Ok gang,
I'm looking at batteries and understand the reasons for going with AGM type batteries. I also understand the desire to go with
a house battery and an engine battery
.
my question is, for a PCM 343 engine I probably want a odyssey 34M-PC1500 (due to the cranking amps required) but do a I save some change and go for a smaller house battery or go with the same as the engine battery for redundancy?
If I were made of money this would not be a question!
I have that Odyssey battery in the Torpedo. I replaced it this year after 6 years of service. Try Battery Mart for a decent price. $335.00. Odyssey makes a nice mount for it.
Roberta
Roberta "Queen of the Boat Builders"
Built Zip "Oliver IV", Super Spartan "Jimmy 70", and Torpedo "The Glen L".
Do you really need an additional house battery for a Barrel Back? Are you planning on running electrical equipment with the engine off for extended periods? That battery will provide a lot of power on it's own.
Roberta
Roberta "Queen of the Boat Builders"
Built Zip "Oliver IV", Super Spartan "Jimmy 70", and Torpedo "The Glen L".
Sounds like you have decided on the battery already, so this might not be helpful at all, but would just like to chime in that I have good experience with Optima batteries. Have bought the Blue Top D31M for my boat (but don’t have any experience with that specific one yet). On paper it’s good, and I think the price is comparable to the one you have mentioned.
I agree with them all Steve. With my 30 year old plastic boat that has a BBC 454 in her, she came from factory with only 1. I did add another as we like listening to the stereo for hours while on the lake, at anchor.
Trust me, less is better. My Mowdy Fishng boat has 4 AGMs (2 in series for TM, 1 crank, 1 house) that I just had to replace. I couldn’t afford the odyssey’s times 4. I bought the batteries plus Duracell brand at 200 bux a pop. Odyssey’s were 350 a pop for these compact ones I need.
I was also thinking two batteries, but the forum discussion we had convinced me to go with one. I'm only running two blowers, two bilge pumps, depth sounder, horn, gauges, and nav/anchor lights. I'm not planning to go offshore and I run where there are typically lots of other boats/boaters. I'll also likely renew my Sea Tow membership.
I went with the OPTIMA blue top (dual purpose) partly because I had a limited space under my rear seat (Key Largo) and that it could be mounted in any position. I also liked the idea that if I added more electronics, the deep cycle aspect might be useful. It fit, just barely, mounted sideways in my homemade bracket (Optima bracket would not fit).
I've only started my boat three times and I've not run it yet on the water, so I can't vouch for the longevity of the Optima battery. It was in the same price range...$325 as I recall.
I'll be going with two because it's a cruiser although I imagine that other than the stereo and fans, electrical use will be minimal. It was more for piece of mind than anything else.
