Best Place Locally To Buy A Marine Battery?

[hotshot]

Set out to launch at Christchurch today, but after getting the boat into the water I found the battery was flat. (Doh!) The engine (Yamaha 15hp) was serviced a couple of weeks back, and so I didn't think it necessary to check it - although I'd put it on a trickle charger for the previous 24 hours anyway.

 

I managed to work out how to manually start start the engine (just had to remove a few bolts and covers) so that was useful practice for an emergency anyway! I abandoned thoughts of fishing but decided to take my (now nervous!) wife and son up and down the river etc. I thought the battery would have charged after a couple of hours running, but when I stopped the engine I still couldn't get it to start again (other than with the rope). It didn't even have enough oomph to drive the fishfinder (although I could run the fishfinder and (slowly) raise/ lower the engine on the power tilt when the engine was running). I took the battey off when I got home, but hooked up to a charger it doesn't seem to want to take much charging current (less than half an amp, where I would have expected it to take 3 -5 amps, at least initially?). So I think the battery (an Exide 85Ah Marine Leisure type) is probably dead? (I bought the boat last September and so don't know how old the battery was - possibly almost five years old, if original, so may just be "old age"!).

 

Can anyone please suggest a good local source to buy a replacement as I've booked this week as holiday and want to get out fishing, if possible?

 

Thanks.

Edited April 7, 2007 by hotshot

[Adam F]

Where are you based?

 

I would suggest Bournemouth Battery Centre - I guess you'll need an 85 Amp Hour Leisure battery, they are doing them for about 45 squid.

 

http://www.bournemouthbatterycentre.co.uk/

[Newboy]

Do you actually want a marine battery or just a battery to ue in the boat?

 

A marine battery will cost you close to

[hotshot]

Oops! Would have been helpful if I'd put locality (I live in New Milton, but anywhere in/ around Bournemouth/ Poole is fine).

 

I'm not sure of the difference exactly betweeen "Marine" and "Leisure" categories? I want to to be able to start the outboard and also run Nav lights/ fishfinder VHf radio etc. The Exide batery appears to be a sealed lead-acid type (not gel) - I just need an equivalent replacement ("maintenance-free, if possible!)

 

Thanks

 

Dave

Edited April 7, 2007 by hotshot

[Newboy]

There was an extensive thread on battery about a year or 2 ago, try searching for

it.

 

A car battery is for start up, so good for lots of cranking, while a leisure battery is for slow drawing like caravaning. A marine one is like bit of both and 5 times more expensive.

 

Most ppl here use the leisure type as they are cheap to buy and cheap to replace, especially if you go for 3 years waranty one and keep the receipt.

 

 

[Afishionado]

Cynical but true........ Add the word 'Marine' times the price by 3 if not 4.

 

Ok a leasure battery is a slow discharge long lasting battery used to power lights etc in a caravan or boat,

 

An 'engine starting' battery as in a car is able to dicharge a high amp/volt for a short period over several attempts ie Starting an engine.

 

It is a no brainer to see that of the two types if you want to start an engine you go for a car type battery.

 

The above is a great simplification and there will be the real experts that will want to go into the minutia of a cats bum. But if you just want a battery for a day fishing boat and you are not into electrics and all that get a car battery of about 48 amp hour. USe Yellow pages to get prices on the phone. DO NOT SAY IT IS FOR A BOAT because the Rsoles in some accersory shops go on about "you dont get a guarantee if it's for a boat mate" Just say it's for your grandmas Rover.

 

Mad (don't take no 5hit) MIke

[Newboy]

Surely with such a small outboard, the power required to crank it would't be that much?!

 

My guess is any old battery will do the job. End of the day even if the battery fails, 15hp is quite easily pull start ( you should try doing it on a 100hp)

[Coddy]

Suggest you go to Halfords as they offer a 3 year no quibble guantee, as long as you have the receipt although it is not essential, so if you have a problem it gets replaced FOC. Happened to me when one cell went dead after 2 years!

 

Go for at least 85amp/hr or larger if poss, say it is for a diesel engine as they have a higher cranking capacity.

 

Coddy

[Paul D]

Dave,

 

I just got a car battery from the auto shop which is on the road heading into highcliffe. Cheap car battery does the trick. ( I actually got a slightly more expensive one to save on the size ).

 

For our purposes I dont buy all this "leisure battery" stuff. In fact I had two batteries on my boat one was a marine leisure battery, the other a bog standard car battery.

No prizes for guessing which one went the same way as your battery !

 

 

[alun j.]

Dave,

 

Sorry to hear the bad news re. the battery. You are correct, it was/ is the original, so now would be just over 5 years old.

 

I suspect the main reason has been the fact it has not been used [ for over 7 months] and age can be a factor with flat batteries; car batteries often fail [suddenly ] at 4 + years , from my, limited, experience. I don't think it matters too much which type you get as replacement but keep using it !!

 

Enjoy your fishing this week, you've got the weather for it.

 

Alun.

[Afishionado]

Quote.......Go for at least 85amp/hr or larger if poss

 

Blooming heck Coddy 'sonly a 15hp Yam! 85amphr is a bit of an overkill. Might as well take the plugs out and just let the starter turn the motor and prop Sortalike a sea going Toyota Prius

 

Mad Mike

[hotshot]

Thanks to all for the advice - and to Alun for confirming my suspicion that it's just the age of the existing battery (probably, as suggested, combined with lack of use over the winter period) that's seen it off. I think that after five years service it's deserving of an honourable burial anyway (don't worry - I'm not speaking literally - I'll take it to the dump for recycling!). My son has offered to loan me a small car battery (sealed type) until I can get a permanent replacement, so shouldn't be any problem in getting out fishing this week even with bank holidays closing some shops.

 

Thanks again, chaps - see you out on the water!

 

Dave.

Edited April 9, 2007 by hotshot

[hotshot]

Priced some batteries today: Halfords wanted

Edited April 9, 2007 by hotshot

[duncan]

love these battery threads !

 

glad you got sorted out in the end - it may just have needed a good solid charge as Alun implied but at 5 years it's worth the investment.

 

extreme generality - leisure batteries have more but thinner lead plates and are designed to be discharged further, without harm, than 'normal batteries'. Because of this they do not take kindly to being asked to deliver huge hits of power (starting a big cold diesel!) and, whilst they will do so you can damage them by buckling the plates. Hence they won't usually have a CCA rating!

 

starting a 15hp OB isn't going to hurt an 85Ah leisre unit though, as suggested.

 

generally a normal battery starts to suffer if discharged beyond about 80% (12.6v?), and certainly if left in that state! Leisure will go a bit lower (50%), a bit more often.

 

many electronics have a built in volt meter (all Lowrance Units I have certainly do) and it's worth playing with the menu's to give a voltage overlay. My starting procedures when getting to the boat include fitting the chartplotter, switching to each battery in turn without any other load and seeing how close to 12.8v (nice and healthy) each is. When I finally start the engine I am then looking again to see what voltage to each which is now the charging voltage so I get an alternator check as well. This time I tend to see 14.1v when the batteries full and up to 14.5v when it's taking charge. It's important to highlight that I treat these as relative indicators rather than absolutes - like so many things on a boat I am looking for something out of the ordinary and (having been caught too many tmes) will now investigate any differences rather than justifing them to myself and heading off into the blue!

Edited April 10, 2007 by duncan