Need batteries recommendation

[Mastercraft]

I need new batteries. What are a few best recommendations for what to buy from Seattle Fisheries Supply. Need house, parallel, engine. I think I may have original UN12100 in a 2017 R29.

 

[Mastercraft]

Do I buy one starter (engine) and four deep cycle ( house) batteries. Is Lifeline group 31 a good choice?

 

[watson1987]

Lifeline makes great batteries, however they aren't specifically designed for starting, more for house loads. They are expensive as well, but if you are willing to pay then I'd get them just for the house and go with something else for starting/thruster

For starting/thrusters you can't go wrong with Northstar. At the same size they offer higher CCA.
https://www.northstarbattery.com/product/nsb-agm31m

I've seen lots of folks like and recommend the West Marine branded batteries, I forget who actually makes them but they are quality
https://www.westmarine.com/west-marine- ... 20258.html

At the end of the day you're going to get a different recommendation from everyone, good luck.

 

[dbsea]

I recently changed my engine and thrusters with the Optima Group 31 Blue Top (950CCA). I will be replacing my house bank (the UBG UN12100) with the lifeline AGM Group 31 deep cycles in the fall.

 

[Chimo]

I recently changed my engine and thrusters with the Optima Group 31 Blue Top (950CCA). I will be replacing my house bank (the UBG UN12100) with the lifeline AGM Group 31 deep cycles in the fall.

That's what I did last year after a lot of research and reviews. I also added the Victron shunt at the same time. As previously I can switch to combine the thruster battery with the house batteries when I am on the hook. I just have to remember to change the setting on the Victron app when I do it in order to have the correct SOC showing. I have been delighted with the results.

 

[Mastercraft]

How do I identify which batteries are house and which are engine? Are thruster and engine, same battery? Is the engine battery on starboard? Any tricks on reaching and accessing batteries to change them out?

 

[dbsea]

I recently changed my engine and thrusters with the Optima Group 31 Blue Top (950CCA). I will be replacing my house bank (the UBG UN12100) with the lifeline AGM Group 31 deep cycles in the fall.

That's what I did last year after a lot of research and reviews. I also added the Victron shunt at the same time. As previously I can switch to combine the thruster battery with the house batteries when I am on the hook. I just have to remember to change the setting on the Victron app when I do it in order to have the correct SOC showing. I have been delighted with the results.

I also added the shunt last year. I rarely parallel my batteries but speaking of SOC mine is clearly wrong! I have been running into voltage issues with the UBG batteries in my house bank. Often times I will find after a day or two on the hook, that i've consumed 120-130ah of power as measured via the victron app, but my SOC is still 85% (impossible), and my voltage is down around 12.4. I have the discharge floor set at 50% in the Victron app. My total usable battery capacity with the 4 UBG batteries is 220ah (50% of 440ah), and so I should be well below 85% SOC after consuming 130ah and being at 12.4v. Either something is wrong with my Victron app settings which is messing up the calculations, or the UBG batteries are in worse shape than I thought, hence why i'm going to replace them with the lifeline's this fall.

 

[Mastercraft]

Where is the engine battery? Are there 5 batteries on port side and engine battery is the most forward? On R29 2017

 

[gswearin]

That is the battery configuration on my 2021 R29.

 

[batate]

Where is the engine battery? Are there 5 batteries on port side and engine battery is the most forward? On R29 2017

The best way to tell is to look at the tags on the wires. Also, the four house batteries are obvious because they are connected together with short wires between them. Check the tags to the other two to be sure though.

If you need to identify the battery by a cable run, the best cable to check for me was the one that goes from the battery bank to the stern thruster. Then, you can check the schematic that came with your boat to identify which battery goes with the stern thruster.

I got six Duracell AGM for the great loop, and they've been good. 5000 miles, 1000 engine hours on them. Never a problem with the thrusters when we've needed them, or the starter.

Good luck.

 

[FlyMeAway]

CSR told me to buy batteries at West Marine not Fisheries (they buy nearly everything else they don't directly rep from Fisheries).

I trust CSR.

 

[scross]

Felling dumb here. Who is CSR?
I don’t know anyone at Fluid Motion or the main PNW Cutwater dealerships with those initials.

 

[dbsea]

Felling dumb here. Who is CSR?

CSR Marine, they have a few shops around the sound. Haulouts and such.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

Just remember that your chargers (solar and shore) typically cannot provide a significantly different charge profile for different batteries. So make sure if you mix brands that their charge profiles are similar.

 

[FlyMeAway]

Felling dumb here. Who is CSR?
I don’t know anyone at Fluid Motion or the main PNW Cutwater dealerships with those initials.

The only good yard in Seattle.

 

[dbsea]

Just remember that your chargers (solar and shore) typically cannot provide a significantly different charge profile for different batteries. So make sure if you mix brands that their charge profiles are similar.

interesting point. What are the variables to consider here? Is it safe to say that as long as they are all group 31 AGM, that their charging profiles are similar? I have the optimas for start/thruster and will be getting the lifelines for house. the start and thruster have different use cases than the house so it's difficult to use all the same battery.

 

[watson1987]

Just remember that your chargers (solar and shore) typically cannot provide a significantly different charge profile for different batteries. So make sure if you mix brands that their charge profiles are similar.

interesting point. What are the variables to consider here? Is it safe to say that as long as they are all group 31 AGM, that their charging profiles are similar? I have the optimas for start/thruster and will be getting the lifelines for house. the start and thruster have different use cases than the house so it's difficult to use all the same battery.

Group size doesn't matter, the point here is mixing AGM, Flood and Gel batteries

https://batteryguys.com/pages/the-diffe ... -batteries

When I switched to LiFoPo4 batteries I added another DC/DC charger so that it would be safe to mix with the AGM batteries for starter/thruster - viewtopic.php?f=24&t=20419

 

[Cutwater28GG]

The big difference is the battery chemistry as Watson mentions.

However even in the lead battery field the batteries do have preferences. I have the ubg batteries and the bulk voltages are much higher than the stand shore power unit can provide. So I use a solar profile on the victron to push the volts up on a regular basis.

It’s worth reading the detail specs of the batteries to make sure the voltage requirements aren’t significantly different.

As a side not most people never actually charge their batteries to full because they don’t have the voltage levels set correctly (at the battery end of the cables)

 

[FreeSoup]

Big fans of Lifeline and their batteries, looking to replace our house bank in the next month or so...

 

[Gentoo]

I need new batteries. What are a few best recommendations for what to buy from Seattle Fisheries Supply. Need house, parallel, engine. I think I may have original UN12100 in a 2017 R29.

How hard a job is it to replace the house / starter batteries yourself? Ranger Tug 29 / 2021.
Thanks