Best yacht battery

Halo

Halo

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I am going to change my 2 x 110 ah batteries. The system has a change over switch and the one selected covers both starting and all services.
The present ones are rated at C20 and 1000 mca
Any thoughts on best battery options
- deep cycle?
- ratings
- type eg semi wet , calcium , thick plates
 
Halo said:
I am going to change my 2 x 110 ah batteries. The system has a change over switch and the one selected covers both starting and all services.
The present ones are rated at C20 and 1000 mca
Click to expand...

This doesn't directly answer your question, but you'd be much better combining the 2 batteries as a house bank, and having a separate (smaller) battery for engine starting.
 
I went for AGMs as they won't leak acid if damaged. Managed to find some 130 AH of the same size as my old 110 AHs so went for three house and one 70 AH starter.
 
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The NCC scheme looks like it could be helpful, but also looks like it might just be more marketing BS. I still don’t understand what is right and what is not. Our service bank comprises 2 x 200ah Banner Stand By Bulls. A respected contributor on here commented shortly after we fitted them that they are totally inappropriate for the job because they are emergency power supply batteries, so I expected to have to shell out a small fortune again pretty quickly. 6 years on and they are still going strong. So some reliable guidance would be welcome, but one does wonder if the differences are rather less than some would hold.
 
PaulRainbow said:
That NCC Scheme list is a waste of time. Why someone has dreamt such a thing up is a mystery.
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Why?

"Battery verification comes via a comprehensive, industry leading, testing process conducted by suitably certified and audited test houses. Batteries will be verified and labelled accordingly, into three categories: A, B and C, depending on their capacity and intended purpose: "

I would have thought some knowledge is better than no knowledge...
 
If you have a 1-2-both switch then the batteries need to be able to cope with both cranking duty and domestic loads. These aren't ideally compatible, so @PaulRainbow suggestion of leisure batteries is what I would also suggest for a drop-in replacement.

If you want to optimise the setup, then having a dedicated deep-cycle battery (or bank of batteries) for domestic loads and a dedicated cranking battery for starting would be best, but this would require changing out the combination switch for individual battery switches and possibly adding a split-charge system.

Edit to add - I've just taken a look at the link to the NCC scheme, don't bother. At best it is irrelevant for marine and confusing, at worst it's a waste of time.
 
alahol2 said:
Why?

"Battery verification comes via a comprehensive, industry leading, testing process conducted by suitably certified and audited test houses. Batteries will be verified and labelled accordingly, into three categories: A, B and C, depending on their capacity and intended purpose: "

I would have thought some knowledge is better than no knowledge...
Click to expand...

The paragraph you quote is meaningless BS. Tested by who? How? What was the test criteria?

The "NCC" is a caravan trade body, they state:

"The scheme was started with some of the leading leisure battery brands signed up, including Banner, Platinum and Yuasa and more are being brought on board all the time "

Funny almost all of the batteries in the lists are from those companies.

It's nothing more than a list of batteries from their members. It does nothing to add to your knowledge, sorry.
 
PaulRainbow said:
The paragraph you quote is meaningless BS. Tested by who? How? What was the test criteria?

The "NCC" is a caravan trade body, they state:

"The scheme was started with some of the leading leisure battery brands signed up, including Banner, Platinum and Yuasa and more are being brought on board all the time "

Funny almost all of the batteries in the lists are from those companies.

It's nothing more than a list of batteries from their members. It does nothing to add to your knowledge, sorry.
Click to expand...

Those companies make a plethora of different batteries which is, in part, why the OP is asking for advice.
The batteries in the list are what the manufacturers recommend, from their ranges, for the specific purposes listed.
As a starting point for a replacement battery I would have thought it a sensible resource.

Which of the batteries in the lists do you consider unfit for purpose?

Your advice was... "Not deep cycle. A pair of "leisure" batteries will fit the bill." I agree, but a little help with what you consider a suitable replacement may be more helpful.
 
Halo,

Like you I have two batteries which cover both house and engine starting. My boat is over 30 years old has covered many thousands of miles and has spent many years on moorings and some time in marinas without constant shorepower connection. It has survived all of this quite happily without a separate starter battery. So whilst the council of opinion of adding a dedicated starter battery may be worthwhile, I don't think it is at all necessary. I currently have two Numax 120AH deep cycle sealed wet flooded batteries which have a CCA of 1120. These are widely available at a reasonable cost. One thing to think about when replacing these is to make sure the new ones will fit (if you are not aware they are all different physical sizes, particularly height) and that they have the correct shape of connections for your existing wires.

Hope this helps.
 
alahol2 said:
Those companies make a plethora of different batteries which is, in part, why the OP is asking for advice.
The batteries in the list are what the manufacturers recommend, from their ranges, for the specific purposes listed.
As a starting point for a replacement battery I would have thought it a sensible resource.

Which of the batteries in the lists do you consider unfit for purpose?

Your advice was... "Not deep cycle. A pair of "leisure" batteries will fit the bill." I agree, but a little help with what you consider a suitable replacement may be more helpful.
Click to expand...

Leisure is a fairly common term for batteries. Here's a link, but a quick search shows plenty of options for 110Ah, around 1000MCA, this is just one example: 110Ah battery

Note MCA is approximately CCA x 1.25, so an 800CCA would be near enough to be close enough 1000MCA
 
alahol2 said:
Why?

"Battery verification comes via a comprehensive, industry leading, testing process conducted by suitably certified and audited test houses. Batteries will be verified and labelled accordingly, into three categories: A, B and C, depending on their capacity and intended purpose: "

I would have thought some knowledge is better than no knowledge...
Click to expand...
I'd support what @PaulRainbow says and add "some knowledge is dangerous"... said by retired safety engineer who stopped a few companies releasing products that would have killed people because their knowledge was flawed.

Do the NCC provide methodologies on how they tested the batteries? What is their criteria on placing a component in A, B or C? Just so many questions that I would have.
 
Halo,

The other point I should have mentioned was to consider installing LED replacements for existing lamps. This may make you feel more comfortable continuing to use wet cell batteries as the power use is substantially reduced. I've replaced my masthead unit, nav lights and internal light bulbs. Just a thought for you.
 
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