Which Optima Blue Top - Starting or Deep Cycle!

I'm simply replacing my orginal marine battery in my 99 ProStar 205, with stock CD player and speakers.

We do listen to the radio sometimes in the boat with the motor off.

Should I purchase the Optima Blue Top deep cycle, or starting? Should I just pick up whichever I find for a better price? Will it make a big difference?

Thanks,
Pete

What I read was that a deep cycle battery has thicker plates which makes it more durable. Problem is, DC puts out fewer cranking amps (and they're usually more expensive).

You can kill a starting battery by using it as a house battery, but a deep cycle will work perfectly as a starter AS LONG AS your deep cycle has the required number of cranking amps that your starter needs.

I'm sure that a new Optima deep cycle has more cranking amps, reserve capacity, etc. than your liquid cell battery, and will never spill, and will recharge much quicker, and will only self-discharge 1% per month as opposed to the regular 10% per month (no trickle charger, and the battery's always good).

Derek,

Thanks for the response. You're correct about everything it sounds like. The Optima deep cycle puts out 750 cranking amps, and the Optima starting battery puts out 800 cranking amps.

Is the 750 plenty to power my starter? We listen to the radio for maybe an hour a day just sitting on the water with the boat off. It's a stock system, is that too much drain for the starting?

Thanks,
Pete

This is off their website (http://www.optimabatteries.com) in the FAQS section:

17. When should I use a Deep Cycle OPTIMA as a Starting battery?
"Deep Cycle" batteries are designed for applications that require deep, repetitive amperage drain, like trolling motors, golf carts, and electric wheelchairs, or RV house power sources. However, there are other applications, called "Heavy Cycling" or "High Cycling", when a Deep Cycle OPTIMA can successfully replace a starting battery to provide longer life and better performance.
In heavy cycling or high cycling applications, a vehicle will pull unusually high amperage levels from the starting battery due to extra accessories or limited alternator capacity. Public safety professionals, such as police, fire, and ambulance fleet managers often find that traditional starting batteries cannot provide adequate life and performance due to heavy cycling. This is an excellent opportunity to provide your customer with longer life and better performance by using an OPTIMA Deep Cycle battery in this type of application.

In any vehicle or equipment that will use the battery only for Starting, Lighting, & Ignition requirements and has a properly working alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery will perform extremely well, often providing up to two to three times longer life than conventional batteries. If the vehicle has few or no after-market accessories and uses a stock or upgraded alternator, the OPTIMA Red Top Starting Battery is the appropriate choice.

Remember, it is possible for the customer to have a completely discharged Yellow Top OPTIMA that will not start their engine; the advantages of the Yellow Top are that it can accept a rapid recharge and it will recover from discharge many more times.

To provide the customer the best OPTIMA solution, it is, necessary to consider both the application and the charging system before recommending the correct OPTIMA. For example, if your customer has a Ford Expedition with an after-market alarm system, which OPTIMA would you recommend? If the customer drives the car every day, the Red Top would be the correct choice, since the amperage drain will be nominal and the battery would be recharged on a daily basis. However, if the customer stores the vehicle for a long period of time with the alarm system engaged, you should recommend the OPTIMA Yellow Top, since the amperage drain over several weeks would damage a Red Top and reduce its life.

For what it's worth, right or wrong, I use two Optima Blue deep cycle batteries in my boat: one for ignition and the other for the stereo. I haven't had a problem.

How much does a blue top cost? Thinking it might be time to replace my battery. It's about 6 years old and doesn't seem to be cranking the boat very well anymore.

I dont think you can use the wrong Optima, there is just good, better, best depending on your application.

750CCA should be enough for starting your boat.

It usually takes as many CCA's as
cubic inches. E.G. 350 CCA's is all most of us need, although most manufacturers recommend a little more to be safe.

I use a tiny little Optima Yellow Top with 500 CCA's in my SAN and it starts great.