battery

[captain charlie]

I'm needing a battery to run running lights, etc, and was wondering if any one has a suggestion as to size, etc. At one time I used a big hunkin battery I used to start a 15HP motor, but was thinking that maybe I didn't need anything that big now. I'm not running a stereo or anything like that. Would one of those lawn and garden mowers battery work? Thanks for any help. I'm going on my first 3 day boat camping trip next week. captain charlie

[JonLee]

Batteries fall into two broad categories, starting and deep-cycle. Starting batteries are designed to give you a big burst'o'power for a few seconds (like when starting an engine). What you want is a deep-cycle battery, which are designed to tolerate being run for a long time, being run way down, and being recharged lots. There are different chemistries, but there is no reason not to stick with lead-acid on PocketShip (you could go AGM if you were a real hipster). As far as "how big," they come in a wide range of capacities (measured in amp-hours). You don't need a big one for PocketShip, esp. if you are running LED lights. I picked mine up at Costco and just bought whatever they had.

[mtsailor]

Unless you have large, continuous loads, like a stereo going for hours, a cheap standard car battery, for occasional use of the running lights, should do it. That's what's aboard s/v Carlyn J. Good luck. Jerry, aka mtsailor

[DanaDCole]

Sorry for the late reply. If you do purchase a deep-cycle battery, the 30-40 amp-hour batteries are fairly cheap and should easily meet your needs. I definitely recommend the gel type batteries, even if you go with an automotive battery as mtsailor suggests. Wet cell batteries have to be refilled from time-to-time and though slight, there's always the danger of spilling some acid on your boat--also a pain given the location of the battery. And they can emit chlorine gas--not good in enclosed spaces.

You can find cheaper batteries than this one, but the West Marine Deep Cycle Gel http://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--gel-deep-cycle-marine-gel-battery-31-6-amp-hours-group-u-1--15020365 is I believe an excellent battery. They don't make their own batteries of course. I think I heard somewhere their batteries are made by Nautilus, but I cannot swear to it.