More Battery Questions....

[Alden68]

Based on size restrictions the largest battery that I can use for my house bank is Group 31. Based on budgetary restrictions I will be using wet cell batteries. That being said, what is the best battery of that type and where to buy.....

The surcharge for the convenience of going to West seems to be offset by shipping costs from online sources...but are the West batteries any good??

Any advice would be appreciated...thanks.

[sailingdog]

Alden-

It would help if you said where you were located... If you're in Hawaii, then shipping will kill you.... If you're in Annapolis, I'm sure there are other sources for marine deep cycle batteries.

[jr438234606]

I've used the Seavolt batteries and have been pleased with them. I don't recommend their "Dual Purpose" batteries though.

[Alden68]

I'm just outside Boston.

jr - I have definitely ruled out the dual purpose...thanks.

[camaraderie]

Hey Alden... I agree w/ you about West!
Trojan makes pretty good wet cells and they are sold by the Boaters World stores in your area. The master distributor for the area is:

Northeast Battery
Address	240 Washington Street, Auburn, MA01501-3225, United States
Telephone	(508) 832-2700, (800) 441-8824
Fax	(508) 832-2706
Email	sales@northeastbattery.com
Affiliation	MASTER DISTRIBUTOR - NORTHEAST BATTERY 800-441-8824

[sailingdog]

Alden-

Hamilton Marine in maine has excellent prices, but you can also drive up to Portsmouth and get them at West marine there without paying the 5% sales tax. Defender.com in CT is pretty good too. There are also some good sources in Boston, that are industrial battery dealers... but they would probably have to order the batteries for you.

I am wondering if you could fit two T-105 golf cart batteries, to give yourself a slightly larger battery bank. How large is the actual space you've got?

BTW, I have two Trojan T-105's on my boat... they seem to be pretty good beasties.

[Alden68]

Cam - Great info! Thanks.

[hellosailor]

Alden-
Do you have a car? Then check the yellow pages for battery distributors in your area. If you can find a local distributor (and there have to be a number around Boston) that's the cheapest source, many will sell retail and because they are getting the batteries directly by the truckload, their freight costs are less.
Look for a brand name and a warranty.

If you have a Sam's Club, WalMart, Costco, etc. in the area, some of them carry marine deep cycle batteries very reasonably but you may find Group31 needs to be ordered in for you.

[sailingdog]

CostCo or BJ's is probably a good choice too, but not Sam's Club, since they've closed down the only ones near the Boston area.

[PBzeer]

Another route, particularly if you'd rather have AGM's. Do you know anyone who has a marine related business? If so, ask if they have a Port Supply card and if they'll buy the battery for you. You can get the West Marine AGM's for almost half off that way.