Starting battery help

[nathaniel]

Hi i need a new starting battery this year for my boat and im not too sure what to get. I currently have a interstate 24M-XHD and am looking to upgrade this year. I will be running a helix 12 on it and sometimes a helix 7. I currently run my 2 cannon riggers to my trolling motor batteries but i think i would like to move them to my starting battery so the auto stop feature will work. My engine is a 115 hp 2 stroke. I do alot of bass fishing with my boat along as salmon fishing. I am also looking at possibly getting an AGM battery. Any recommendations would be greatly appropriated. 

Edited February 6, 2021 by nathaniel

[Bozeman Bob]

Ok , I'll bite , no one else has replied. Not sure why the Cannon's won't auto stop if the trolling motor battery is grounded to your main motor. If not grounded I would do that and they should work. A Dual.Purpose group 27 battery is what I would replace your existing battery with. Might get some arguments on this , I believe there are 4 or 5 Mfgs and they just slap different decals on them , NAPA , Delkab ,Walmart and so on.  Most of the time I get about 3 years out of any brand and that's with a 3 bank charger on them as soon as I dock.

[greyhawk]

I am a firm believer in having a main starting battery with 1000 MCA running only bilge pump, running lights and vhf accessories. Two group 27/31 deep cycle batteries are used for my 80lb electric trolling motor. I run a separate group 27 deep cycle battery for 2 fish finders and 2 Scotty downriggers. All batteries are Interstate wet series providing an average 5/6 years of use.

[Bike and Boat]

For non starting batteries, running motor guide 36v and two Scotty downriggers I’m looking at upgrading to VMAXTANK batteries that claim around 240 reserve charge, which is about 80% longer than my current bank and by far the highest RC i have found. Does anyone have experience with this brand?

[wishinfishin]

I have the vmax for my trolling motor batteries . Been about 4 years I think . Have not notice a diminish in length of time using them . I have an onboard charger and keep them topped off periodically in off season as well as charger soon as I can when I'm done fishing.

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[muskiedreams]

I have 1 cranking and 2 DC batteries, (all wet cell) in the back of the boat and a 3 bank on board charger that is about 27 yrs old. I used to have 2 Cannon electric riggers with auto stop. The charger has a 12/24v switch on it for the DC batteries. So I just had to switch it to 12v (which connects the two DC batteries in parallel) when I used the riggers so the auto stop feature would work on both riggers and switch it to 24v for the 24v bow mount. I didn't have to worry about the position of the switch for charging because the charger automatically switched to charging each battery via a separate charging bank for each battery. I don't know if other chargers have the same feature or if there is another way to accomplish the same thing. There may be a battery switch that will make switching easy but the question is, will it work seamlessly with a three bank charger without having to wory about the switch position.

[Misty IV]

I also have the Interstate 24M-XHD as my starting battery, but I have a Group 27 deep cycle which powers ALL of the electronics (downriggers, GPS, chartplotter, depth finder, AM/FM, etc), except the bilge pump, which is tied to the main battery. I have a relay system which charges both batteries while the engine is running, but disconnects them when the engine is off. That way, I'm sure the starting battery will have enough juice to start the engine and the 24M isn't being drawn down by the electronics. I also have an on-board dual bank charger for when the boat is on the trailer back at the house. I've had excellent luck with Interstate through the years.

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[Netbender]

I did go to AGM two seasons ago and am very happy with them. I simply run the trolling motor off one and all the electronics and main starter off the other. Plug the two unit charger in when I am at the dock overnight. I get a full 8 hours out of my 55lb thrust trolling motor and my HS10's work just fine as I troll with my main motor on. 

[AnglingAddict]

Battery gives you the capacity (think of a basin being filled with water - bigger battery equates to a larger basin).  Your total draw is like the size of the drain - larger drain it empties the basin quicker.  So your drain is fixed based on how much you are running - the key here is to look at your alternator (that's the spigot that keeps the basin full) and if the output of alternator doesn't match your load then you better have a decent amount of capacity to get you through the day.  Consider all three elements of the system and not only the size of your basin....