Cranking batteries to replace leisure

[DavidJ]

Another six years have gone by and the batteries are getting a little weak.
My Sealine S37 has five 110Ah leisure batteries 2 for cranking the port engine and 3 for cranking the starboard engine & domestic. I don't know whether it was just Sealines way of rationalising batteries but is it more sensible to replace the 2 with cranking batteries?

 

[RobWales]

Think "Whitelighter" of this Parish asked the same in a recent thread....he'll be along soon...

 

[CharlieAlpha]

Yes for the Port Starting only go for higher Cold cranking amps (CCA) as that's all they do, that said you might get a better deal ordering 5 batteries of the same type.
6 years is also a good innings for batteries so the current (excuse pun) configuration cannot be that bad.

 

[gunman]

If I've got this right, your 2 for the port engine do not feed the domestic supply? IMO, you only need a leisure battery when there will be a fair amount of discharging before the battery is charged again. This would warp the plates in your average cranking battery, where a leisure battery has heavy duty plates to cope, hence the additional cost.

Is there any sort of a split charge system between your batteries for cranking and your domestic supply? I imagine there would have to be.

 

[Whitelighter]

I have just done this very thing - bought in the uk with shipping to Spain at a very reasonable cost. I'm home I half an hour so I'll edit with details

Right, back home. I had the same issue with seralia - I have a domestic bank of 6 110Ah batteries and a bank of 6 start - 3 stbd and 3 prt. I have replaced these with 4 (2 per motor) high CCA (after some schooling on here) dual purpose batteries.
My engines require much higher CCA than your VP motors will likely need, but I dont think you can have too much.

When I was looking at batteries in spain they were crazy money. What i ended up with was these:

https://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV31MF-P3694.html

They are excellent - my 550Hp 9Litre lumps start instantly and I reckon I probably could have got away with just one each side. The price was as you can see very reasonable at £65 and I got 5 (1 extra to replace the Genset start battery) delivered to the marina in spain for £375. The local battery guy quoted me €250 for one Varta battery with a similar spec.

Speak to Chris at Tayna - they are very helpful and the batteries arrived in 3 working days.

 

[Whitelighter]

Yes for the Port Starting only go for higher Cold cranking amps (CCA) as that's all they do, that said you might get a better deal ordering 5 batteries of the same type.
6 years is also a good innings for batteries so the current (excuse pun) configuration cannot be that bad.

Id keep all 5 the same so that if one battery has a problem you can swap the others around to still make starting possible on both sides. The batteries I linked to are so cost efficient with good crank amps there is no reason to differentiat

 

[DavidJ]

Thanks Rob, Charlie,gunman and Whitelighter.
Yes gunman, the 2 port batteries do not feed the domestic and I guess with 3 leisure batteries feeding starboard cranking it doesn't put them under enough strain to warp the plates.
My conclusion from your comments is to stay the same with multiple leisures and as Charlie says 6 years ain't bad.
Unfortunately the Humax are the wrong terminal configuration unlike the more expensive Varta.
6 years ago I bought Bosch 813010's from Costco for £70 each. I'll check them out again.

 

[Whitelighter]

When you say wrong terminals - they have both the stud and clamp on. What else do you need.
There were wrong for me so I just turned the battery round and hey presto they worked

 

[Momac]

These seem good value - 110Ah - 800CCA
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Hankoo...175897?hash=item41a40cca59:g:j~UAAOSwnLdWsG22

 

[theoldsalt]

Best place for batteries IMHO http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk/batteries-by-application/leisure-batteries.html
(same company as ebay ref given by MartynG)

 

[DavidJ]

When you say wrong terminals - they have both the stud and clamp on. What else do you need.
There were wrong for me so I just turned the battery round and hey presto they worked

You could and probably are right but the wiring on the Sealine looks a bit neat and tight and I don't want to risk having to join extensions to heavy duty cable if they don't reach. If I can source the right polarity batteries with a similar guarantee and price then I'd rather reduce the risk and stress. I spend too much of my holiday time in Spain fixing instead of cruising.

 

[Whitelighter]

Fair enough - I had the same thing but mine are all screw on so I unscrewed the lot and just reversed the connectors as well.

Might be worth speaking to tayna anyway as they have a whole range of batteries and their shipping to Spain is very competitive

 

[DavidJ]

Fair enough - I had the same thing but mine are all screw on so I unscrewed the lot and just reversed the connectors as well.

Might be worth speaking to tayna anyway as they have a whole range of batteries and their shipping to Spain is very competitive

Thanks Whitelighter, I will.
I'm out again in October and will have a good look at the wiring. The cost saving for such a good battery has got to be worth an hour in the engine room (which to be honest I enjoy........problem solving is so satisfying!!)

Thanks Martyn and oldsalt. The prices for Hankook batteries are so low, I dare not go there.......probably excellent batteries it's just me!!
Cheers
David

 

[Momac]

Thanks Whitelighter, I will.
I'm out again in October and will have a good look at the wiring. The cost saving for such a good battery has got to be worth an hour in the engine room (which to be honest I enjoy........problem solving is so satisfying!!)

Thanks Martyn and oldsalt. The prices for Hankook batteries are so low, I dare not go there.......probably excellent batteries it's just me!!
Cheers
David

If its any help I purchased and fitted the two Hankook batteries in June this year. This was after a battery that I had paid £90 for had started to fail after two years .
It was at a point when I wanted to minimise expenditure. Hardly a long term test but we have used the boat a great deal since June and the batteries have been okay. I might go for a bigger Ah battery next time if they will fit.

 

[Ian MacAulay]

I use the same batteries and have 4 of them and given them some serious abuse and they hold up well.



Ian

I have just done this very thing - bought in the uk with shipping to Spain at a very reasonable cost. I'm home I half an hour so I'll edit with details

Right, back home. I had the same issue with seralia - I have a domestic bank of 6 110Ah batteries and a bank of 6 start - 3 stbd and 3 prt. I have replaced these with 4 (2 per motor) high CCA (after some schooling on here) dual purpose batteries.
My engines require much higher CCA than your VP motors will likely need, but I dont think you can have too much.

When I was looking at batteries in spain they were crazy money. What i ended up with was these:

https://www.tayna.co.uk/Numax-CXV31MF-P3694.html

They are excellent - my 550Hp 9Litre lumps start instantly and I reckon I probably could have got away with just one each side. The price was as you can see very reasonable at £65 and I got 5 (1 extra to replace the Genset start battery) delivered to the marina in spain for £375. The local battery guy quoted me €250 for one Varta battery with a similar spec.

Speak to Chris at Tayna - they are very helpful and the batteries arrived in 3 working days.