dual marine batteries

[colman]

if i were to pick up a pair of these batteries could i use them for dual batteries? they are marine batteries and i can get them cheap and want to know ifit is worth it. thanks

[colman]

i will be running electric fans on the trans cooler and radiator, rock lights, winch, sterio, cb and tbi efi. i think that is all that will draw power
also i'm going to upgrade to a cs144 alternator in the cj 7

[AggieTJ2007]

those should work good except they are not sealed and will leak when off camber and make a big mess

[Doug Krebs]

from what I was told long ago deep cycles are not the best for running winches.

[StevenAg03]

im think deep cycle marine batteries are only supposed to take a trickle charge. dont think running them in an automotive application would be ideal.

[AggieTJ2007]

they are dual purpose, and yes i have heard as well that deep cycles are not good for winches because they don't like to supply the high amp loads that a winch draw, instead a starting battery works much better

[colman]

well i guess as long as the auction stays cheap enough, (righ now its at 5 bones) i will get them but if not then i will look for a pair of optimas, those things are expensive tho, i wish i had a rich uncle about this time

[BroncoJo]

well i guess as long as the auction stays cheap enough, (righ now its at 5 bones) i will get them but if not then i will look for a pair of optimas, those things are expensive tho, i wish i had a rich uncle about this time

I've burnt up three optima in the last year.

optimas only take trickle charge too.

[Sharpe]

**** optimas, they suck.

[colman]

well then in your expert opinion what are the best battery?

[Sharpe]

Probably interstate, but I dont have any brand preference these days. I do prefer the gel-cell design but my first optima died for good after 3 years (normal red top) and the second one I had was a group 71 yellow top and it died within the first month. I am running a red top in pigpen right now but I intend to move it to backup duty whenever I can afford to get 2 new normal batteries from napa.

[colman]

my first red top lasted for 2 years before I sold it and my yellow top has lasted for 8 mos now and ive draned it a couple of times and it still works fine. but i do agree that interstate does make a great battery, just not cheap. but then again most things that are expensive usually are worth it

[Doug Krebs]

I have a red top from 1997 that is still being used to start my f150 everyday. It's had periods where it hasn't been touched in 6 months in our barn and still started the blazer like a champ. It's been in boats, my blazer, our tractor, and now my truck.

I also have a yellow top from 2000 that still performs very well also.

Maybe they were made better back in the day?

[Sharpe]

Maybe they were made better back in the day?
That seems to be the general consensus.

[BroncoJo]

I went down to the san jac river out of crosby last summer, shot strap through my radiator and transcooler then had the battery die on my buddies truck. When we got back he gave me the battery (optima redtop) and said he hated optima and will never use another. I went autozone and got a brand new one and since them have somehow killed three. I only went to alto twice last year and maybe drove once a month.

The last optima autozone tested for me didn't have enough volts under a load, even though I had it trickle charging over night. They said since it didn't have enough volts it wasn't charged so I let them charge it. When I came back it had over 13 volts under a load and they gave me a new one.

[DRAGOONRANCH]

I used to love the way the army would throw them away when their big chargers wouldn't get them back running. I had my grandad send me a trickle charger and brought plenty of them back from the dead and they run great after that. I havent had any trouble w/ the ones at the house either.

Maybe I am lucky, maybe some people have problems in their charging systems that just kill batteries. Ehh.

:flipoff3:

[CRaSHnBuRN]

The yellow top optima I got did not last 6 months. I use the excide orbitals from napa, and have yet to have a problem with one.

[BMFScout]

I've got a yellowtop optima I bought off some asian lady on ebay, circa 2001. No warranty, probably a refurb or some ****. I can't kill it, and I've tried. I'll probably pass it down to my son someday. I agree that their product went to **** sometime in the past few years. I'm betting they farmed out their product to some 3rd world country (Mexico) and quality has suffered.

[eight]

I've got an old red top in jeep. It came out of a 99 f350 that I bought in 03 or so, the other one died and we always replace both batteries. For the past few years, the yellow walmart batteries have been holding up real well. We've got about 20 of them. One of the better parts is that you can always get a free replacement, just bring a receipt with the right date on it. But they're not sealed batteries.

I actually still have an old grey everstart in the boat. The older ones of yall may remember them. I think it may have come from my 90 f350. Don't think they've made the grey ones since about 2000.\

Never had any luck with marine batteries lasting long at all. Have had better luck with normal batteries even when used for a trolling motor.