Big batteries

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Solent Sailor

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Who is the current supplier of choice for batteries these days?

I'm thinking of replacing some of mine (possibly all of them) as at least two are on their last legs. Trouble is, they are big expensive beasts (six x 225ah fitted at present, although original spec was 185ah) so I don't want to either pay more than I have to, nor compromise on quality (I know, I know...,). Two are purely to start the port engine and the other four are a combined domestic and starboard engine bank.

Favourites at the moment are Yuasa 230ah Cargo 7000 models from Tayna. These are not AGM/gel nor leisure spec, but are Yuasa's top of the range model for trucks that regularly have "hotel loads" applied to them and appear to have high ratings for vibration etc. They are almost certainly better than what is fitted at the moment anyway! Not sure on the lead times though - might be a problem.

Open to other suggestions - although nothing radical like going for lithium (I don't have a spare £10k).
 
I would look at regular truck batteries for engine cranking. They should have a high CCA rating. Then look at AGM’s for the domestic bank as they will have a greater depth of discharge when compared with a regular lead acid wet cell battery.
I fitted 2 x Victron Super Cycle AGM 170ah batteries to my domestic bank last year and they seem to be excellent. Not cheap but seem to be very good specs.
 
Dino said:
look at AGM’s for the domestic bank
Click to expand...
Thanks - but I am sticking to dual-purpose batteries for the domestic bank because it is as shared starter bank for the stbd engine too as I say. In reality, I have masses more AH than we need (most of our lighting being LED now and having a generator onboard which run a considerable amount of the time when we are at anchor and awake, otherwise we connect to shore). I could probably manage on 185ah batteries (which is what was originally spec'd) but they are only marginally cheaper from my research.

AGM would also require recalibrating the charger which is an unnecessary additional step. In fact, arguably I'd have to install a second charger to maintain the port engine starting bank alone if that were wet-cell and the domestic/stbd AGM.

The Yuasa 7000 series has glass mat separators so a step closer to AGM and designed for the use I'm intending. CCA are 1400 which is plenty.
 
I can recommend Tayna on speed of delivery; ordered late Sunday evening and delivered today, Tuesday morning. The batteries were also much cheaper than other suppliers I looked at.
 
I have a Yuasa battery bought from Tayna as a dedicated starter battery for the Port Engine.
It works much better than the previous dual purpose battery that was there.
 
Solent Sailor said:
Who is the current supplier of choice for batteries these days?

I'm thinking of replacing some of mine (possibly all of them) as at least two are on their last legs. Trouble is, they are big expensive beasts (six x 225ah fitted at present, although original spec was 185ah) so I don't want to either pay more than I have to, nor compromise on quality (I know, I know...,). Two are purely to start the port engine and the other four are a combined domestic and starboard engine bank.

Favourites at the moment are Yuasa 230ah Cargo 7000 models from Tayna. These are not AGM/gel nor leisure spec, but are Yuasa's top of the range model for trucks that regularly have "hotel loads" applied to them and appear to have high ratings for vibration etc. They are almost certainly better than what is fitted at the moment anyway! Not sure on the lead times though - might be a problem.

Open to other suggestions - although nothing radical like going for lithium (I don't have a spare £10k).
Click to expand...
One of the limiting factors as you go up in battery capacity is whether you can lift it into place. Those 230ah ones are 61kg each. If space to work is so tight that it has to be a one person lift, is your back up to it? ☺️

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
Sealine, on my S37, as standard fitted all leisure batteries 1 bank of 2 for starting and the other bank of 3 for domestic. Keeps life simple and works well giving a battery life of 7 years for me.
No such thing as dual purpose batteries, the two specs are completely different. It’s just marketing.
Leisure batteries apparently are happier being run down and cycling as opposed to pure starter batteries.
5 years ago I went with Tanya for five EXV115R Enduronline Calcium Leisure batteries. 4 yr guarantee and then £110 each
Have worked well so far.
I‘m sure you know your batteries but make sure the terminals are std post (or otherwise)
 
DavidJ said:
No such thing as dual purpose batteries, the two specs are completely different. It’s just marketing.
Click to expand...

Strangely the CCA and MCA ratings on what I thought was the equivalent Hankook "dual purpose" battery were supposedly fractionally higher than the Yuasa starter battery that replaced it.
But a single Yuasa M27-90S spins a D4-260 quite happily to start within a couple of seconds - the previous battery was struggling (and not old), so maybe it wasn't the same as the Hankook at all.
 
Last edited:
Mr Googler said:
Same goes for passerelle fitting?
Click to expand...
Point well taken. Doing it yourself means not having to deal with people (hence my sewing thread).
The passerelle was hard going for me and the wife. Luckily we have a crane on board but it was still a frustrating back breaker that I wouldn’t want to repeat
 
I've Googled who is the cheapest for the battery I've needed and all I have used have been good.
 
Hopefully I shouldn't have too much trouble lifting them in and out, and I'll set up a tackle if its really difficult. I can lift the floor immediately above the battery bank, so should be possible. Someone's got to get them out, so it may as well be me. I'm younger than the last three engineers to work on my boat!

Thanks for the recommendations, I will look them up.
 
Quick update - I've ordered some Vartas. I had ordered LFD230s which I see from earlier threads appear well regarded and are sufficiently heavy for their size (on the "lots of lead, lots of life" principle) but these have now apparently been discontinued (although some have stock still) and replaced with the LED240. This adds another 10AH capacity and 50 CCA (so 1200CCA) with newer EFB technology within.

I got a good price from Battery Mega Store and would recommend them so far. Hopefully they will be with me late next week.
 
Solent Sailor said:
Quick update - I've ordered some Vartas. I had ordered LFD230s which I see from earlier threads appear well regarded and are sufficiently heavy for their size (on the "lots of lead, lots of life" principle) but these have now apparently been discontinued (although some have stock still) and replaced with the LED240. This adds another 10AH capacity and 50 CCA (so 1200CCA) with newer EFB technology within.

I got a good price from Battery Mega Store and would recommend them so far. Hopefully they will be with me late next week.d
Click to expand...

last time i changed mine got around £20.00 per battery scrap, similar size,
 
FlowerPower said:
I have a Yuasa battery bought from Tayna as a dedicated starter battery for the Port Engine.
It works much better than the previous dual purpose battery that was there.
Click to expand...
Did you use them on the d4? Mine starts but sounds a little sluggish v the starboard that as 3.
What amp size did you purchase?
 
I have always used Bristol Batteries

Home - BBL Batteries

Have always had great service and no issues except with one faulty one, tested and replaced without query or quibble.

Never needed mail order as I am local, but worth checking out and get a quote x advertised price would probably come down if you called them.
 
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