Need Advice On Buying The Right 12v Deep Cycle Batteries

[jewgaffer]

Hi Raiders, I managed to get hold of a 24Volt 82lb Thrust Motorguide from western NSW that is around four years old and hardly used for a price that was too good to refuse...

Gary Brickman has already made some adapter brackets to suit the Motorguide, and has engineered the brackets so that they will also provide a good range of propeller depths to suit the long shaft of the Motorguide and it can be easily adjusted during swell etc ... Thanks to Gary's expertise, the Motorguide can now be mounted on the nose of the bow directly over and clear of the anchor roller which now saves having to cut the bow rail... Thanks again Gary

Geoff Aka Geoff on Fishraider is ready to do the electrical work and the final tweek ups for me, thanks again Geoff....

All we need to do now is to buy the right batteries to get the best out of the 82lb thrust Motorguide...

Chosing the right deep cycle batteries at an economical price is not as easy as it may appear...At this stage I still can't make up my mind on which charger to buy as I need a portable / onboard charger with aligator clamps to be able to service and maintain the outboard starters separately using the 240v power lead as well...

I'm also uncertain of what amp hrs would best suit an 82lb thrust Motorguide and what the amperage should charger have to best suit and maintain the batteries....

I would appreciate any advice I can get on this...

Thanks Raiders

Cheers

jewgaffer

[wakd]

I've found the Delkor deep cycle batteries to be good bang for the buck. 100aH for around $220 each. You can obviously pay a little less or a whole lot more depending on brand and technology used. I actually found some cheap second hand deep cycles that had been used in a building backup power supply (and therefore not cycled much) for about $115 each on an auction site, but have only run them for a few weeks so far, so not sure whether that was a bargain or not!

You need to spend money on a decent onboard charger to get the best life out of your batteries. The Minn Kota charger seems pretty good, and I have heard good things about Guest, Beehive and CTEK.

I think you would want at least 80aH for your batteries, 100aH or bigger will give you longer running times obviously. The charger should be 10A or more. If you are charging overnight 10A would be sufficient, if you want to recharge quickly (between morning and arvo sessions for instance) a 20A might be better.

Good luck, I think you might find you will get lots of differing advice on these questions depending on who you ask.

Edited November 13, 2009 by wakd

[chrisg]

CTEK 14000 Multi is one of the best value 24V chargers going. Have a look into them.

C.

[jewgaffer]

...I think you would want at least 80aH for your batteries, 100aH or bigger will give you longer running times obviously. The charger should be 10A or more. If you are charging overnight 10A would be sufficient, if you want to recharge quickly (between morning and arvo sessions for instance) a 20A might be better.

Good luck, I think you might find you will get lots of differing advice on these questions depending on who you ask.

Thanks Wakd. Sorry for the late reply... After making lots of enquiries, I ended up buying 2X 120 Amp Hour 12v AGM batteries and a 20 amp charger that's especially designed to improve the performance of an AGM battery especially the particular brand I bought...The same charger can either used as an onboard and/or a portable charger and also services and maintains starter batteries...

Cheers

jewgaffer