Questions about deep cycle battery and charger

[Fish4Eyes]

Ask him to define refurb. There is a interstate warehouse near my house that classifies battery as refurb if they have been nicked or dropped on the assembly line. I'm running these batteries in all of my cars for several years now without issues.

[Millhouse2020]

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?

 

 

 

I would go new my friend. For another $40, I think its worth the piece of mind of a new battery. I bought my first boat this year and had probs with the battery from the beginning. After getting stranded a couple times, I had it tested by a mechanic and it was garbage, it had a leaky cell and was bloated, likely from being frozen. I learned a lot from this process. Deep cycles have some routine maintenance you need to do to keep them functioning, do this and they will work well for a long time.

 

I spent over $300 on new deep cycles for the main engine and trolling motor but the new ones function flawlessly, no more leaving me stranded or wondering if the motor will start. Plus they came with a 1 year warranty.

 

I can charge them with my CanTire smart charger. I even bought a solar panel trickle charger on sale at Cantire for $9.00. This helps charge the batteries when they are not in use. Money well spent. My $0.02, buy new!

 

Millhouse2020

[Dabluz]

When choosing a real deep cycle battery, I always buy those that are not sealed. Sealed batteries do not last as long as unsealed batteries. The best way to check a battery's condition is buy being able to do some verifications directly in the acid solution. You absolutely need a decent voltmeter, a good hydrometer (to check specific gravity of the acid solution) and a thermometer in order to get an accurate specific gravity reading. You also want to keep the battery temperature during charging under control because if the battery gets too hot, it can be ruined.

 

Here is a trick to use when your battery charger refuses to charge your battery. Many battery chargers will not recharge a battery with a very low voltage (under 10 or 11 volts). To remedy this situation, add a good battery in parallel to the weak battery. This way, the charger can identify that it is connected to a battery and will proceed with a charging cycle. After a few minutes, you can then turn everything off and remove the extra battery. This is also a great way to charge 2 or more batteries. Just connect them in parallel. It does not hurt either of the batteries. The weaker battery will accept more current than the stronger battery.

 

Better to have 2 batteries than completely draining your deep cycle battery. Yes, deep cycle batteries do suffer from being deeply discharged. Maybe this is not as drastic to the life of the battery as it is for an automotive (starting) battery but it does reduce the battery's capacity.

 

Real deep cycle batteries....the ones that are used in hospitals or police centrals to keep important electrical componants running until the generators are fully operational are huge. They are also extremely expensive and robust. The chargers for these batteries are very expensive and are computer controlled. Canadian Tire sells deep cycle batteries for solar panel applications. The price is around 300 dollars.

 

There are tons of information on batteries and their care and maintenance. Reading this information also directs you to which battery to buy and which charger and accessories to buy along with your battery.

[rhymobot]

Thanks for the advice. I bought the Nautilus from CT but there's a problem I didn't anticipate. The prongs on the wires from the trolling motor are much wider than the connections on the battery so it's hard to keep them attached.

 

Was the battery supposed to come with wing nuts or something to hold the prongs in place on the connections?

[DRIFTER_016]

Thanks for the advice. I bought the Nautilus from CT but there's a problem I didn't anticipate. The prongs on the wires from the trolling motor are much wider than the connections on the battery so it's hard to keep them attached.

 

Was the battery supposed to come with wing nuts or something to hold the prongs in place on the connections?

 

Yes, there should have been a small bag attached to the handle with two wing nuts in it.

If you didn't get them just go back to CT and tell them.

[Garnet]

Any battery that has less than 12.25 volts is junk. There is connection broke and 1 cell is dead.

 

Yes you can charge it up but it will crap out quick and if hooked to another battery they both will die quickly. Few hours.

 

My experience 12 years in a battery manufacture.