battery selection...

it is time to replace my batteries. currently i am running two of them. who makes a good deep cycle that is durable that wont break the bank?

i know, i know, a lot of people run optima blue tops but i just cannot justify the extra cost (there are alot of other batteries out there that have a lot more amp hour power than the optimas).

thanks for your suggestions....

I've been running the highest amp hours walmart deepcycle for years and have had no problems w/ power of charging. only 50 bucks to boot. I run two amps, pushing 2 subs, tower speakers, and interiors.

i run one deep cycle diesel car battery, with the mother of all amps the hiphonics colossus (2.4 KWatt RMS) into a phoenix gold Ti elite, need another couple batts though, when i cane the tunes the frame lights flash like a disco!!!!!!!!

the advantage to the optima is the gel cell design...

they can be run down ( total drain) and brought back as many times as you need (200 +++).

you can MAYBE drain and recharge a normal battery design 2-3 times before it goes bad..

i would reccommend at least one in a dual battery configuration.

I run walmart batts too. No probs at all. At 50 bucks each, just get a fresh set at the beginning of each season, use 'em & lose 'em.

I just got done cleaning friggin battery acid from the compartment in our Sequoia. Bitchen truck, not a rattle to be heard, and there's friggin acid coming out the top of the battery. What the dillyo? I would be even more pissed off if that stuff came out inside the boat.

Turn the Optima upside down and submerge it in bilge water - it won't care. Oh, sorry, you expressely forbid use of the Optima. BTW, it's not gel - gel will overcook with a decent alternator. Absorbed Glass Matt is the Optima (and other similar brands) construction. Take fiberglass cloth, saturate it with electrolyte, slap a layer of yummy lead on it and then roll the whole thing up. No free liquid, thick plates, super vibration resistant and 1/10th of the self-discharge rate (loss during storage) of lead-acid batteries. Oh yeah, the things can recharge at like a 1C rate, which means that if it's DEAD and you've got a 200A alternator, it'll recharge in an hour without blowing up like all liquid or gel-cells would.

In your cost/benefit, plz consider more than reserve capacity vs. price.

I use a couple Deka marine batteries... why, cuz the shop I go to suggested it to fix a ballast issue (how I don't know, anyway), so since I had one, I got a second to compliment it. $100 each.