www.iFourWinns.com

Starting to think about my winter projects and i need to put some more batteries in my 328. I currently only have 1 house battery and know i need to add more. Just seeing what everyone else has. I am thinking of putting in 3 of the group 31 optima batteries for the house. I have a good connection who can get me the batteries for $95 each.
I am running 2 fridges, stereo, vacuflush, and cabin lots on the hook for 1-2 nights at a time.

Suggestions welcome...

_________________
2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

I use AGM batteries from Sears. I have 3 and after 4 years there still going strong!! As you know Sears makes nothing!! These are made by Oddessy and to Mil Specs. The have a 48 month replacement and a 100 month pro-rated.

I use three group 31 house batteries and have the same items drawing like you, two fridges, vacuflush, usual cabin lighting which most are currently LED, and running the sterio off and on.
We are on the hook every weekend Fri. - Sun. afternoon and this battery set-up gets us through a weekend easily, I'd recommend it for sure. We also don't run a generator or anything as we much prefer the lack of noise.
I've gone 3 nights and days with this set-up before seeing the house bank start to drop towards 11 volts.

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2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

Hey acguy,

I have not looked, but can the 2001 328 battery charger handle the extra three Optima batteries? If so, are ya going to the Toronto Boat Show this year? I'd like to buy some $95.00 Agm batteries from ya.

Mike.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

So you have a total of 5 batteries now (3 house and 2 starter) or did you just switch the 3 over to all house/deep cycle batteries (like me)? Btw, is it an issue having all 3 deep cycle as opposed to 2 of them being starter?

This was the set up on a 298V that I previewed. It had the traditional 1 house and 2 starter and then they added another house.

_________________

Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY

Friends of mine that have a 328 are running 6 batteries, but the extra is apparently to start the genny. I think my current charger will be okay when i add more batteriers. Also the recharge time on the optima agm's is significantly less than a standard battery.

We will be at the boat show this year, probably going during the week.

_________________
2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

The good to high performance, AMG batteries take a different charge profile. 14.7 VDC conditioning charge
13.6 VDC Maintenance. As in the ones from Sears/Oddessy.

The poor to fair ones take: 14.6 VDC Conditioning 13.4 VDC maintenance charge. So most charges will work with this type, but.

If you have the good to high performance, AMG batteries you may need to set the charger to that type on battery or change the charger to one that can. Else you will not get the most out of your batteries.

Just food for thought...........

That right, I run 5 batteries total. The two starting batteries are group 27's, and the 3 house batteries are deep cycle group 31's. No issues after running this two years now with the charger for starting and deep cycle types. They are both variations of the same conventional lead acid types.

Lots of room in the 298 to fit these batteries.

_________________
2004 Four Winns 298 Vista
"Last Minute"

For the same amount of money (retail v's your discount price), you can get 3 SRM-24 and have a better combine Ah, which is what really counts for a house bank. If your house bank is prone to deep and frequent depletions, I would consider an AGM over a wet cell lead-acid. As someone noted, your shore charger needs to designed to handle Gel-cell batteries like the Optima. They tend to require more voltage and different conditioning then a lead-acid to reach full charge.

The Optima web site states this regarding their Optima batteries...

"A gel battery design is typically a modification of the standard lead-acid automotive or marine battery. A gelling agent is added to the electrolyte to reduce movement inside the battery case. Many gel batteries also use one-way valves in place of open vents, which help the normal internal gasses to recombine back into water in the battery, reducing gassing. Generally, gel batteries are less tolerant of high heat and are charged at lower power than traditional or AGM batteries. An OPTIMA battery is neither a gel battery nor regular flooded battery. OPTIMA is a SPIRALCELLTECHNOLOGY AGM battery."

My owners manual for our on board Guest battery charger states this "use charger for charging a lead-acid or gell cell battery only".

Based on the last line from the Optima statement above and what my owners battery charger manual states, I'm not sure if the Optima batteries are fully compatible with the Guest battery chargers (Guest chargers from 2001 anyways)?

