Starter Battery

a starter battery is required to deliver very high current for short periods and generally they don't like being deeply discharged. Leisure batteries are designed for the opposite. Low discharge rates for a long time. I usually buy varta truck batteries from my local automotive factor for domestics and starting. Just get the same amp hour rating as already fitted if that was strong enough to spin the engine up reliably on a cold day.
 
Jurgen said:
Hi All,

What are folks recomandations for a new starter battery?
Have a 5.7ltr V8, was not sure what the key features of a starter battery are?

Regards
Jurgen
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Have a word with the Battery Megastore. I'm sure they will give you good advice, and a decent price. Worked for me.
 
kashurst said:
a starter battery is required to deliver very high current for short periods and generally they don't like being deeply discharged. Leisure batteries are designed for the opposite. Low discharge rates for a long time. I usually buy varta truck batteries from my local automotive factor for domestics and starting. Just get the same amp hour rating as already fitted if that was strong enough to spin the engine up reliably on a cold day.
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Slight thread drift, but I had Varta Promotive truck batteries as my domestics, and they have just died after 2.5 years. As far as I can tell they are just regular (starter) batteries, not leisure batteries per se. What sort of life do you get out of yours?

... as an aside, I believe it's the long periods of being on charge that kills these off, it's been suggested to me that one mitigation to this is to fit a timeswitch to the battery charger, anyone got a view about that?

Back to the OP: I had a Regal with a 5.7l 350 in it, and iirc the starter battery was surprisingly modest, something like 110Ah (although I guess the CCA is the critical measure, and I can't remember what this was). If it was me, I'd just buy the biggest battery I could fit into the available space.

Cheers
Jimmy
 
kashurst said:
a starter battery is required to deliver very high current for short periods and generally they don't like being deeply discharged. Leisure batteries are designed for the opposite. Low discharge rates for a long time. I usually buy varta truck batteries from my local automotive factor for domestics and starting. Just get the same amp hour rating as already fitted if that was strong enough to spin the engine up reliably on a cold day.
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I have two inline batteries that serve starting and leisure on one battery switch.
How efficient is this set up? Always worried of draining the batteries whilst having the fridge and radio running whilst moored up.
 
russ said:
I have two inline batteries that serve starting and leisure on one battery switch.
How efficient is this set up? Always worried of draining the batteries whilst having the fridge and radio running whilst moored up.
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Ideally you'd have a solenoid/relay which isolates the batteries from each other when not in use if they are in parallel - otherwise a weaker battery can drain the good one too! One battery would be a primary and would power an ignition triggered solenoid that would engage the second battery when starting/charging (i.e. ignition on).

Edit: note that some of the newer leisure batteries also have high start currents and can do the job of starting and suffer a long discharge without damage. These are good when like me you trailer a boat as they invariably seem to hold charge better.
 
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Starter batteries give a quick belt for a few seconds, and as such have closely spaced but relatively fragile plates. Deep discharge batteries on the oher hand have far more robust plates spaced further apart, which means that they provide a long supply of power and can discharge to nearly 50% of their overall capacity, without damaging the plates or causing sulphation.

That said, deep discharge house batteries usually cost about 1.6 x the price of starter batteries, and should last for many years.

Is your system 12 volt or 24? In any event you will need a battery with high Cranking amps, and to that you probably need to find what the minimum cranking amps the engine maker recommends.

Undoubtedly the best price to buy is from a Truck suppliers, for starter batteries. AS the battery space on the boat is defined, you can often get a number such 664, which is a defined size , width, height, and depth and amp hours, and which will fit into your battery compartment. Finally good makes seem to come with a 4 year warranty, which is helpful as most Mobos dont tend to thrash them in the same ways as a lorry
 
Jurgen said:
Am off to Battery Megastore in Tewkesbury, really helpful on the phone with advice and a 4 year warrenty to boot 1000CCA 130AH £95.00 inc vat is this a good deal?
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I think so. I haven't found a better supply than Batts Mega. If anyone knows differently please post, as I am about to purchase 3 new domestics.
 
probably a bit late now but the last set of varta batteries I bought lasted seven years and where still going when I sold the boat. being connected to a charger shouldn't be a problem, as long as its a decent IuOu type charger that doesn't cook them.
 
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