season.....that $40 you saved is going to seem pretty insignificant.

 

Speaking from past experience.

 

These days I run three batteries with an onboard but that was a big $$ upgrade.

[scugpg]

Buy a CTEK charger if the battery isn't too big. It works excellent and will charge just about anything.

 

$49 at CT when its on sale.

[NBR]

Have you looked at all Mart deep cycle marine batteries? I'm in the states but I think about 2 years ago mine were about $85. They crapped out at just about 1 years and Wall Mart replaced ar no charge. In my opinion the 12 week warrantee is right besides useless.

[Cosmos]

I got mine from Walmart, it's Energizer 27 series deep cycle battery. I have it for 1 year already - it's working just fine. Walmart is giving you 1 year warranty. I bought on sale it was $108 for this battery, original price was $125. I wouldn't buy used one, it's a lottery - it might be good might be bad.

Edited August 4, 2011 by Cosmos

[Sinker]

I've been using a nautilus deep cycle battery charger for 5 or 6 years now, just for my deep cycle batteries. I have no complaints. Mine isn't the smart charger model. Works great.

 

S.