Choosing a trolling motor battery

kmfw160 · Post by **kmfw160** » 25 Jan 2017, 15:36

I couldn't find a thread for choosing a high quality battery for my 12v Minn Kota Edge 45lb trolling motor. My old Exide is done...I almost had to paddle today, lol. Please share your experience and advice. Thanks in advance.

jyu87 · Post by **jyu87** » 25 Jan 2017, 18:30

kmfw160 wrote:I couldn't find a thread for choosing a high quality battery for my 12v Minn Kota Edge 45lb trolling motor. My old Exide is done...I almost had to paddle today, lol. Please share your experience and advice. Thanks in advance.

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been looking at a few AGM batteries (interstate, Diehard, and etc). Honestly, you are probably going to get the natural "Optimas" are the best but I hear they are all good and user opinion.

Here are a few I've been looking at;

Trojan
Interstate
Sears DieHards
Optima
Walmart Maxx

let me know which ones you go with.

TNtroller · Post by **TNtroller** » 26 Jan 2017, 08:49

There are only a few makers of batteries, and those few make all the different brands you see and hear about. No first hand knowledge but I would assume they are all about the same in component quality except for the really really cheap ones. Each retailer has their own spec's but there are differences as well as warranties.

I would get a grp 27 and that should last all day based on the 45#'r you have. I buy mine at wally world, a decent warranty & price. They last me about 3-4 yrs and I use a TM to troll for crappie the majority of the time. I plug the onboard charger in when I get back home, and leave it plugged up until I go again. I consider them an expense of having a boat (like gas & oil, bait, etc) so I just replace them as needed and go on my way.

Use a decent quality charger, a smart one and they will pay for themselves before you have to replace the battery in most cases.

mrdrh99 · Post by **mrdrh99** » 27 Jan 2017, 13:23

X2... Hard to beat the Maxx batteries from Walmart for the $, maybe if I had a 24 or 36v I'd worry more.

onthewater102 · Post by **onthewater102** » 27 Jan 2017, 14:37

+1 to the wally world MAXX line of batteries. I've had one of my pair for 9 years and the other for 7 and there is no noticeable difference in between their power capacity. Excellent battery for the $$$

Shaugh · Post by **Shaugh** » 27 Jan 2017, 15:04

I'm on 5 years with Walmart and still going strong...

marshman · Post by **marshman** » 28 Jan 2017, 03:29

I just typed out a response to the post about lighting that would work for this... Two batteries might be overkill for your style, but if you upgrade to a 29, you should be fine...

I have the same trolling motor and I used to burn up a 27 in half a day... I went to 2 29's in parallel and I could fish for 2 straight days I think!! I usually still have 80% battery charge left after a daylight to dark trip running a 45 tm, 2 fish finders all day... I run my tm hard...

DPI · Post by **DPI** » 28 Jan 2017, 16:12

Does anyone run 2 6v golf cart batteries?

To get similar specs with the 12v, you need 2 in parallel. However , You need 2 in series of the 6v to get 12v.

This info is from sams club. The Duracell batteries are made by East Penn in the USA.

Duracell AGM Deep Cycle Marine and RV Battery - Group Size 31 $180 each
Specifications (double these specs when 2 are ran parallel):
20 amp hour rate:105
5 amp hour rate:86
6 amp hour rate:87.4
Battery Electrolyte Composition:Glass Mat
Battery Purpose:Starting Lighting Instrumentation
Minutes at 25 amps:210
Minutes at 75 amps:53
69 lbs.

Duracell Golf Car Battery - Group Size GC2 $85 each
Specifications
20 amp hour rate:215
5 amp hour rate:157
6 amp hour rate:156
Battery Purpose deep Cycle
Minutes at 25 amps:395
Minutes at 75 amps:105
60 lbs.

Macrosill · Post by **Macrosill** » 01 Feb 2017, 20:55

I don't know about boating but the 6v golf cart batteries are utilized a lot in the RV world, especially by those who boondock.

nowgrn4 · Post by **nowgrn4** » 13 Feb 2017, 21:30

The only reason I run a twice as expensive than a conventional lead acid AGM is its location way up front under my casting platform. It is a bear to get to, much less maintain (Rewater). Plus up front it takes a pounding when it's rough and AGM's are pretty much vibration proof. Charging a AGM is a PITA. You shouldn't use a charger that charges higher than 15 VDC. That means you're stuck using a 1 or 1.5 AMP charger that puts out less than 15 VDC. It usually takes 12-14 hours to do an overnight 1 amp charge to bring my Duracell AGM group 31 (East Penn Mfg, the maker of Deka batteries) from 12.1 VDC to fully charged for a AGM 12.8 VDC after a day's trolling.

