I just purchased a Minn Kota Endura C2 40lb thrust trolling motor for a small 15ft aluminum boat.
Will any type of 12 volt deep cycle battery work or do I need to look for something specific??
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Any 12 volt deep cycle will work, the bigger the better, but weight could be an issue in a smaller boat. I buy Interstate batteries at Costco, great batteries and warranty.
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Any 12v Deep Cycle battery should do fine. I personally prefer AGM batteries for the boat as they are sealed so there's no spilling/leaking although they are a little more expensive than a standard flooded cell battery.
I'd recommend either a series 24 or 27 battery, only about 4 pounds difference in weight. The 27 should have a bit more capacity for you though.
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[quote WET1] Any 12v Deep Cycle battery should do fine. I personally prefer AGM batteries for the boat as they are sealed so there's no spilling/leaking although they are a little more expensive than a standard flooded cell battery.
I'd recommend either a series 24 or 27 battery, only about 4 pounds difference in weight. The 27 should have a bit more capacity for you though.[/quote]
I second that, AGM for me for the pontoon boat, don't want to mess with any acid at all hauling it around. Although I run a size 24, my next one will be a 27, weight ,and size will not be factor for me .
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batteries -- they are about as much maintenance and work as a wife!
I got tired of running out of juice in my boat. I finally spent some cash and bought two VMAX 100AH AGM group 27 batteries. I can run my trolling motor (minn kota powerdrive 70 24v) all day now. They are heavy (~70lbs each), but my boat is fine with them up front.
I also don't have to worry about filling with electrolyte. I just make sure to charge them up after I use them, and store them inside for a couple months in the winter.
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I've been a Sears Diehard 34M AGM since 2008, it was a 5yr battery. Been looking into a replacement recently. I'm sold on AGM style but can be pricey. Maintaining correctly can get you longer service life. My second battery is an Interstate from Costco.
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I like the interstate marine batteries, I have been using that brand for over 20 years, I do a lot of bottom bouncing for walleye so they get used quite a bit. I usually get 4 to 5 years out of them. Make sure when you buy them you check the manufacture date, some dealers have batteries on their shelfthat can be a year or two old.
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Forgive me if I get too in the weeds or basic for stuff you already understand, but the engineer nerd in me comes out at times and I can't help it... When you get a trolling battery you're correct to get a deep cycle so it is designed for the charge deplete cycles used for a trolling battery. The second thing to look for is the Amp-Hour rating, the higher the amp hour rating the longer the battery will last. Here's where it get's weird some size 24 batteries actually can have a higher AH rating than the size 27's, but you have to check each battery to see what they are good for. What the AH rating means is for a 10 amp load running on a 100 Ah rated battery, it should theoretically last 10 hours... Now things aren't always perfect, but that's how that value is supposed to work... If you know your amp load for that motor on each speed setting you can figure out approximately how long your batteries will last... Make sure to leave you a safety factor because they never last as long as they should... Also the high speeds on that electric motor really sucks the battery fast... I have a similar motor on my toon and if I run it on 5 it will drain my battery in less than an hour... Where trolling on 1 or 2 I can fish most of the day with one battery... Good luck, hope I didn't cloud the issue too badly... J
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In an attempt to increase the amp hours on my friend's boat we got four of the high capacity 6 volt golf cart batteries and linked them all up to get the 24 volts. So far haven't been real impressed/happy with the results. It seems like the motor isn't getting the thrust we used to get and it doesn't seem to last as long.
A rep from Minn Kota told us later not to use the 6 volt batteries.
Any ideas, experiences, options????
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[quote fishluvr]
Any ideas, experiences, options????[/quote]
Get two 12v AGM with higher amp hour ratings.
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Sorry I don’t have any experience there, and I’m actually a mechanical engineer not electrical so I’m not very good at the equations when you do the parallel and series circuits. But my gut feel is what you were doing should have worked. Are you sure all your wiring was correct and you don’t have things working against your self? All of our old tractors used the same idea you described and they used to have plenty of battery power. Not sure I’d give up on your idea just yet, but find someone smarter than me that can check your wiring and make sure it’s correct. Good luck. Jeff
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]If your wallet will take it, AGM is absolutely the best way to go. I bought two [url "https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B010GLSXCO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]ACDelco M24AGM[/url] (80AH, weigh 43 lbs each) batteries for my 70lb thrust, 24VDC Minn Kota from Amazon Prime last year. They were on sale back then for $146.56 delivered to my door. Today they are listed at $194.38. Yep; pricey. And worth every penny.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I use them 100% to steer my boat while trolling and they run about 6 1/2 to 8 hours depending on winds on any given day. Running the electric motor at 4 or less and I get up to 8. At higher run speeds (5, 6, 7) they run out of juice quicker. Ive had AGM's running electric trolling motors in the past last 7 years. I never got more than about 4 years max out of lead acid batteries.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]I'm a believer; AGM is the BEST way to go. It's also the most expensive way to go, so let your wallet or you 'finance manager' be your guide. [
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[#800000][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]6 VDC Cart batteries almost ALWAYS have a higher amp/hour rating than do 12 VDC batteries. If you hooked them up in accordance with the diagram below, then they should have delivered the correct amount of voltage (24 VDC) to the motor and it should run for a longer period of time due to the increased amp/hours. HOWEVER, COMMA, cart batteries weigh WAY more than do normal 12 VDC batteries and you probably added at about 160 pounds of battery weight to the boat (see calculations below). That is the most probable cause for the decrease in propulsion.
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[#800000][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]A typical car battery weighs about 40 lbs (X 2 = 80). A cart battery is more like 60 lbs (X 4 = 240). 240 - 80 = 160.[/size][/font][/#800000]
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[inline "Cart Batt Hook-up for 24 VDC.png"]
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AGM is nice but if you're on a budget the Everstart batteries from Wally World have been fantastic for me. I get 5 years from them. They lasted 7 years in my Duramax, granted they aren't deep cycle in the truck but still.
Bass chasers across the country swear by them. There is another fishing forum I am on called-Just kidding Curt [
]-but this conversation comes up often.
Lead-Everstart or Insterstate
AGM-Sears PM-1
Lithium-Relion
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