House and Start Battery Options

billcruise · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 8:49 pm

Looking for advice on the BEST no maintenance house and starting batteries for our new V435. When I saw that Four Winns uses a flooded battery, I requested the dealer let me choose the battery since I'm completely sold on the idea of sealed technology. Our V328 has the original 10 year old Optima starting batteries still going strong and the Optima house battery went 9 years before needing replacement. Optima is not a possibility for the new boat because the rating is too low for the IPS600 start battery and the deep cycle battery is a 4D and Optima is not offered in that size.

Volvo requires 750CCA at 41 degrees F AND 88 Ah

Here's what I've looked at so far

Start:
Option 1:Sears DieHard Platinum Marine Battery Group Size 31M
http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-marine-battery-group-size-31m-price/p-02850131000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1&PDP_REDIRECT=false&s_tnt=39869:3:0

Battery is rated at

1. 1150 CCA at O °F
2. 92 Amp Hours at 10 Hour Rating

Both these ratings exceed the requirements outlined by Volvo plus it’s available at Sears. This is a private label battery made by Odyssey and is identical to their product.

Option 2: Trojan 31-AGM 12V 110Ah AGM Battery

http://www.civicsolar.com/product/trojan-battery-company-410-0116?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=google_shopping&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=COvyxI7Yu7cCFUdo7AodxgEAog

Battery is rated at

1. ???? CCA at O °F
2. 110 Amp Hours at 20 Hour Rating

House Battery
Option 1: Rolls Surrette S12-230AGM

http://rollsbattery.com/public/specsheets/spec_79.pdf

210 AH at 20 Hr Rating

Option 2: Fullriver DC210-12

http://www.fullriverdcbattery.com/media/pdf/spec-sheets/dc-series/DC210-12.pdf

210 AH at 20 Hr Rating

Does anyone have experience with Sear Platinum, Trojan, Rolls Surrette, or Fullriver?? To me they all appear to be top quality batteries. The dealer recommended the Trojan and Fullriver and would stand behind the product. I found the Odyssey/Sears and Roll Surrette recommendations via internet searches. Thanks for any help!

ric · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 8:56 pm

On the house side you'll find that two Trojan 220ah 6v will suit you better. You can only use 50% of a 12v deep cycle or 100ish amp hours. You can use 75% or more for YEARS on 6v cells without damage. A 25% increase in power at the same cost. Two 6v are around $250.

Paul I. · **Posted:** Wed May 29, 2013 10:55 pm

Go with option 1 BUT buy the "auto" one. Its the same battery but with out the small post and has a much better warranty! Than I would use a battery "charging relay" to give you full control.

firecadet613 · **Posted:** Thu May 30, 2013 6:59 am

If the dealer will stand behind those two brands, go with them. I'd say say the Sears Diehard, but my paygrade is quite a bit lower!

This year I went with some brand I'd never heard of, but I paid them to change it and they will stand behind it.

elmwood · **Joined:** Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:02 pm **Posts:** 47

I put Lifeline batteries in mine, 12v for start and two 6v 220ah for house. I threw away the old 1 2 both switch and seperated house and engine and put in an add-a-battery switch. Best thing I ever added to the boat. A little pricey but many people have had theirs for many years. Look at them before making a choice.

babbot1 · **Joined:** Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:46 pm **Posts:** 570

Most of the batteries you get over the counter are made by johnson controls with a different sticker on the front. I would just go to the place with the best price after you researched who made the battery. I just put in autozones dual purpose batteries and they were identical to the interstates i took out. both made by johnson controls. Even the Optima(which are my favorite) are made by johnson control but a different tech.

How is 2 - 6v series better then 2 -12v parrallel if they are combined to be the same AH? Just curious. do the 6v have larger plates?

ric · **Posted:** Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:22 pm

6v plates are huge. They don't get damaged running low. You can only safely get around 50% out of a 12v cell. So two 12v 100ah in P will get you 200ah total and 100ah useable. Two 200ah 6v will get you 12v 200ah total with no less than 150ah useable.

Also a good 6v 240ah battery costs around $90. So for under $200 you can have over 200ah of storage. It runs my AC all night.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:04 pm

What he said.

The ability to get double the capacity at half the price makes for a good argument. The downside is the added weight and space needed for them. Not a big problem on my 348 but I could see it being an issue for others.

ric · **Posted:** Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:22 pm

I have four batteries in my boat. It's equal in size to a 2003+ 225 Sundowner. Two 12v in P for boat, two 6v in S for 120v. Plenty of room could add 2 more.

billcruise · **Posted:** Thu Jul 04, 2013 9:02 am

I ended up putting in the Sears platinum (Odyssey) for the start batteries because they were one of the few AGMs that exceeded Volvo's min requirements. I went with the Rolls Surrette for the house mostly because FW set up the battery tray for a 4D and because of the reputation/marketing by RS. We'll see how it goes!

Paul I. · **Posted:** Fri Jul 05, 2013 10:20 pm

I use the Sears ones too, for years. I have 4 of them on board. One for each engine and 2 for the house. For the house I added a 2nd charger and a charging relay to charge it off the engine.

I am very happy with them! If you look some of my older posts, about 2 months ago I explained just how long one lasted.

Real short, I turned the charger off by mistake. One house battery lasted about 20 to 22 hours. That's with the fridge on, 4 showers, mixed lighting, vac-u-flush and about 4 hours of music. If I turn on the charging relay I then I can use the 2nd house battery.

www.iFourWinns.com

House and Start Battery Options

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