| Re: Deep cycle Battery Question
Since you only have a 19' boat with probably very little house draw i recommend that you get two or more of the biggest marine starting batteries that will fit on your boat. Starting your motor comes right after not sinking in boat importance. I've got 4 on my 21' WA in a dual battery bank configuration. I'm adding a 5th for my future trip to BOLA. My electronics draw include radios, bilge and bait pumps, lights and fishfinder. Also occasionally use a 12vdc electric trolling motor off one of the banks so as not to draw down the other starting bank. They are 3 years old and at near full charge. But i recharge them immediately after use with a quality automatic battery charger at no more than 2.5 amps/battery. Batteries prematurely go bad if you do not recharge right after use. A high amperage fast charge is also not good for the battery's longivity. I get my GP 29 marine charging batteries at Walmart for about $65 each. They are made by Johnson Controls the largest battery manufacturer in the USA who make most of the batteries for the other dealers. So you can pay $120 at WM or half that at Walmart. In spite of all the hype there is no better, more cost-effective or longer lasting battery made than a wet cell. At work gel cell batteries historically have a 3-4 year lifecycle while wet cells last 10-15 years with proper maintenance on each battery type. Consequently, i'm a wet cell man.
HH
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