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Battery help in Ft Lauderdale

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by gcsi, Mar 17, 2024.

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  1. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    1,251
    Location:
    Windsor On. Canada
    I used them as a house battery, many many , years ago. Expensive but we'll worth it.
    Capt Bill11 likes this.
  2. Norseman

    Norseman Senior Member

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    Feb 24, 2005
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    3,435
    Location:
    Palm Coast, Florida
    I has Rolls/Surretes for house and start batteries on my first Florida sailboat boat back in 1998.
    Good stuff with almost 10 years in service before they petered out.
    No way I would replace them with new Rolls batteries unless I was sailing to and exploring Antartica for the next 7-8 years. $$$
    My neighbor was the Deka distributor in Fort Lauderdale and offered friends and family prices for the 6 volt golf cart batteries I used ever after as well as the Start Batteries, 5 total.
    I averaged 5 years, sometimes 6 but the solar panels would mask the lack of capacity after 5 years.
    Still great batteries and he sold 50,000 units to West Marine with their label slapped on.
    (I also used the Dekas in my Duffy Balboa Electric boat and in my MB E-500 wagon, great batteries)
    On present small boat I have 2 Interstate AGM house/start batteries, group 34.
    Had 2 Optima’s last year but they failed after 3 months and one dragged the other one down to 5.4 volts. They recovered but couldn’t trust them after that, hate to paddle home at night using my hands, single engine boat, no generator. o_O
  3. SplashFl

    SplashFl Senior Member

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    S. Florida _ Bertram 46
    Or be in really tough locations to swap. Previous Bert came with Surrette's I kept for 8 years.
  4. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Vero Beach
    I removed the 8D's and switched everything over to Group 31 Odyssey's. I'm getting six to eight years out of them, staggering replacements because I staggered installs. Amazon delivers them to my doorstep wherever she may be berthed. I've enjoyed success with them and wouldn't change the plan. In fact as I transitioned from the original 32V to a universal (12 and) 24V, I isolated the Detroits and fed them with 3 batteries each for 36V. I put 12V AC chargers on them between operating periods, and had terrific success starting these big irons. It was actually a bit disappointing when I swapped out to 24v setups in that the cranking was back to normal, less robust...

    The smaller batteries were easier to navigate, still expensive, but allowed me to create more space and know that in a pinch I could harvest and relocate a good battery to replace a problem away from the dock because all on board were alike.
  5. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    I got tired of those 8Ds quickly and went to 4Ds.
    Last year, some of my original 4Ds started failing for the gen-sets and boats 12V stuff and went to 31s.

    On my friends boat, I removed a 8D and installed 3 x 24s. All fit in the same 8D battery box for his gen-sets.
    Strapped in parallel, provides more reserve and cranking amps than the single 8D.

    My back may be in better shape now, if I went with smaller battery packages years ago.
  6. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Vero Beach
    I get it! I complain about the 31's when those days arrive...but, seriously, excellent success with the Odyssey 31's. I think I have...16? aboard. I keep the freshest on the house and the electronics. Then they migrate. I map them and track dates and relocation flow in the log. Top of my head I think there are still a couple aboard going into Year 10? Of course once they reach locations of minimal cycles they last a while. And with the ability to parallel on both the mains and gens, I can milk them through a season until convenient to swap.
  7. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    14,174
    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    16?
    I only have 15.
    Should only be 14 but had an extra 31 I threw down there anyway.
    6 tall tell-com batteries for the inverter that last days.
    Considering taking an inch of pitch out of my props now days.
  8. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    14,174
    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    I milked those old 18", 8v batteries for years.
    They never delivered a lot a current but were reliable.
    Now no longer made, cheaply..

    Now days the ole 12V71s spin rite up on our red-neck battery scheme.
  9. SplashFl

    SplashFl Senior Member

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    Feb 2, 2021
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    699
    Location:
    S. Florida _ Bertram 46
    When on the phone with them 2 days ago I learned they no longer do marine installations but provided several names & numbers.:)
  10. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    14,174
    Location:
    Satsuma, FL
    March of 2024 they may have. Probably the last battery company to offer that also. Others in N FL stopped onboard service earlier than that.
    You do realize you restarted a 22 month old thread? It's good to review ole data at times.:p:D