Trolling Motor Batteries

[BentRod]

My AC Delco batteries I got last year are already going to crap on me. I think the newer Voyagers for whatever reason aren't what they once were. I have a 6yr old Voyager still going strong while my new ones are not even lasting the day anymore. Todd said he quit using them too because they were junk. I'll probably try to run these Delco's a little while longer, but they're getting worse every trip so I need to start thinking about something else...

What deep cycle batteries are most using nowadays? Sams Club has 27 group Duracell batteries for $79. That may be hard to beat for a poor man. I know Advance batteries suck..I've seen them in action on a few boats. I've heard decent things about Walmart's Everstart batteries for the price..any opinions? Sears Diehard? Tempted to ride out to the Interstate place in Salem and see if they have any of the cheap refurbished/blemish batteries.

[mytoyzfishing]

I use the Walmart Ever-starts personally. Haven't had any issues with them. Loaded the old CC with them when I had it. 5 batteries gets expensive real quick. For the price I dont think you can go wrong with them and if they crap out within warranty period walmarts are everywhere so making a warranty exchange shouldn't be an issue.

[mwardncsu]

I keep reading good things about the Sears Diehard Platinum AGM batteries. They are pricey, but you can catch them on sale fairly often with a "Web-only" price when you then go and actually pick them up at a local Sears. Looks like they have 31M and 34M size - $280 and $220 respectively - like I said - they ain't cheap. But folks are saying get are getting 5 years on them with good use......

Of course, I guess you can swap out a few Voyagers for the price of the AGM..... but the AGMs do have the benefit of no water to top off or spill (if not a sealed battery), and I wonder if the fact that they are a absorbed glass matt if it results in the battery itself being more tolerant to some of the pounding and abuse that they take on boats over a traditional wet-cell.

I have also heard good things about Odyssey - I think they actually make the AGM batteries for Sears.

[CorneliaGale]

I get mine from Fisher, they tell me they are made by Decka Seem to work OK. Also had good luck with Exides, got 5 years out of them,

[BentRod]

Thanks for the info guys! Mward, how good is the sale on those AGMs. Like 50%?! I'm too poor to dump $500 into batteries.

Also just read that Johnson controls makes interstate, diehard, and Everstart batteries, as well as Autozone and Advance Auto batteries so they must all be pretty equal.

The voyagers are supposed to be maintenance free. Maybe they need water?

[striperjohn]

Hey guys, I saw a show on "How its made" on cable a while back. It showed batteries coming off the Johnson Controls assembly line going into 8 different assembly lines. In those lines robots were sticking different battery labels on the same battery!
I got this quote from a battery discussion forum. The guy was an Exide salesman.
There are only three battery manufacturers in the US. Johnson Controls, Exide and DEKA. The interstate battery is manufactured by Johnson Controls as well as Optima, Advance Auto, PEP Boys, ACDelco, Energizer, Duralast, Diehard, Varta, Dynasty, West Marine some EverStart (Wal-Mart) Marine models and OEM batteries for DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Johnson Controls is the worlds largest supplier of lead acid batteries. Exide makes Champion, Exide, Napa, and some EverStart batteries. Hope this info helps you make a decision.
I started looking for the best amphour and cheapest I could find. Heck they're all made the same anymore. I bought NAPA's 4 years ago during a big sale. I got 3 class 27 deep cycles for 65.00 each. Still going strong.

[outdoordad27]

I use the ever starts also and i agree they do a great job never have any problems..

[BentRod]

Walmart doesn't sell Grp 27 in the Everstarts it doesn't look like. The 24 Grp were $72. New grp 27 interstates are $85. Auto Zone Grp 27 are $99. I'm going with the cheapest Grp 27 I can find..too poor for anything else.

[BentRod]

Advance are $100. SAMs club at $79 is looking good.