Battery question

[surftom]

I just received the new charger (xantrex xc3012) for my batteries
info here: Xantrex XC3012 12V Battery Charger, 30A

I have 2 genereic deep cycle lead acid batteries that came with the boat - (about 100AH each).

We have some new AGM computer UPS power supply batteries at work that I can get (legally!) for free! - similar to these: UB12750H [485105] : Total Trailer, Parts and Services

My question is... Is it worth replacing the 2 batteries i have with (up to 3 or 4) of the AGM batteries. My thought was to have a single battery for the starter and 2 or 3 in parallel for the house bank if i swapped them out.

Have at it!

Tom

[johnshasteen]

What size boat, how many toys on it, how do you sail? If you have a boat that stays on dock power in a slip and you day sail, then what you've got is fine, if you have lots of eletronics and you cruise (and you've got refrigeration, stereo, fans, electric head, etc.), then look at changing what you've got.
Paloma sits in a slip hooked up to shorepower, and when we sail, it's ocassionally in the bay, but mostly offshore, and fairly short trips of 150 to 650 miles, I have two West Marine dual purpose flooded batteries and they do just fine. I changed from four batteries (two big deep cycle house and two starters) on two battery chargers and running through two battery switches - realized it was overkill for what I do and when the four batteries needed replacement a couple of years ago, I made the change.

[surftom]

Pretty similar situation here.. 26' mostly daysail - occasional "week away"

Lots of toys! - GPS/Sonar, Satellite radio, laptop, VHF and one of those "electronic coolers" (Peltier device I think) - mostly only on the slip though. I can be pretty conservative with power when out and can plug in on the slip when home.

It's more along the lines of not wanting to give up a free deal! - also, from a potential problem perspective, the AGMs seem like an "easier" battery - no spills, gassing etc

Tom

[camaraderie]

Why not? New AGM's with more storage capacity for free vs. keeping older flooded cells. sounds like a no brainer. Would suggest you use the AGM's as ONE bank and keep one of the flooded for starting duty since your Xantrex can handle multiple types and charge them independently.