Batteries. There have been many questions lately. I've owned many boats in
my 45 years of boating and have worked in the industry a couple of times, so
I have some personal experience. But I am also fortunate to have a
son-in-law who once managed a warehouse at an Interstate Battery distributor
and he is also a licensed ABYC Boat Electrician. He has work for a couple of
boating manufacturers (power boat, but he, boat wiring is boat wiring) in
his career.
The main question seems to center around the location of batteries. The
bilges on a Model 2 will take two group 24 sized batteries as current
configured. However, I am putting three batteries down there by extending
the shelf over the deep bilge. I will still have plenty of access to the
deep bilge for cleaning or grabbing a beer. This is the best place for
batteries, as low as possible. So I will have three batteries down there. I
am also adding two more batteries. I haven't totally determined where. Don't
worry about batteries getting water on them. Water splashed on any batteries
doesn't hurt anything. If you get enough water to completely cover the
batteries in the Vega - well you have more things to worry about when the
floorboards start floating than a wet battery.
There are two general types of batteries. Sealed and Flooded. Flooded is the
kind we are probably most familiar with - those are the ones with the caps
and you have to check the water. Sealed batteries are relatively new in the
battery world (past 20-25 years or so) - Gel and Absorbed Glassmat (AGM) are
the two general types. Gel batteries were first and I used them but won't
anymore as they are somewhat fragile and take a different charging rate than
either flooded or AGM. I don't use flooded anymore either since I don't like
to have to equalize them (I don't like boiling sulfuric acid) and am too
lazy to check the water. So I use AGMs. They are about double the cost of a
flooded battery, but they last longer as they are more durable and are
basically maintenance free. They take the same charge rate as the flooded.
So, since the AGM is sealed it can be placed anywhere, in any position. They
work as well on their sides as right-side up. I've seen many installations
where they were lying on their sides and there is no problem. The coolest
AGM is the expensive Optima I think and I found a source to buy blemished
batteries that are new, but cosmetically not perfect - at a cost below
wholesale for a non-blem battery.
Back to the question about on batteries getting wet. As I said, if you have
a flooded battery and it gets water on it, no big deal - until the battery
is totally underwater then the acid leaks our and there is a mess. With the
AGM or Gel this is not a problem and there have been tests of these
batteries fully submerged and working just fine. There is on shorting across
the terminal from saltwater that I've even seen. The voltage is just too low
for that. Now, you would want to wash off the salt water so the salt doesn't
build up over time and that might cause a problem I would suppose.
One person mentioned golf cart batteries. Most are probably built by the
Trojan battery company and are for 6 volt golf carts. These are great,
flooded batteries and are quite robust and have a lot of power available. I
would go this root if I didn't like the AGM as I do.
One final note to this tomb. I haven't tested this, but I think our little
diesels can probably get all the starting juice they need from a garden
tractor battery - it is smaller than a group24 - it called a U1. The battery
weights in the neighborhood of 25 pounds. I have one in a scooter I am
rebuilding for a friend and will have to try it to see if it will start my
beta. They are also used in small handicap scooters and are available in
AGM. If anyone has tried this, please chime in.
Chris[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
my 45 years of boating and have worked in the industry a couple of times, so
I have some personal experience. But I am also fortunate to have a
son-in-law who once managed a warehouse at an Interstate Battery distributor
and he is also a licensed ABYC Boat Electrician. He has work for a couple of
boating manufacturers (power boat, but he, boat wiring is boat wiring) in
his career.
The main question seems to center around the location of batteries. The
bilges on a Model 2 will take two group 24 sized batteries as current
configured. However, I am putting three batteries down there by extending
the shelf over the deep bilge. I will still have plenty of access to the
deep bilge for cleaning or grabbing a beer. This is the best place for
batteries, as low as possible. So I will have three batteries down there. I
am also adding two more batteries. I haven't totally determined where. Don't
worry about batteries getting water on them. Water splashed on any batteries
doesn't hurt anything. If you get enough water to completely cover the
batteries in the Vega - well you have more things to worry about when the
floorboards start floating than a wet battery.
There are two general types of batteries. Sealed and Flooded. Flooded is the
kind we are probably most familiar with - those are the ones with the caps
and you have to check the water. Sealed batteries are relatively new in the
battery world (past 20-25 years or so) - Gel and Absorbed Glassmat (AGM) are
the two general types. Gel batteries were first and I used them but won't
anymore as they are somewhat fragile and take a different charging rate than
either flooded or AGM. I don't use flooded anymore either since I don't like
to have to equalize them (I don't like boiling sulfuric acid) and am too
lazy to check the water. So I use AGMs. They are about double the cost of a
flooded battery, but they last longer as they are more durable and are
basically maintenance free. They take the same charge rate as the flooded.
So, since the AGM is sealed it can be placed anywhere, in any position. They
work as well on their sides as right-side up. I've seen many installations
where they were lying on their sides and there is no problem. The coolest
AGM is the expensive Optima I think and I found a source to buy blemished
batteries that are new, but cosmetically not perfect - at a cost below
wholesale for a non-blem battery.
Back to the question about on batteries getting wet. As I said, if you have
a flooded battery and it gets water on it, no big deal - until the battery
is totally underwater then the acid leaks our and there is a mess. With the
AGM or Gel this is not a problem and there have been tests of these
batteries fully submerged and working just fine. There is on shorting across
the terminal from saltwater that I've even seen. The voltage is just too low
for that. Now, you would want to wash off the salt water so the salt doesn't
build up over time and that might cause a problem I would suppose.
One person mentioned golf cart batteries. Most are probably built by the
Trojan battery company and are for 6 volt golf carts. These are great,
flooded batteries and are quite robust and have a lot of power available. I
would go this root if I didn't like the AGM as I do.
One final note to this tomb. I haven't tested this, but I think our little
diesels can probably get all the starting juice they need from a garden
tractor battery - it is smaller than a group24 - it called a U1. The battery
weights in the neighborhood of 25 pounds. I have one in a scooter I am
rebuilding for a friend and will have to try it to see if it will start my
beta. They are also used in small handicap scooters and are available in
AGM. If anyone has tried this, please chime in.
Chris[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]