As of this morning I have over 1000 responses!!
While waiting for a new refrigerator to be delivered I started looking over the data and found some interesting stuff..
*98.2% of all responses were from sailboat owners and the remainder mostly trawlers.
*80.3% of all responders spend less than 20 overnights on-board that may require a 50% depth of discharge. 46% of those responses were 10 nights or less.
*74% of all responders are using a 1/2/BOTH/OFF battery switch.
*74% of all responders are using one large house bank.
*67% of all responders use the house bank for everything including starting
*32% of responders use a dedicated starting battery
*29% of all responders are using Deka/East Penn / West Marine / NAPA etc. batteries and this is the most popular battery in the survey. 2nd most popular are Wal*Mart / generic auto parts store batteries at 19% and then Trojan at 13%.
*63% of all responders are fusing the house bank
*46% of all responders are fusing the starting battery as well
*64% of responders using 12V Group 24, 27, 31, 4D & 8D batteries reported 3 years or less service life.
*63% of responders using 6V golf cart batteries reported 6 years or more service life.
*73% of responders using standard AGM batteries reported 3 years or less service life.
*84% of responders using GEL batteries reported 7 years or more service life with 32% of those responses being over 10 years.
*75% of responder with dock sailed boats reported 5 years or less service life.
*66% of responders with mooring sailed boats reported 5 years or less service life with 3 years service representing nearly 42%..
*60% of responders who monitor voltage for SOC reported 4 years or less service life.
*88% of responders who use an amp hour counting battery monitor reported 5 years or more service life.
*89% of responders who monitor SOC by "when the light dim I charge" reported less than 4 years of service life.
*85% of responders who said they use an automotive battery charger reported 5 years or less service life with 37% of those responses being less than 3 years service life.
*43% of responders who admitted to never equalizing batteries get less than 4 years service life.
*66% of responders with stock alternators report less than 4 years service life.
*80% of responders with high performance alternators report 5 years or more service life with 59% being more than 6 years.
*86% of responders who deem it time to recharge at a low of 12.2V reported more than 5 years service life with 61% responding 6 or more years.
*94% of responders who deem it time to recharge at a low of 11.6V reported 3 years or less service life.
*83% of responders using "generic auto parts store or Wal*Mart type batteries" reported 5 years or less service life.
*61% of responders splitting house duties between two banks reported less than 5 years service life.
88.7% of responders report less than 150-1200 deep cycles 50% (DoD) before the batteries need replacement
*73% of responders using one large house bank report more than 5 years of service life and nearly 50% of those responses were 6+ years..
"I get less than satisfactory battery life" responders:
*86% of responders who said they get "less than satisfactory life" are seeing less than 3 years from their batteries. 65% of those 86% reside on a mooring or at anchor. Of that 65% on moorings/anchor 80% have only an alternator for charging. 60% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders have no idea as to how many amp hours they use and 90% have never done an energy budget yet nearly 66% have refrigeration and 67% have an inverter. 78% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders don't even consider charging until 11.8V or less. 68% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders are using flooded lead acid batteries and 30% are using standard AGM. 92% of the battery group types used in the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders are 12V Group 24, 27, 31, 4D or 8D.... 67% of the batteries in this group are made up of generic re-branded batteries such as West Marine, Wal*Mart etc. and 18% were standard AGM. 67% of the the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders said they never equalized. 87% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders do not use temp compensated charging equipment. A full 29% of users who answered this way have tried to use a battery warranty but did not have success..
From this it is easy to see why batteries die and boaters get less than satisfactory life........
All in all I don't think the survey has shown us anything we did not already know.... If you care for your batteries they last longer..... As I say over and over batteries don't die they are murdered by their owners....
While waiting for a new refrigerator to be delivered I started looking over the data and found some interesting stuff..
*98.2% of all responses were from sailboat owners and the remainder mostly trawlers.
*80.3% of all responders spend less than 20 overnights on-board that may require a 50% depth of discharge. 46% of those responses were 10 nights or less.
*74% of all responders are using a 1/2/BOTH/OFF battery switch.
*74% of all responders are using one large house bank.
*67% of all responders use the house bank for everything including starting
*32% of responders use a dedicated starting battery
*29% of all responders are using Deka/East Penn / West Marine / NAPA etc. batteries and this is the most popular battery in the survey. 2nd most popular are Wal*Mart / generic auto parts store batteries at 19% and then Trojan at 13%.
*63% of all responders are fusing the house bank
*46% of all responders are fusing the starting battery as well
*64% of responders using 12V Group 24, 27, 31, 4D & 8D batteries reported 3 years or less service life.
*63% of responders using 6V golf cart batteries reported 6 years or more service life.
*73% of responders using standard AGM batteries reported 3 years or less service life.
*84% of responders using GEL batteries reported 7 years or more service life with 32% of those responses being over 10 years.
*75% of responder with dock sailed boats reported 5 years or less service life.
*66% of responders with mooring sailed boats reported 5 years or less service life with 3 years service representing nearly 42%..
*60% of responders who monitor voltage for SOC reported 4 years or less service life.
*88% of responders who use an amp hour counting battery monitor reported 5 years or more service life.
*89% of responders who monitor SOC by "when the light dim I charge" reported less than 4 years of service life.
*85% of responders who said they use an automotive battery charger reported 5 years or less service life with 37% of those responses being less than 3 years service life.
*43% of responders who admitted to never equalizing batteries get less than 4 years service life.
*66% of responders with stock alternators report less than 4 years service life.
*80% of responders with high performance alternators report 5 years or more service life with 59% being more than 6 years.
*86% of responders who deem it time to recharge at a low of 12.2V reported more than 5 years service life with 61% responding 6 or more years.
*94% of responders who deem it time to recharge at a low of 11.6V reported 3 years or less service life.
*83% of responders using "generic auto parts store or Wal*Mart type batteries" reported 5 years or less service life.
*61% of responders splitting house duties between two banks reported less than 5 years service life.
88.7% of responders report less than 150-1200 deep cycles 50% (DoD) before the batteries need replacement
*73% of responders using one large house bank report more than 5 years of service life and nearly 50% of those responses were 6+ years..
"I get less than satisfactory battery life" responders:
*86% of responders who said they get "less than satisfactory life" are seeing less than 3 years from their batteries. 65% of those 86% reside on a mooring or at anchor. Of that 65% on moorings/anchor 80% have only an alternator for charging. 60% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders have no idea as to how many amp hours they use and 90% have never done an energy budget yet nearly 66% have refrigeration and 67% have an inverter. 78% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders don't even consider charging until 11.8V or less. 68% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders are using flooded lead acid batteries and 30% are using standard AGM. 92% of the battery group types used in the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders are 12V Group 24, 27, 31, 4D or 8D.... 67% of the batteries in this group are made up of generic re-branded batteries such as West Marine, Wal*Mart etc. and 18% were standard AGM. 67% of the the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders said they never equalized. 87% of the "I get less than satisfactory life" responders do not use temp compensated charging equipment. A full 29% of users who answered this way have tried to use a battery warranty but did not have success..
From this it is easy to see why batteries die and boaters get less than satisfactory life........
All in all I don't think the survey has shown us anything we did not already know.... If you care for your batteries they last longer..... As I say over and over batteries don't die they are murdered by their owners....