Mike.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

From your post "I'm not sure if the Optima batteries are fully compatible with the Guest battery chargers (Guest chargers from 2001 anyways)?"

Thats what I had mentioned, You need to find what the "Conditioning charge" & "Maintenance charge" are of both the battery & the charger.

From my past post:
"The good to high performance, AMG batteries take a different charge profile. 14.7 VDC conditioning charge
13.6 VDC Maintenance. As in the ones from Sears/Oddessy.

The poor to fair ones take: 14.6 VDC Conditioning 13.4 VDC maintenance charge. So most charges will work with this type, but." as in the lead or wet cell types.



Promariner, makes a very good charger that can do all 3 types! What is good about them is that they will load share.
So is you buy a 20A dual charger it is not split 10 & 10 amps. If one battery need 12amps & the other 5 amps. The charger will do just that, but not go over the 20 amps of course.

Thanks Paul, I get what you are saying.

I can't speak for Mike (the thread originator) but like Mike, I want to add to our 2001 328 house bank as I currently only have one group 27 house battery (plus two starting batteries) but I would like to keep my existing on board charger as it so far has worked fine.

My boat is now on blocks and shrink wrapped for our winter months but in my owners manuals I have with our boat the charger manual I have is for a 2632/2633 Guest charger.

It will be interesting to see if our existing chargers would be suitable for the 31 group size Optima batteries so we both know one way or the other.

Mike.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

I would go to there web site & down load the manual. I pulled mine out & replaced it, becuase it could not handel the H.P. AGM types. The normal AGM, yes.

So here is what I have found so far.... On the Optima website.

Do I need a special charger for my OPTIMA® battery?

The OPTIMA® Chargers Digital 1200 12V Performance Battery Charger and Maintainer enhances the performance of OPTIMA and other AGM batteries, recovers deeply discharged batteries and extends battery life. However, under normal vehicle starting applications, most regular automatic lead-acid battery chargers will properly charge an OPTIMA battery. However, since OPTIMA batteries are frequently used in high-performance applications or nonstandard vehicle starting applications, there are certain instances that must be given special considerations.

An OPTIMA battery is an AGM battery, not a gel battery or regular flooded battery. A deeply discharged OPTIMA battery (less than 10.5 volts) will not test or recharge properly if treated as a gel battery or regular flooded battery. A handheld electronic battery tester will most likely provide inaccurate test results.

An OPTIMA battery has the benefit of very low internal resistance, which allows high-amperage output as well as efficient charge acceptance. This benefit also allows an OPTIMA battery to run longer than its specified ratings and run to a lower voltage than typical flooded batteries. All of this can lead to confusion when it comes to recharging a deeply discharged OPTIMA. Most basic battery chargers have a built-in function to prevent charging a battery with less than 10.5 volts. If your OPTIMA battery is discharged below that, the battery charger may not start up.

Most high-quality, modern battery chargers now have built-in features to charge AGM batteries like OPTIMA batteries. Some have specific AGM settings which should be used to charge an OPTIMA battery. Do not use gel or gel/AGM settings, as they will not fully charge an OPTIMA battery and could damage it over time. However, even some AGM-compatible chargers will not recharge deeply discharged (less than 10.5 volts) OPTIMA batteries. It may be necessary to follow the instructions provided in Section #3.

For regular charging we recommend a maximum of 10-amps, 13.8-15.0 volts. For float charging, we recommend 1 amp maximum, 13.2-13.8 volts.

Under normal (engine-starting) conditions, an OPTIMA battery should never experience “at-rest” voltages below 10.5 volts. In these applications, most 12 volt chargers (old or new) or alternators will sufficiently recharge an OPTIMA battery with at least 10.5 volts. Typically, we only see issues with charging when it relates to stand-alone deep-cycling applications or severely discharged OPTIMA batteries.

_________________
2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike