Golf Cart Batteries

I ran a search on here and it brought up some old discussions, but wanted to see if anyone followed thru with using golf cart batteries. I was looking at the Trojan t-145’s? you can pick them up for around $60-70. And get 530 min RC @ 25 amps. IF anyone has them , how are you mounting them in your boat? Special tray? Custom? How is the maint. On them? O you check them every time you go out? What about charging? Are you just hooking up to the positive on one battery and the negative on the other?

To meet the coast guard requirements the batteries have to be well secured (restrained from moving more than one inch in any direction) and have their positive terminals covered. It can be challenging to figure out how to do that in a ski boat. I have used similar batteries on my cruiser: built a wooden tray for them to sit in and then made metal brackets and some threaded rod to make hold down clamps.

For maintenance, you will want to check the water levels often and add distilled water when needed. I would expect you would need to do that a few times during the season. More often if you cycle them a lot.

To hook them up: The positive of one connects to the negative of the other. The remainin positive terminal is now the +12, and the remaining negative terminal is ground.

As far as charging, it is now a 12 volt battery. You alternator and/or battery charger will do just fine.

These are great batteries and if you keep the water level above the plates I would expect them to provide you with 5 years or more of service. And you will find thier amp-hour rating to be real, you will actually get those numbers.

Thanks Rod, I did some mroe searching and calling around. Supposedly an 8D battery box will cover both batteries perfectly. Only problem is the battery box is around $70. Looks very sturdy and would be easy to secure. I also found some RV sites where people are doing this. I don't seen the real disadvantage beside a little more up keep.....according to everything I've read you can get 5-6 times the output of an optima bluetop for about 70% of the price. Granted your a little restricted on mounting position. Anyone with a newer boat should have room for them

I'm assuming I can still charge them with my 12 volt charger?

Rod is correct. I am running two Golf Cart batteries in a series. A standard 12V charger will do the trick. I only charge them with a charger if:

A) I sat and ran my stereo all day or
B) if I plan on sitting and running them all day.

I have an isolator switch separating the golf cart batteries from my starting battery. I run it on all when I am driving.

As far as power, I am running the following:

1 X Hifonics Brutus 1800 (powering three Infinity Perfect 12s)
1 X Hifonics Zeus 6400 (Bridged, running the tower)
1 X Clarion APX 480M (running the 6 interior speakers)

Should be somewhere between 2000 and 3000 watts of power (correct me if I am wrong) when cranked all of the way.

If I am sitting, I can run it WAO (wide arse open) for around 5 hours without needing a recharge. That number, of course is subjective because due to changing IPODs, and of course, I dont think I have ever run it for an hour of uninterupted music, let alone 5 hours....


(Message edited by tdc_worm on October 18, 2005)

I don't think I would want to put Golf cart batteries in my boat, those things tend to corrode on the battery terminals more so than 12v batteries.
Granted you get lots of amp/hours.

Chris
Get the Grip you Deserve
www.wakejunky.com

mine are sealed. they have been in the boat for 18 months. the terminals have gotten wet on more than one ocassion. i have put 180 hrs on the boat with the batteries in the baot. i have not seen one flake of corrosion.

They also make boxes that if any electrolyte spills out it will just sit in the box. The boxes are made of non-corrosive material. www.bluesea.com ;specifically made for 2 6V batteries

wakejunky:
A golf cart battery is no more likely to corrode the terminals than any flooded lead acid battery.

The best thing to do is place those "goopy" felt washers under the terminals when you hook it up.

My bottom line:
If you plan on running the stereo with the engine off for long periods of time then you need amp-hours. Golf cart batteries will give you the most amp-hours for the least cost and in the smallest space than anything else. They will also give you more years of service if you keep the water above the plates.

If you are not concerned about how long you can run the stereo with the engine off then the Optima batteries are often an ideal choice. You can shove them into tighter spots because you never have to service them. They won't spill and you can even lay them on their side if it helps get them to fit.