battery changing

[SKYCHENEY]

For the best longevity of lead acid batteries, you will need to 3-stage charging and the ability to equalize.

[miboatnutz]

Cenger,

Just replaced batteries on our Hatt earlier this year. Did a bunch of homework on this forum as well as talking to other owners locally. I think you'll find three camps. Those who swear by the Rolls batteries even though they're probably the most expensive option; those who have chosen a lower cost lead acid battery alternative such as the Deka 819/825 (or equivalent such as Interstate) and finally those who have gone with AGM batteries.

I'm sure there are others out there that may have done something different but in general terms I've found those three alternatives for battery replacement to be the most common.

We had Deka batteries on the boat at purchase two years ago but the PO told us the charger was not working properly and ultimately cooked the batteries. Wound up purchasing AGM batteries as replacements mostly because Deka 8 volt batteries were out of stock and we were told they only manufacture them a couple of times a year.

For us the cost between the Deka's and Fullriver AGM's was a wash.

Mike S.

Don't disagree that from a mechanical and electrical perspective you could probably run a 32 volt system on 36 volts but there's one MAJOR reason why I wouldn't do it. Insurance liability.

Both fire and sinking rank in the top ten for marine losses and if anything ever happens to that boat (God forbid) and you file a claim, as soon as a surveyor inspects it - you're done! All they have to do is see a bank of 36 volt batteries on a 32 volt boat and they'll give you every reason under the sun to deny a claim!

Lastly, I agree with Sky (always a voice of wisdom) as well as comments Oscarvan made in a previous post which is that basically your batteries are only as good as the charger. Learned that one the hard way.

[Avenger]

The batteries in my boat are 9-11 years old, the date card wasn't punched on them but they are somewhere between 07-09.

10 years out of batteries that you say are $5K for a set works out to $500.00 a year. You probably burn more fuel than that on one boat ride. If you actually use the boat. But you want to screw around with an engineered system that works that well to save a couple of bucks? Seems penny wise and pound foolish to me.

[mike.s]

10 years out of batteries that you say are $5K for a set works out to $500.00 a year. You probably burn more fuel than that on one boat ride. If you actually use the boat. But you want to screw around with an engineered system that works that well to save a couple of bucks? Seems penny wise and pound foolish to me.

Coming up with something better isn’t foolish, letting people rip you off is being foolish. I use the boat a lot, I run it between Florida and Nj. Trips to the keys and Bahamas every year, canyon fishing trips out of Jersey. I average 400-600 hrs a year, burning 75 gph at cruise and 15 gph if I chug it. The actual cost isn’t the problem it’s the principle of not getting ripped off. Plus there is no reason 36 volts won’t work.

[SKYCHENEY]

Coming up with something better isn’t foolish, letting people rip you off is being foolish. I use the boat a lot, I run it between Florida and Nj. Trips to the keys and Bahamas every year, canyon fishing trips out of Jersey. I average 400-600 hrs a year, burning 75 gph at cruise and 15 gph if I chug it. The actual cost isn’t the problem it’s the principle of not getting ripped off. Plus there is no reason 36 volts won’t work.

So how much are you saving? I just bought 4 Rolls at $382+freight each which included new connecting cables and bolts. I'm sure I'll get 12-15 years out of them based on my previous experience.

[mike.s]

So how much are you saving? I just bought 4 Rolls at $382+freight each which included new connecting cables and bolts. I'm sure I'll get 12-15 years out of them based on my previous experience.

Thats cheaper than I was expecting but still expensive for a battery. I live 5 miles from the Deka plant and I stopped at the factory store, they gave me a price of $600 something a piece for an 819. I never looked at the Rolls because the way it sounded I thought they would be more expensive. Going to 12 volt would cost about $900. The other option I'm considering is doing 2 banks of 8 Trojan golf cart batteries. I talked to their tech department today and using 8 per bank would give me within 50 cca of what I have now, they are $135 a piece. I'm not sure that I would need to do 8 per side either. I've had my boat for about 1.5 years and one bank has 4 Trojan 8 volts and I haven't had any problems with it. The only reason I'm thinking about changing batteries is my charges staying on a lot more. I also like the idea of the 8 Trojans because ii think I'd prefer lifting 8 60lbs batteries instead of 4 120b batteries. This is all just in planning the last 2 days.

[Avenger]

Coming up with something better isn’t foolish, letting people rip you off is being foolish. I use the boat a lot, I run it between Florida and Nj. Trips to the keys and Bahamas every year, canyon fishing trips out of Jersey. I average 400-600 hrs a year, burning 75 gph at cruise and 15 gph if I chug it. The actual cost isn’t the problem it’s the principle of not getting ripped off. Plus there is no reason 36 volts won’t work.

Your boat and your call of course, but one of the reasons I @$$ume you bought a Hatteras is the superior engineering and construction. I don't see how pushing 36 volts through a system designed and built to work on 32 is "better". I'm sure those batteries cost more to install when Hatteras designed the boat too, but it's reasonable to believe the engineers did the math and decided the investment was worth it. If 36V was better Hatteras would have gone with 36V, especially if it was cheaper to do.

Oh, and if you went to the factory store they're probably charging you list price to protect their dealers. You might want to shop that around a little.

[mike.s]

Your boat and your call of course, but one of the reasons I @$$ume you bought a Hatteras is the superior engineering and construction. I don't see how pushing 36 volts through a system designed and built to work on 32 is "better". I'm sure those batteries cost more to install when Hatteras designed the boat too, but it's reasonable to believe the engineers did the math and decided the investment was worth it. If 36V was better Hatteras would have gone with 36V, especially if it was cheaper to do.Oh, and if you went to the factory store they're probably charging you list price to protect their dealers. You might want to shop that around a little.

Better was probably a poor choice of words. But a variance in voltage is acceptable. Is your shore power always exactly 120 or 240 volt? We took a trip to Philly 2 years ago for a concert and stayed at Philly marine center. We went with 2 other boats. When we checked in they told us that the all the marinas in the area only had 208 volts. I had one air conditioner that wasn’t happy but out of the 3 boats that was the only problem. I’m not saying I’m going to do the 36 volt thing but I don’t like to rules things out without doing research.

[oscarvan]

Oh, and if you went to the factory store they're probably charging you list price to protect their dealers. You might want to shop that around a little.

Actually, there is a "seconds" store out the back door of the factory..... They just don't have everything in seconds all the time.

Been a few years, but I scored FOUR 8D AGM's there once for $600 while Worst Marine was listing the EXACT same battery for $495 EACH.

I agree with those that say that you should have 32V in a 32V system. Because.

[SKYCHENEY]

You may not have considered this, but your 32v light bulbs probably won't last as long at 36+ volts. And your 12pt monitor is very voltage sensitive and it may cause false alarms.

Also, the reason you had problems with 208v is because you have an isolation transformer. Those other boats you were with probably did not so they were seeing 120v on each leg where you had 104v. The fix to that is to install a boost switch. Again, Hatteras installed these expensive, heavy transformers for a reason. It would have been cheaper not to do so, but it gives you added safety and more options for input power such as being able to run 240v loads on a 120v input.