Trolling Motor Batteries

[jp]

I've noticed that my trolling motor has been running low after about 4 hours and thought maybe something was wrong with it. Then I realized that it might be my batteries. My trolling motor batteries are two years old - two Optima Blue top batteries which I thought would last longer. I charged the batteries full and unplugged to sit for a couple days. One battery was still at 13.00 and the second one dropped to 12.1. Is the battery bad or could I have a short drawing it down? If I charge full again and remove all connections, would that be a better test? I bought a cheap load tester from Harbor Freight but don't know if it's providesan accurate reading.

Thoughts?

[ryan_ekubass]

optima batteries are aggravating to deal with. we had our cranking battery go completely dead. I called advance nad they said to bring it to them adn they would have to force charge it on their machine becuase they are gel batteries and if ran completely dead they wont take a charge back but by two ways. They charge it or take a regular deepcycle battery and hook jumper cables to it and then hook the other end of the cables to the optima and then hook the charger up to your regular battery and then it will take a charge. I am not impressed with the optima batteries at all to be honest with you. Ours hold up to all day fishing and such but my cranking battery everynow and then will draw down and it seems like over night and i know nothing is hooked up cause i throw the breaker to all the power. But i believe my culprit is my powerpole that is hard wired to the battery. I hope this helps.....

[Basshunter82]

So what battery brand do you all recommend?

[jp]

Ok - so if I have a bad Optima battery (Blue Top), do i have to replace it with another? or would any other deep cycle battery do? Secondly, are there any issues with using one battery two years old with another brand new one?

[Atomdata]

Check the output of your charger. i am not familiar with Optimas but a battery is a battery. I had replaced 2 batteries last year and then realized, after trolling motor barely "trolled" after about 5 hours, that one of the banks on my charger was at about half the output it should be. Lights were green, but not enough output to charger the battery.

Good luck!

[ryan_ekubass]

take the battery to a place that deals with optimas and knows how the gel battery works. Because a battery is not just a battery optimas are gel filled that take a special charger to charge them. If you have a newer charger it will be suitable to charge optimas with i know the older chargers wont work with them. Look up optima batteries website online and read about all the special crap you have to do to keep them maintained. I just wish the new lithium ion batteries didnt cost an arm and a leg cause them would be the way to go. they are tolerant to exteme cold and can take the draining and recharging better and supposedly last longer than all the batteries. I also hear good things about deka batteries our boat came with interstate batteries and i liked them pretty well but i know alot of anglers that dont like them a bit. i hope this helps just research the optimas online and you will see what i am talking about......

[GeoFisher]

Optima are simply a purty face on AGM batteries.........NOTHING ELSE. No need to pay the premium for Optima's version of it.

Go To BPS, buy their AGM battery for about 1/2 the Optima version.

[SMonroe]

I have had good luck from the sears batteries. But it is a good idea to check the charger and be consistent with how you charge and maintain them

[Astrobass]

I've had excellent luck out of my Deka batteries. At the end of 3 years, they were still pulling strong.

[sweetwater]

I've had excellent luck out of my Deka batteries. At the end of 3 years, they were still pulling strong.

Same here, we have two Deka deep cycles and one Deka cranking battery in the boat. We bought them three years ago from a local Deka dealer (thanks for the good deal Gerald) and they are still going strong.

I think a lot of getting the most out of your batteries, especially the deep cycles, would be buying a quality battery to begin with then maintaining it properly afterwards. There are several quality brands of batteries out there and just as most other things are you will usually get what you pay for. There is no such thing as a good quality cheap battery.

[JUSTINHALL]

I have Optimas in my boat and it is very true on not letting them die all the way. If I let the battery die all the way my onboard charger won't charge it up. I have to put a standard charger on it and get it back up, then it will start taking a charge again from onboard. I have had a few go bad and it was always my cranking batteries but I finally figured out why this year. There was a draw somewhere and couldn't find it for the life of me but finally did, so its less of an issue now.
Anyways the Optimas do last much longer than all others I have used, in since of cranking power not longevity. My trolling motor batteries will run laps around other boats with standard batteries towards end of day. I had one just recently that would have voltage but not cranking amps. You could charge it and it showed charged plus had full voltage but as soon as you turned the key it went dead, dead. Had to argue with Advanced on this because they kept telling me it was fine but it wasn't. Which didn't matter too much because it was out of warranty so had to buy one anyways and it was 3 years old. I have 2 cranking batteries and only one was bad. I have had the trolling motor batteries for at least 4 years maybe closer to 5 and they are still going strong.
Never had other gel batteries to compare to only standard acid type batteries.
There seems to be a lot of debate on Optimas but I do think they are better as an owner even though I have had to replace some.

[adriancretired]

a fully charged battery should read about 12.70 volts after being off the charger for a few hours. but that still wont determine the conditionof the battery. wal -mart among others has a battery tester that will put a load on the battery to check amperage for free. i have an optima starting battery,and wally world trolling batteries. ilike the optima battery , but wont pay for them. u can get 2 batteries for the price of one optima. u can have the right voltage from a battery but only half the amperage a battery is rated to have.