Batteries

S

shea0613

.
May 31, 2013
5
catalina 30 northport ny
Hi All,
I bought a 1999 Catalina 380 about 4 years ago. The boat came with 4 Trojan T105 6 volt batteries. Boat was also upgraded with a Blue Sea Systems dual circuit battery switch. I charged the batteries on the hard but it’s now in the slip in a marina and not holding the charge.
I need to move the boat out to the mooring by Sunday so I can’t wait 10-14 days for online batteries to be shipped and arrive.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable 6v deep cycle battery that would be accessible locally at an advanced auto parts, interstate, west marine etc. Tough to determine by reviews as most are mixed. Would be helpful if anyone had some firsthand feedback.
Many thanks!
Jim
Northport, NY
 
Tom J

Tom J

.
Sep 30, 2008
2,325
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
Costco has Interstate GC batts at a decent price. Should do in a pinch.
 
NYSail

NYSail

.
Jan 6, 2006
3,145
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
shea0613 said:
Hi All,
I bought a 1999 Catalina 380 about 4 years ago. The boat came with 4 Trojan T105 6 volt batteries. Boat was also upgraded with a Blue Sea Systems dual circuit battery switch. I charged the batteries on the hard but it’s now in the slip in a marina and not holding the charge.
I need to move the boat out to the mooring by Sunday so I can’t wait 10-14 days for online batteries to be shipped and arrive.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable 6v deep cycle battery that would be accessible locally at an advanced auto parts, interstate, west marine etc. Tough to determine by reviews as most are mixed. Would be helpful if anyone had some firsthand feedback.
Many thanks!
Jim
Northport, NY
Click to expand
I bought my batteries in farmingdale.... “5 star equipment repair” 911 Conklin street
 
NYSail

NYSail

.
Jan 6, 2006
3,145
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
Also if you can start her you should be able to get to the mooring with no issues. Old diesels are mechanical compression based fired unlike gas engines.
 
B

Benny17441

.
May 24, 2004
7,173
CC 30 South Florida
shea0613 said:
Hi All,
I bought a 1999 Catalina 380 about 4 years ago. The boat came with 4 Trojan T105 6 volt batteries. Boat was also upgraded with a Blue Sea Systems dual circuit battery switch. I charged the batteries on the hard but it’s now in the slip in a marina and not holding the charge.
I need to move the boat out to the mooring by Sunday so I can’t wait 10-14 days for online batteries to be shipped and arrive.
Does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable 6v deep cycle battery that would be accessible locally at an advanced auto parts, interstate, west marine etc. Tough to determine by reviews as most are mixed. Would be helpful if anyone had some firsthand feedback.
Many thanks!
Jim
Northport, NY
Click to expand

Sam's Club has Duracell Golf Cart batteries at $90 a piece with a one year warranty. They are manufactured by East Penn and with good maintenance their useful life should be as good as any. Factory defects usually will show well within the first year and Sam's Club has easy warranty/return policies. Learned a long time ago that a battery is just as good as its warranty. It is pot luck, while some batteries will refuse to die, some will fail in the first few weeks. That unknown reliability has given rise to the Battery Warranty industry across the board. Another factor is accessibility; I like a vendor who has a National presence just in case a battery should prematurely fail while I'm on a trip. If going offshore perhaps a different type, upgraded battery might be recommended.
 
Last edited:
Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,277
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
I know that the question was a simple request for a source for batteries, but there were also some very curious details that just beg for questions and further explanation. How old were the batteries when you bought the boat? If the batteries were new and they were killed in just 4 years, there is something else going on. Do you have solar panels or some means to charge your batteries when you are on your mooring? If you simply charge from your alternator when you are motoring out to go sailing, you could be killing them by chronic undercharging.

Also, what makes you say the DCP switch was an upgrade? If you have 4 GC batts, how are you sequencing them? Obviously you put 2 pairs in series to make 12 volts, but do you put the pairs in parallel to make one 420 amp-hr bank, or do you make 2 separate 210 a-hr banks? If you do the former, do you have an auxiliary battery that you don't mention? If you do the latter, do you have one bank for house loads and the other bank just for starting (which is the basic purpose of a DCP switch). It would seem very odd to have 2 banks of equal size at just 210 a-hr for a Catalina 38.

Or do you wire 2 separate banks and always use the switch in the "combined" position so that your 2 banks are essentially just one bank. If you are wired for 2 batt banks, how are you distributing the charge? Is there a Blue Seas System ACR as they recommend to be used with the DCP switch?

If I were in your shoes, I would have the 4 batts in series & parallel to make one large house bank and then get a single 12-V battery to use for start/auxiliary. Of course there would need to be additional on-off switches added into the diagram to make house and start banks isolated when using the "Combined" position (before @Stu Jackson jumps all over me ;)) but that is a whole nuther story.

It seems that the original question was sufficiently answered, so I guess I'm just curious to know the details that were basically just hinted at. These discussions often stir the pot.:stir::poke:
 
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