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Battery Question

Roland

Roland

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Hello Guys.... got a question for you. I'm getting ready to buy a new battery for my Benny.... It's a single battery set up rigged with a Yamaha 75 four stroke. I was all set to go out and buy a new agm battery but I read some forums that said yamaha discourages owners from using agm batteries... so earlier today I called Yamaha's customer tech support, and sure enough, the yamaha tech told me that I should not use an agm battery. The only reason he gave was that there may be an incompatibility issue between the yamaha's charging system and the agm battery.. He advised that I should use a good flooded / wet cell battery... I looked at the battery last time we were out on the lake and the only thing I could see on the battery was the name of the company ( Continental ) and it said Marine / Rv.... Does that mean I am currently using just a starting battery, or a dual purpose battery? The only electronics I run on my boat is a Garmin depth / fish finder, navigation lights and stereo, and only when the motor is running, never when the motor is off. Given what electronic stuff I use, do I need "just" a good starting battery or a starting / deep cycle battery? Any brand recommendations? I appreciate your help with this.. thanks..

Roland
 
As for brand, I would think Derrick researched this to death, and can probably tell you the best rated ones out there !!
 
Any Deep Cycle 12 volt Lead/Acid should take care of your needs, 650 cold cranking amps or larger. Deep Cycle batteries have larger plates and are made stronger to handle the vibrations . The warranty period drives the cost of the battery. Most Marine Deep Cycle batteries last about 3 years, I had one last 6 years.

RiverBill
 
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Having been a heavy diesel tech for 20+ years I have seen good and bad in all brands of batteries, What I do and tell everyone else to do is shop for the longest prorated warranty for the cheapest price, that route has never let me down. Some of the better ones will have anywhere from 2+ year free replacement and up to an 80 month prorated warranty.

As far a deep cycle as posted they have heavier plates and what that does is allows it to be discharged further and charged up more rapidly without the plates warping and causing the battery cells to short out internally.

To extend the life of any battery in periods of non use longer than a week at a time keep a .5 amp battery maintainer or low rate trikle charger on them to keep scale from building up on the plates, this is what kills 90% of boat bateries and other things that do not get used a lot. When the scale builds up on the plates it will eventually cause an internal short as the builds up and falls to the mat and it causes a path to another cell plate and short out cells causing a battery to not hold a charge.

Stay away from Walmart, I have had the worst luck with them and their warranty sucks to say the least. Also the large chain parts houses don't usually have the best warranty either, Exide and Interstate just flat out price themselves out of the market due to the big name sponsoship of all major sports. I find the smaller local parts jobbers have the best deals and the best warranty.
 
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I found this,

billboat
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Join Date: Dec 1969

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I spoke with Yamaha Customer Service earlier today and posed the

question regarding AGM batteries. The technician told me that Yamaha's

primary concern regarding "maintenance free" or sealed batteries is

related to "Gel Cell" batteries. It is due to the charging voltage

required by Gel Cells. He went on to explain that the charging regulator

on the F250 Yamaha 4 stroke puts out 14.5 volts - this is precisely

what the AGM batteries require - which happens to be the same voltage

which is recommended for standard lead acid (flooded) batteries.

The technician was very knowledgable and politely listened to my question

and concerns. He answered my questions and explained that the

charging voltage was the issue (with Gel Cells) but did not present a problem

with the newer AGM batteries as they very closely mirror the same

charging requirements as standard lead acid flooded batteries.

The customer service number for Yamaha, in Kennesaw Ga., is

(866) 894-1626.

Hopefully this will address future issues with AGM batteries and

Yamaha outboards.

regards

Last edited by billboat; 09-04-2007 at 07:31 PM.
 
I actually found that this morning and pasted it into the reply area, but just picked up my tablet now and realized either I didn't hit "post" or it didn't register it! Haha as for the best batteries, well everyone has had a good or bad of anything. I looked and researched and came to the conclusion that the Northstar batteries were "the best" as proven by some different tests and comparisons. That being said, they are also ridiculously expensive and realistically far more than I probably needed. I made the choice based on if I had to buy batteries, I might as well buy the best I could find since I don't know how much draw this stereo of mine will have in real world application, so it was easier to spend a little more on each battery than worry about buying something cheaper and having it not be enough. One thing to keep in mind is not all AGM batteries are equal. There are "regular" AGM and TPPL AGM. The TPPL are Thin Plate Pure Lead. Then main makers of these are Northstar and Odyssey. It's what is used in UPS backup power supplies. They are non spillable and can be discharged farther and more often than normal AGM. I believe a lot of AGM were in the 50-60% discharge, whereas the TPPL is 80%. Hope that helps a little, oh and I think the Northstar have a 4 year full replacement on automotive and 3 year on marine, which makes no sense since they are identical.
 
Oh, one more thing, as for other batteries, I've read a lot of good things about Deka batteries, it was my other option. I think it was a Deka Intimidator series.
 
My pontoon boat is 9 years old. We've had it for 6 seasons and it still has the original battery in it..............An Interstate Deep Cycle. Kinda scary but good that it's lasted this long but I've had each cell tested and it's fine. At the end of every season I remove the battery and bring it home and slow charge it every 30 days. I probably should replace it but you know the old saying.......... "if it ain't broke...................."
 
Thank you gentleman... I certainly appreciate all the replies.... have a great weekend!
 
I'm going to revive this old thread to keep from starting a new one.

How many volts does it take to start a Yamaha 90 4 stroke? 

I've got a plug in volt meter arriving today, but it will do me know good if I still don't know how many volts to keep in reserve after running the accessories off of the battery while sitting on a sand bar or anchored out in the Rez.

I'm running two Interstate Marine batteries tied in parallel, so I have plenty of power to begin with , but would like to know what to look for.

Do you guys know?
 
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