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Battery choices for offshore use

6K views 36 replies 12 participants last post by  Irunbird 
#1 ·
Hi, folks- I have a little confession to make here; I killed 4 perfectly good Deka GC-10 batteries after not quite 2 years of use (and neglect). We moved and put the boat in storage and it took me a while with all the issues moving to Florida, starting a new job, etc... to get the batteries off of the boat and in my garage where I could keep a closer eye on them. In the meantime, I'm pretty sure they dipped below the point of no return with respect to charge and have never bounced back. I had them tested today and at least one bank of 2 is trashed. The other two aren't much farther behind.

I've read a little from MaineSails posts (which are almost on every boating forum out there), and wonder if going the AGM route might be better for me as long as I treat them well. I know myself well, so I need something that might be a bit more forgiving if the state of charge dips a few times before I can get to it and resume charging. The specifics- this is a boat that I like doing offshore trips and races in. I'm planning on doing a race to Cuba (delivering from Tampa to Key West this coming January) and back, but there is also Bermuda 1-2 in 2017. I have a Renogy 100 watt semi-flexible solar panel with a Genasun GV-10 controller. The other reason I am beginning to favor the AGM's is that they are sealed and trying to figure out a way to seal my current battery box is a big challenge (no sealed box fits easily in my battery compartments), and that is a requirement for any category 1 race.. So- would you have any suggestions for a brand (there is a US Battery distributor a little over an hour away in Kissimmee) or should I just stick with ye olde wet cells and figure out how to seal them in a box and never let them out of my sight again? I think we're here to stay for a while, so keeping them (whether wet-cell or AGM) plugged into my solar panel shouldn't be a problem.

Ray
 
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