If you're battery is easy to get to and maintain and doesn't take a pounding up front just get a regular deep cycle that you can easily and quickly charge with a 10 AMP charger. Much cheaper (half the price) and more importantly much much easier to charge.

I have a Deka 1,000CCA cranking battery in my Pro-Line that is over 7 years old. Put Deka on your list, their Marine Master batteries are top notch goods.

Edit; One thing I can say about AGM's, I have been running them since '02 and have never seen corrosion on the terminals that is common on regular lead/acid/flood batteries.

kmfw160 · Post by **kmfw160** » 29 May 2018, 21:25

...so now I’m building a MonArk 1644 with a new Minn Kota 70lb 24v motor. I now have to find a reasonably priced pair of batteries to power this beast.
...ugh every time I turn around it’s another cost....she’ll be worth it though!

Post by **DaleH** » 29 May 2018, 22:20

onthewater102 wrote:+1 to the wally world MAXX line of batteries. I've had one of my pair for 9 years and the other for 7 and there is no noticeable difference in between their power capacity. Excellent battery for the $$$

Ditto!

Those Walmart batteries are made by Johnson Controls, who also owns Optima batteries. My only other choice would be an Interstate.

gnappi · Post by **gnappi** » 30 May 2018, 04:22

kmfw160 wrote:I couldn't find a thread for choosing a high quality battery for my 12v Minn Kota Edge 45lb trolling motor. My old Exide is done...I almost had to paddle today, lol. Please share your experience and advice. Thanks in advance.

Worrying about paddling I suspect you're running electric only?

If so there's no substitute for a second spare battery.

You can get a small and inexpensive "insurance policy" U1 sized 35Ah AGM battery that works great for a TM (or wheelchair or solar application) at harbour freight for ~$58. You never know when you will need it but I have a spare in my boat which I can also use an accessory battery for the DF, bilge pump, and lights etc to take the load off of my main batteries which are also 2x35Ah cells.

My main cell used to be a 95Ah multi purpose (read as expensive $309+ tax and HEAVY) battery from West Marine. It was very good but I still had a spare cell as a backup just so I did not run the big battery below 12 volts or so. Now it's relegated to my solar system.

eshaw · Post by **eshaw** » 30 May 2018, 09:14

DPI wrote:Does anyone run 2 6v golf cart batteries?

To get similar specs with the 12v, you need 2 in parallel. However , You need 2 in series of the 6v to get 12v.

This info is from sams club. The Duracell batteries are made by East Penn in the USA.

Duracell AGM Deep Cycle Marine and RV Battery - Group Size 31 $180 each
Specifications (double these specs when 2 are ran parallel):
20 amp hour rate:105
5 amp hour rate:86
6 amp hour rate:87.4
Battery Electrolyte Composition:Glass Mat
Battery Purpose:Starting Lighting Instrumentation
Minutes at 25 amps:210
Minutes at 75 amps:53
69 lbs.

Duracell Golf Car Battery - Group Size GC2 $85 each
Specifications
20 amp hour rate:215
5 amp hour rate:157
6 amp hour rate:156
Battery Purpose deep Cycle
Minutes at 25 amps:395
Minutes at 75 amps:105
60 lbs.

Why would a person want to use the 6v batteries? I don't see any benefit to them on a boat application. You're just getting a big weight penalty. Not worth it to me. Correct me if I'm wrong but the only reason the amp hour ratings, etc., are close to double is because they're half the voltage.

Carbut · Post by **Carbut** » 19 Nov 2018, 04:26

I did some research on this a few days back when replacing batteries in my boat. Seems the Optima Blue Top is the winning choice these days, but I think Kinetik makes amazing batteries.

When I was in high school I did sound system competitions and ran 3-Kinetik HC2000 (deep cycle AGM, 90Ah) on a 10,000 watt system (along with a 240-amp alternator) and they stayed alive through pure hell for years. I threw a party one night and played music out of my truck, didn't realize my alternator had crapped out so the system and vehicle (left it running) were running off batteries only. After 2-hours of that, I drove the truck home (5-miles) and still had juice the next day. (This isn't an exaggeration, just the story the way it happened).

I haven't used Kinetik in a couple of years, but if their quality today is anything like their quality several years ago, then you should give them a look. Last time I checked I saw the HC2000 batteries on eBay NIB for $200.