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Author Topic: best trolling motor battery?  (Read 24696 times)

iceman cometh

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best trolling motor battery?
« on: Jun 11, 2014, 09:31 PM »
I use a 55lb thrust minn kota endura trolling motor and I'm wanting to purchase an everstart marine battery from walmart. What would be the best one given these specifications:

Everstart 27DC Marine
109 AMP hours
180 Reserve capacity (RC)

Everstart Maxx 29DC Marine
114/122 AMP hours (I'm getting different amp hours in different customer reviews)
210 Reserve Capacity (RC)

I'm thinking of getting the Maxx 29DC because of the higher reserve capacity and amp hours. The Maxx may be a dual purpose battery, (i.e. hybrid), where the 27DC is just a deep cycle battery, I believe, though the only true deep cycle may be 6 volt batteries. Does it matter if a battery is a dual purpose battery if I will only be using it for the trolling motor?
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stripernut

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #1 on: Jun 11, 2014, 09:56 PM »
I was the Customer Service Manger for the leading marine battery charger company for years and I would suggest you stick with just Deep Cycle Batteries. I am sorry to say there is a whole lot of misleading (I am being kind) information put out from battery companies, making it much harder for the angler to choose. In the end with standard lead acid batteries, with quality being the same, go with the highest amp hours. That will give you the most time on the water.

iceman cometh

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #2 on: Jun 12, 2014, 09:34 PM »
thanks for the info. I went with the evermaxx dc29. It is a deep cycle. One more question, though. It says it is a maintenance free battery, but I've read elsewhere that guys that have bought this battery (or other supposed maintenance free batteries) still remove the caps periodically to check the water (electrolytes) level. They say they still need to be refilled from time to time. But other people have said don't do this because taking off the caps will void the warranty. Do I still need to check? I had to do this on all my older batteries. Thanks again for the help.
"If the doors of perception were cleansed, we would see things as they are...infinite." -- Aldous Huxley

"A wise man once said, you can kill with a fountain pen." -- Bob Dylan

stripernut

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #3 on: Jun 12, 2014, 10:50 PM »
The maintenance free batteries are sealed/vented and can loose electrolytes over time and once it gets to low the battery is shot. If you own it already, I would wait a while, make sure that there are no manufacturing issues with it, then pop the caps and add distilled water... Something to keep in mind is most batteries don't die, they are murdered! Improper charging is one of the biggest reason batteries die... You need to use a "Stepped" Charger, one that starts charging at about 14.6 volts and when the battery is charged drops to 13.3 volts. Most chargers you see out there are called "Automatic" and charge at 13.8 volts constant, which never quite fully charges and is to high to leave long term, so you go though more electrolytes...
Good luck, sneaking up on the fish!

ICEHOLE

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #4 on: Jun 18, 2014, 12:17 PM »
I did 27dc fall of 2012, and I have not had one issue with it, i have had it take me around lakes fishing sun up to sundown. never ran out of juice. i run a minkota endure 55
Trout, LMB, SMB, BullHeads, Lakers, Pike, Carp

iceman cometh

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #5 on: Jun 18, 2014, 12:31 PM »
thanks for all the info. I'll use the battery for awhile before I check it. It's got a two year warranty on it. I just didn't want to mess it up. I just had read elsewhere that guys had brought the batteries home only to find out they had to top off the water even before their first use. I've never owned a sealed battery before. At least I don't think I have, ( this is only the 2nd marine battery I've had to buy) and my last battery just had caps that were elevated up off the top of the battery that you popped off with a screwdriver. The only two areas I see on this battery are recessed (the caps((?)) on the top of the battery. So I made your help on how to refill it when I finally do try to. Thanks again. Great site, Great Members, just like iceshanty.com!!!
"If the doors of perception were cleansed, we would see things as they are...infinite." -- Aldous Huxley

"A wise man once said, you can kill with a fountain pen." -- Bob Dylan

Mac Attack

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #6 on: Jun 18, 2014, 01:34 PM »
Most car batteries today are "sealed".
But you can open them and add distilled water.
Don't overfill.

800stealth

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #7 on: Jun 18, 2014, 05:15 PM »
thanks for the info. I went with the evermaxx dc29. It is a deep cycle. One more question, though. It says it is a maintenance free battery, but I've read elsewhere that guys that have bought this battery (or other supposed maintenance free batteries) still remove the caps periodically to check the water (electrolytes) level. They say they still need to be refilled from time to time. But other people have said don't do this because taking off the caps will void the warranty. Do I still need to check? I had to do this on all my older batteries. Thanks again for the help.

Do you really think the kid behind the counter at Walmart is going to inspect the battery to make sure it hasn't been tampered with before he says "whatever dude, go grab another one"? I'm guessing you could drill holes in it, cap it with corks and still get it warranted. I wouldn't think twice about popping it open and topping it off.
 

Jethro

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Re: best trolling motor battery?
« Reply #8 on: Jul 10, 2014, 08:27 AM »
Also don't forget the warranty on "NevaStart" batteries at wally world are prorated. That means that every month your value of the warranty goes down. So much that if you bring it back for warranty in any more than 10 months from when you bought it, you are better off using that battery as a core exchange. And the battery probably isn't going to fail before 10 months.

 



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