Bow thruster battery

[umpire111]

Need to replace my battery, there’s now an Energy Leisure L110 but the latest one of the same type is too large for the housing. Can anyone recommend a smaller one no more than 34 x 18 cm. depth not a problem. Tx

[ditchcrawler]

A good starter battery would be better than a leisure battery

[Boater Sam]

1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

A good starter battery would be better than a leisure battery

Totally agree, you need a small diesel starter battery, built to discharge at a higher rate than a leisure battery.

You have more choice of size too.

Have a search on ebay for which batteries will fit, most sellers give the sizes.

[umpire111]

16 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

Totally agree, you need a small diesel starter battery, built to discharge at a higher rate than a leisure battery.

You have more choice of size too.

Have a search on ebay for which batteries will fit, most sellers give the sizes.

Pardon my ignorance, are starter batteries the type used for bowthrusters?

[Boater Sam]

12 minutes ago, umpire111 said:

Pardon my ignorance, are starter batteries the type used for bowthrusters?

YES!

[ditchcrawler]

33 minutes ago, umpire111 said:

Pardon my ignorance, are starter batteries the type used for bowthrusters?

The use of a bow thruster is more like the use of a starter motor than an inverter or lights on all evening

[umpire111]

4 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

The use of a bow thruster is more like the use of a starter motor than an inverter or lights on all evening

Many thanks, have more of a choice now.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

It may be that a boat builder put in a 110Ahr leisure battery because they had a pallet full of them anyway in the yard. Not necessarily the best battery for the task, but the most convenient for them. On my boat it was fitted with 110Ahr batteries for both house and the starter. The starter battery is now something more suitable, a small car battery with plenty of cold cranking amps. Bow thrusters have similar demands.

 

Jen

Edited April 22, 2019 by Jen-in-Wellies

[ditchcrawler]

26 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

It may be that a boat builder put in a 110Ahr leisure battery because they had a pallet full of them anyway in the yard. Not necessarily the best battery for the task, but the most convenient for them. On my boat it was fitted with 110Ahr batteries for both house and the starter. The starter battery is now something more suitable, a small car battery with plenty of cold cranking amps. Bow thrusters have similar demands.

 

Jen

There is a school of thought that lots of leisure batteries are just re bagged starter batteries anyway, lots have the CCA rating on them

[Jen-in-Wellies]

12 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

There is a school of thought that lots of leisure batteries are just re bagged starter batteries anyway, lots have the CCA rating on them

Certainly the 110Ahr battery that was installed as a starter on my boat lasted ten years before it died, so it couldn't have been completely unsuited to the task!

Jen

[Detling]

go for sealed AGM (most modern diesels use them) because if it's like mine, under the well deck, it  is almost impossible to see let alone top up water.

[Boater Sam]

4 minutes ago, Detling said:

go for sealed AGM (most modern diesels use them) because if it's like mine, under the well deck, it  is almost impossible to see let alone top up water.

Only a good idea if all the other batteries are AGM as well otherwise you have 2 different charging regimes as AGM have a lower final voltage when charged.

 

Just buy a sealed lead acid battery, no topping up, that will fit.

[Detling]

Just now, Boater Sam said:

Only a good idea if all the other batteries are AGM as well otherwise you have 2 different charging regimes as AGM have a lower final voltage when charged.

 

Just buy a sealed lead acid battery, no topping up, that will fit.

If they are 50+ feet from the other battery it is unlikely they get a real full charge anyway, and they should only be connected to the other batteries when the engine is on anyway, so they will not cross charge from the others.

[Boater Sam]

Just now, Detling said:

If they are 50+ feet from the other battery it is unlikely they get a real full charge anyway, and they should only be connected to the other batteries when the engine is on anyway, so they will not cross charge from the others.

Sorry, you missed my point. Lead acid batteries can be charged to 14.80 volts, that will kill AGM as they have a terminal charge voltage of 14.40 volts.

[Sea Dog]

32 minutes ago, Detling said:

go for sealed AGM (most modern diesels use them) because if it's like mine, under the well deck, it  is almost impossible to see let alone top up water.

Sealed, I'd tend to agree for the reason you state, but no real need for the extra expense of going AGM for the reason @Jen-in-Wellies says in the post above yours.