The company also introduced the first maintenance-free lead-acid batteries for military and commercial use. One of its major contribution to the world of battery technology is the introduction of the high-performance AGM automotive batteries in the 1970’s. The company has a solid reputation of having a 40-year history of engineering and technical innovation. Optima 8004-003 RedTop Starting Battery 34/78Īs I mentioned earlier, I rely on the credibility of the brand and Optima 8004-003 RedTop Starting Battery 34/78 comes from a long line of superior Optima products manufactured by Optima Batteries, Inc. Technical criteria like cold cranking amps (CCA) or marine cranking amps (MCA) are virtually Greek to me, so I rely on known brands with established credibility and solid warranty as my benchmark for what marine battery would give me the best performance.ġ. In buying a battery, the brand matters a lot. Get the best, if not the best (I did), boat battery available in the market today. And don’t settle for just any marine battery. Although you can use a car battery for your boat (can you really?), but if you want to enjoy a worry-free afternoon trolling in the lake, you better get the right battery for it, a marine battery. In this century, we are now looking at lead-acid batteries, AGM batteries, lithium-ion batteries, nickel metal cadmium batteries, nickel hydride batteries, and so on, each with their own unique properties and application.ĭid you know that a car battery differs from a marine battery? I didn’t, at first. The Top 5 Boat Batteries Reviewsīattery technology has gone a long way since Alessandro Volta created the first battery in 1800. But, that was after an exhaustive search which led me to write this review. To my credit, I found the Optima 8004-003 RedTop Starting Battery 34/78, the best among the best marine batteries in my book. There are hundreds, if not thousands of batteries out there that will make the head of a newbie in batteries like me spin. To my shock, I realized that not all batteries are created equal. That’s when I got interested in marine batteries. As I mentioned, the boat is fairly new, but the battery for my outboard motor isn’t. If Lithium batteries were not significantly or vastly superior to FLA/GEL in all but 2 aspects, much of this forum would not exist.I’m a dedicated angler, and the highlight of my not so young life was the acquisition of a fairly new bass boat which I now proudly use for my fishing expeditions. Then, all at once, in one day, they grow up, get a good job, leave the house and pay back rent. It's like having twin 2 year olds that seem to never grow up. For the younger generations, It is not likely you will have anything remaining in your possession after 25 years that you paid $4500 for today. I'm 57 now with 2500ah of 12v DIY LFE, it is entirely possible they will outlive me. For a DIY If somebody is already off grid or at least supplementing the grid, they most likely have the skills to crimp a few wires.įor those who's time is "too valuable" to waste building a battery, please stop quoting sports statistics.Īfter 15 years of 100% off grid FLA, hell no, I will never go back. There are a few positive reviewed Amazon LFE in a box, no assembly required, of apparent good quality that you would only have to take into account low temps and modifications to charge profile.100ah $500, 200ah $800.Ī DIY build? 250ish amp hours think a $600ish ballpark. That outfit would still cost way more than a few off the shelf LFE.Įven the high grade gel batteries are fragile in comparison to LFE. If you have an enormous FLA battery bank and manage to use 20%, recharging to full with absorb and float every single day, like a starter battery in a car, they will last quite a while like most car batteries. Let any FLA sit for a week at 30% and you can get a $10 Autozone store card for it. Store your LFE at 30% for a few months and comfortably get 10 to 20% more out of it. Now compare 8 to 15 year expected life span for LFE, and that is to 80% functional capacity.īy the time you add an auto water and high frequency de-sulphate on each battery, you may as well buy LFE even at a 2 to 1 price difference. You would be lucky if you still have 75% FLA capacity after 18 months 50% after 24. If you manage to forget the water for a week or 2, now it's less than a year. Because after that first year there WILL be significant capacity lost. It would take, an absolute minimum, 2 Costco 100ah batteries ($300) to match 1 low to mid range LFE 100ah ($375-$500) over 1 year usage with a 75ah per day drain. The warranty is for shorts, not capacity loss. Their idea of "Deep Cycle" and an actual Deep Cycle battery will not stand up to close comparison.Ĭostco only expects 5% of the people to return their $150 battery. Because gel will beat the crap out of FLA Costco on every metric, unless you only need it to work for 6 months.
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