Engine Battery Dead

[PaulRainbow]

Well, Bavaria fitted that Exide to all its boats in the 2013-2018 and may well still do. The properties are well matched to boat use and mine were still fine after 6 years starting a Volvo engine with every expectation of double that. The AGM in my Morgan which has a similar usage cycle to a boat engine - long periods of inactivity followed by short periods of intense use lasted 19 years. so depends on your time horizon - it may be twice the cost but is likely to last more than twice as long.

BTW the engine in post#6 was a D6 - 400. I have no idea what alternator is fitted nor how it is regulated but doubt it is the same as on the D1 and D2 yacht engines. OP does not say what his engine or alternator is, only talks about his shorepower charger, which is really not necessary for a start battery.

You are correct, he does not say, but i'll wager it doesn't charge at 14.8v, doesn't need a faster charge acceptance or a lower self discharge.

Sorry, but for that vast majority of boats a good old lead acid battery is perfectly suited for engine starting. Windlass or bow thruster, AGM could be a better solution.

BTW, Jeanneau have also been known to fit Exide, i recently changed 4 on a 37', the boat was only 4 years old.

 

[B27]

Calcium batteries require a 14.8v absorption charge, how many boat alternators can produce that ? Certainly not he OPs, his calcium battery didn't last long.

This is why i said "fit a bog standard lead acid battery.

Again, this requires a higher charging voltage.

Better to fit a decent solar controller.

Lead-Calcium batteries only 'require' 14.8V to make use of their higher charge acceptance.
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Likewise classic Trojan-type LA batteries were often charged at 14.8V in order to run run two shifts on a warehouse forklift, at the expense needing water added regularly. The same battery with a 14.4V absorption will charge perfectly well to the same 100% SOC, it just takes longer.

I don't disagree that a bog standard LA battery can be a cost effective choice for an engine start battery, but these days so many car batteries are something other than plain old wet-lead-acid, you can often get something 'enhanced' with a decent brand name for little more money.

There's maybe also a case for using a similar battery to the house bank, if you have VSR which means the two batteries are charged together for a lot of their life.
Or as you pointed out earlier, fit a better solar controller which is only charging (maintaining!) the engine battery.

TBH, so long as things are reasonable, batteries will last several years, often the additional faff and cost of 'optimal' often only buys a couple more years. But it would be good for the Op to understand what killed his battery.

 

[Tranona]

You are correct, he does not say, but i'll wager it doesn't charge at 14.8v, doesn't need a faster charge acceptance or a lower self discharge.

Sorry, but for that vast majority of boats a good old lead acid battery is perfectly suited for engine starting. Windlass or bow thruster, AGM could be a better solution.

BTW, Jeanneau have also been known to fit Exide, i recently changed 4 on a 37', the boat was only 4 years old.

Why does he not need a lower self discharge if the boat is a typical coastal cruiser that spends most of its time not being used? Your expeerience is clearly different from mine. I have used AGM start batteries for 30 years and they have all lasted long enough to justify the extra cost.

If you are happy with a 5 year life than buy the cheaper LA, but if you want a longer life pay the extra. Isn't that what consumer choice is about?

 

[PaulRainbow]

Why does he not need a lower self discharge if the boat is a typical coastal cruiser that spends most of its time not being used? Your expeerience is clearly different from mine. I have used AGM start batteries for 30 years and they have all lasted long enough to justify the extra cost.

If you are happy with a 5 year life than buy the cheaper LA, but if you want a longer life pay the extra. Isn't that what consumer choice is about?

Yet the OP states "It is/was a Lead Acid, 70Ah ‘Dynamic Silver’ (24F) and just over over 5 years old. Its predecessor lasted 11 years."

His "Dynamic silver" battery (same charging voltages as an AGM) only lasted 5 years.

"My" experience spans more than the few boats i have personally owned, it encompasses hundreds of customers boats too. There isn't a one choice fits all, despite what you say.

 

[Tranona]

Yet the OP states "It is/was a Lead Acid, 70Ah ‘Dynamic Silver’ (24F) and just over over 5 years old. Its predecessor lasted 11 years."

His "Dynamic silver" battery (same charging voltages as an AGM) only lasted 5 years.

"My" experience spans more than the few boats i have personally owned, it encompasses hundreds of customers boats too. There isn't a one choice fits all, despite what you say.

Never said one size fits all - merely saying that an AGM will potentially last longer - that is a fact. The only question is whether the extra cost buys "more" extra life and in my experience it does. However you only benefit if you foresee keeping the boat long enough to get the benefit of the extra life. With my Morgan I won't because I am unlikely to live (and still be able to drive it) another 15 years. However keeping it original potentially enhances its future value plus it required no modifications to fit.

It is for whoever is reading this to make up their own mind. We make these sort of decisions every day when we buy things as there is almost always a choice to pay extra for better performance. No different for batteries - and as it happens I made a different choice in my last battery purchase but 2 where I did just what you advise and bought the cheapest LA start battery I could find. Why? Because I was selling the boat and had no interest in longer life

 

[Ian_Rob]

For the record the Dynamic Silver Battery was the replacement recommended by a supplier in Wareham who was in turn recommended by very reputable Marine Engineer’s in Poole who said that it is where they source a lot of the batteries they fit. I actually took the 11 year old battery to the Wareham supplier to check so, if the replacement battery was a ceramic as Paul suggests, they would/should have known that there was potential mismatch. This whole thread makes me wonder how many of us are sailing around with batteries that are mismatched to our alternators?

 

[Refueler]

Do you not 'disconnect'* the battery when away for long periods of time?

* have a hidden switch that a) stops the battery running down with all the 'faff' of modern vehicles b) confuses the car thief when they can't start your automobile.

You do that with my RR and you'll be calling out the service to fix it !! So much on my Volvo and Range are coded .. that when changing battery you have only a limited time to complete the change - or you use jump leads to keep car live while changing.

Have you seen where batterys are on a Range Rover ? Where it is on a Volvo XC70 ?