Small boat Battery Question

[DAVA390]

I am in the process of restoring lights to the P18 I bought last summer. The P.O. either went dark or used baterry operated stuff for years. The WM panel was hanging off the cabin wall on wires, cabin dome light 2 bulbs dead, lense gone, held together with blue painter tape. Male plug for mast plug in was in the cooler.Bow light dead bulb, but fixture still good. Stern light needs new fixture, mast also and new wire inside. I`m working on all of these.The good news... I hooked up my American Flyer transformer to the battery cable, set it for 1/2 throttle and went around the boat with my tester. Embedded wiring is still hot, power at all lights and cabin top female plug.
Last summer, our 7-8 trips always start in the A.M., Sundays only, done by 3-4 P.M. No need for lights. This year, we are going to let the boat livi in the local marina rigged on the trailer, back it overboard and go. This might make possible the occaisional after work dinner time run, coming into marina in near dark. It wouldn`t happen often, I have a very busy work schedule in the summer time.
I think at most , I would have to power 3 light bulbs maybe 1.5-2hrs a week. No electronics on the boat, VHF is a hand helld.
Do i really need to spend $140 + on a deep cyclle battery for this limited usage or would a auto battery or cheaper marine one work. I know little to nothing about boat electrical and battery`s. Would a small solar panel recharge during the week for next weekend or is a trickle charger necessary? Please respond slowly in short words, Thanks,
David

 

[Ray Bowles]

I sail a good bit of the summer late in the day. I've found the wind usually dies an hour before dusk and allows plenty of time to return without lights. You might simply carry a good flashlight. Otherwise I would use a small gell battery that can't spill if tipped over. Secures it very well and take it home to charge up occasionally.
Ray

 

[Dan Johnson]

David...

the big box home center stores have 12 volt sealed maintenance-free garden tractor batteries for around $25-30. That and a trickle charger should sufficient for what you described. Even a small unattended (and unregulated) small solar panel could "cook" such a small battery over the course of a week.

It wouldn't hurt to have a digital multi-meter to assess the battery's state of charge periodically.

 

[mark_swart]

I think a garden tractor or motorcycle battery would work fine. I used to have a single car battery in my O'Day 23 with a solar panel. We even ran the radio off of that battery on the weekends and it was enough to charge it back up during the week.
As long as you aren't leaving the lights on all night you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[MrUnix]

Gotta agree about using a smaller garden tractor type battery.. did exactly that for years and years on our old Venture 17. I actually kept two on board; one as a backup, which was rarely used except on longer 2-3 day trips with lots of night cruising. I would switch battery roles each time out, with one battery being primary on one trip, and a backup the next, so as to keep charge cycles similar between the two.

Cheers,
Brad

 

[Barnacle Bill]

First of all, if you are using your boat on the water in the day time and you get stopped by a happy water patrol or USCG member and they check out your boat and find your lights do not work, they will red tag you, tie you up in a corner and force you to listen to Barry Manilow music. So, they should be working for that reason. Wonder if your boat didn't get hit by lightning or stray lightning if all the lights are burned out. Maybe not a direct hit, but enough to blow bulbs. Just curious.
The basic difference between a marina battery and an auto battery are the terminals. Marine ones are designed for marine terminals. You have to do some modification between marine terminals and the posts on the auto battery (and side posts are really worthless for marine use). The other thing is batteries are designed as either deep cycle or starting batteries. Starting batteries are designed to give a big shot of power when you turn the ignition and Deep Cycle are designed to provide more amp hours over a longer period of time, which is better suited for running lights and electronics. But, the garden tractor battery will do you fine for your limited use. Batteries of all kinds last longer if you keep them charged up and not let them run down to zero all the time. Especially the starter type. So, frequent charging, or a solar panel for charging is a good idea. You just cannot have too big of one unless you have a guard the senses the amount of current which will shut down or slow down the rate of charge so you don't over charge your batteries.

 

[FourPoints]

I would look at a small solar panel for charging. WM sells a little solar charge controller for about $30 if you are worried about over charging and burning out the battery. From what it sounds, you shouldn't have any problem keeping the battery charged with a small 3-5w panel

 

[DAVA390]

Thank you all for the answers and advice. This is a big help. looks like I`m headed to Tractor Supply this week. David

 

[Dan Johnson]

Barnacle Bill...

Tractor batteries usually have wing-nut bolts instead of post terminals, hence the recommendation. Not to mention that they're cheap, light, sealed, and readily available from many sources.

 

[LloydB]

so why not just get a jump start battery from the nearest big box or spring sale. Easy to transport, built in automatic charger, maybe even a air compressor and handy at home too.