Battery Recommendations?

[westtx]

I'm tired of paying for AGM batteries that seem to go bad as quickly as the cheap ones and cost 3 times as much. Any recommendations for which "old" starting and/or deep cycle battery to buy that will fit in the battery box of an E22?

[tenn162000]

I know a couple of the guys in there have the Omptima Marine batteries.  I was in a crunch in 2005 and I bought a Omptima SUV battery, figuring if it was built of off road it could withstand the bouncing around of the lake.  I have never had any problems and I have had the battery for about 5 years now.   I store it in the boat during winter, and come spring time - it starts the boat right up.  We'll see if this year will be another great year.

[westtx]

Thanks, Tenn. I have the blue topped Optimas right now. They were good for about 3 years which is the same as the $70 Interstates I run in my bay boat. I'm headed to Sam's to see what they have that will fit. I'm also going to put in an on-board charger to keep the new ones fresh. Can probably do an on-board charger and w/regular lead-acid batteries for less than two new optimas. Just worried about it fitting in the tiny box we have to work with.

[ktdust]

I had problems with a voltage drop when using an interstate battery. Switched to a blue top optima and all is good. Tight fit into an X22 though. I had to take about a 1/16" of an inch off the aluminum flange at the battery compartment to get it in.

[JJmax]

I have a Toyota 84 month car battery  that is 5 years old that still starts perfect i also run 3 amps off this. I would say this is the best battery I've ever had.   

[westtx]

JJmax, is it a regular Toyota True Start? Does it fit fine in the aluminum box? Thanks!

[JJmax]

Yes this is a  true start i will get the numbers off of it and dimensions it fits perfectly in mine no room to spare.

[farnorthfarmer]

Hey while on the topic of battery trays and the lack of space we all seem to have, anyone out there running a dual battery setup in their x22? Looking for placement ideas. Most would not need 2, but stereo tends to draw quite a bit.

[westtx]

I'm going to try a couple of Stowaways I can get at Academy here for $64.95 each 1000 CCAs. They're 24 series and should be the same size as the True Start. farnorth, I put my second battery (in the locker behind the observer seat (E22) and just wired it parallel with the main battery. There are probably much better setups but it works...

[Lakeside]

Make sure your battery can be tightened down by the bracket to secure it in place.  I suppose it depends on law enforcement in your area, but they will probably check to see that your battery is secure if they ever board your boat.  On Milwaukee Harbor, I've been boarded by the Coast Guard and they check for this. 

BTW, with the Coast Guard, they boarded our boat and once aboard they looked at everything.  The rest of the group of Coast Guardsmen who didn't board our Epic were on their gunwale to watch the inspection.  They ooh'd and ahh'd like is was the 4th of July when they checked the engine compartment and got a glimpse of the engine, which the guys aboard checked for the spark arrester.  This was the first time they had seen an Epic, so they took a really close look at everything on their check list.  The battery tie-down was at the top of their list.

[toyotafreak]

Was looking just a couple days ago - our optima Blue Top has been ours since it was mfr'd in May 2003. Not only during about 300 hours on the boat (no amps), I've been using it in my daily driver pickup for a couple years now. I've drained it to the bone at least once, maybe twice. Eight years, still going strong!

[westtx]

I went ahead and bought two new Optimas. Deciding factor was that one was still eligible for the two-year free replacement from Sam's, so I effectively bought two new ones for less than $80 each. Also, the Stowaway is too tall to fit in the floor battery compartment. In fact, I couldn't find any marine battery except for the Optima short enough to fit. Problem I had with the batteries was my Clarion radio which keeps the power button illuminated unless I turn the battery switch to Off, which I neglected to do after replacing the timing belt. My bad on that one. I also had the two batteries wired parallel, so it drained both of them and they set empty for 4 months. I'm disconnecting the parallel connection during storage and bought a 2 amp battery maintainer I'm using on the main battery during storage.

Right now, everything works except for the gas guage...we'll see how long the luck holds out!

[toyotafreak]

Am sure you know this, but be careful with the maintainer charger..the Optimas only self discharge at like a few ercent per month versus 10% or more per month witht he liquid batteries. A trickler charger can over charge the battery very easily and that's a very bad thing.

[westtx]

This one says it shuts off completely when charged and is ok with AGM batteries. I have run a MinnKota charger on the Optimas in my fishing boat and kept them plugged in continuously for over 3 years now (my Marina was 500 miles away, and I would go months sometimes without seeing the boat.)

Anyway, with a 2-year free replacement at SAM's, I'll plug it in for 23 months and see how it goes.