What type/size of battery to use?

Wolfeboro_Baja · 06-27-2012, 03:31 PM

OK, I need some advice/help. I thought buying a marine battery for my Baja would be easy but apparently it's not. I know this is a long post but I figured it would be easier for folks to answer if they had all the information to start with.

I have a 25 Outlaw with a single 496 Mag HO with twin batteries and a battery switch under the bench seat. I never paid attention to the type of batteries that came with the boat. Currently, I have an AC/Delco group 24 (I think) marine starting battery (battery 2 on the switch) and an Optima red top (automotive) battery (battery 1 on the switch) installed. Yes, I know the Optima is totally incorrect for the application BUT it's functioned admirably for the past 4-5 yrs with no problems whatsoever (until now). During winter storage, I pull both batteries and hook them up to a Battery Tender intermittently over the winter. So far, that system has worked well for me.

We trailer to the lake and normally, when we launch for the day, we use the opposite battery than we used the last time out. The first time out, we were running off the Optima (battery 1). All was good for the day; the engine started normally and all accessories (including CD player/radio used at anchor) worked normally. My problem began when we trailered to come home. What happened was, we forgot to turn off the battery switch. We came home, parked the trailer in the yard and it sat for 3 weeks. Around the end of the 2nd week (or somewhere during the 3rd week), we noticed the CO detector was beeping inside the cabin which usually means a low battery.

The night before we headed out for our second visit to the lake, I needed to retrieve something from the boat. While I was on board, I checked out the CO detector and that's when I noticed the battery switch was still on, switched to battery 1. Apparently, the CO detector had drained the Optima battery (understandable since it's not a deep cycle battery). I plugged the dead Optima (battery 1) into my Battery Tender overnight but it didn't seem to help any in that short period of time. We went out the next day as planned and used the AC/Delco (battery 2). The engine started fine but my radio would not work. The display lit up as usual but there was no sound. I presumed the dead battery might have messed up the processor in the radio so I did a default reset on the radio and the display was still on but there was still no sound. Later on in the day, I noticed the radio display was now blank even though we were running on the AC/Delco (battery 2) and everything else was fine.

So, here are the questions:

1) Is the dead Optima (battery 1) responsible for the radio not working even though we were running on the Delco (battery 2)?

2) How exactly does the battery switch function? I thought if I was running off battery 2, ALL accessories were also running off battery 2 but the non-functioning radio has me confused.

3) What should I be running for batteries? Two marine starting batteries, two marine deep cycle batteries or one of each? Or should I use two marine dual purpose batteries?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

WB

06-27-2012, 03:31 PM	#1
Wolfeboro_Baja Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Hopkinton NH Posts: 395 Thanks: 88 Thanked 80 Times in 46 Posts	What type/size of battery to use? OK, I need some advice/help. I thought buying a marine battery for my Baja would be easy but apparently it's not. I know this is a long post but I figured it would be easier for folks to answer if they had all the information to start with. I have a 25 Outlaw with a single 496 Mag HO with twin batteries and a battery switch under the bench seat. I never paid attention to the type of batteries that came with the boat. Currently, I have an AC/Delco group 24 (I think) marine starting battery (battery 2 on the switch) and an Optima red top (automotive) battery (battery 1 on the switch) installed. Yes, I know the Optima is totally incorrect for the application BUT it's functioned admirably for the past 4-5 yrs with no problems whatsoever (until now). During winter storage, I pull both batteries and hook them up to a Battery Tender intermittently over the winter. So far, that system has worked well for me. We trailer to the lake and normally, when we launch for the day, we use the opposite battery than we used the last time out. The first time out, we were running off the Optima (battery 1). All was good for the day; the engine started normally and all accessories (including CD player/radio used at anchor) worked normally. My problem began when we trailered to come home. What happened was, we forgot to turn off the battery switch. We came home, parked the trailer in the yard and it sat for 3 weeks. Around the end of the 2nd week (or somewhere during the 3rd week), we noticed the CO detector was beeping inside the cabin which usually means a low battery. The night before we headed out for our second visit to the lake, I needed to retrieve something from the boat. While I was on board, I checked out the CO detector and that's when I noticed the battery switch was still on, switched to battery 1. Apparently, the CO detector had drained the Optima battery (understandable since it's not a deep cycle battery). I plugged the dead Optima (battery 1) into my Battery Tender overnight but it didn't seem to help any in that short period of time. We went out the next day as planned and used the AC/Delco (battery 2). The engine started fine but my radio would not work. The display lit up as usual but there was no sound. I presumed the dead battery might have messed up the processor in the radio so I did a default reset on the radio and the display was still on but there was still no sound. Later on in the day, I noticed the radio display was now blank even though we were running on the AC/Delco (battery 2) and everything else was fine. So, here are the questions: 1) Is the dead Optima (battery 1) responsible for the radio not working even though we were running on the Delco (battery 2)? 2) How exactly does the battery switch function? I thought if I was running off battery 2, ALL accessories were also running off battery 2 but the non-functioning radio has me confused. 3) What should I be running for batteries? Two marine starting batteries, two marine deep cycle batteries or one of each? Or should I use two marine dual purpose batteries? I look forward to hearing your thoughts. WB __________________ Cancer SUCKS!