Which starter battery?

[BlueStringPudding]

I need to buy a new starter battery. But I've no idea which to get. 

I've got a fairly basic 12v set up, with 4 × 12v wet domestic batteries charged by their own alternator, and a 12v wet starter battery with its own separate alternator.

 

Looking on Midland Swindlers website they've got sealed starter batteries, wet lead starter batteries, 2 different brands, some with 2 terminals, some at £60 and some at £85. I don't know what's best to get, or whether I should go for a different brand from somewhere else? https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/search?query=Starter+battery

 

(Having just had a chat with a chap from a nearby boatyard, he's made buying a starter battery sound very complicated and expensive (£125) and that it takes up to a month to order one in. Midland Swindlers have them in stock ready to dispatch, but boatyard guy said their batteries are rubbish (I paraphrase). He wouldn't tell me what brand battery it would likely be for £125, so I felt a bit fobbed off.)

 

Any starter battery buying advice, please? 

Edited February 18, 2022 by BlueStringPudding

[Rivelin]

I bought a Halfords HB013 starter battery for mine about 3 years ago and it still works fine. It was about £60 then, and now they're £82

 

Choosing the right leisure battery is much more important, but IMHO for starting, it's just the same as a car starter battery so save yourself some cash.

 

 

[mrsmelly]

I always fitted stuff from fleabay. Sealed. A starter battery will last many years and isnt a problem like domestics can be. Just look at the terminal layout on your present one and get similar. Maybe 80 quid tops.

[Tony Brooks]

anything of roughly the same physical size with the terminals in the same place as yours - saves messing about with new leads.

 

Starter batteries have a very easy life even a cheapy should last many years.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

What engine does your boat have? Does it start relatively easily when turning the key? If so, then you don't need a big expensive starter battery. I've got a Beta 43, which only needs a few seconds of glow plug, followed by a second or two of starter motor to get going from cold, what ever the weather. This started life with a standard 110Ahr leisure battery used as a starter batt. When that reached the end of its life after ten years, I replaced it with a snall 063 size battery, typically seen on small cars. 50Ahr or so capacity. Cold cranking amps are important for bigger engines are slower to start.

Easiest is to go to a motor factors and get their cheapest battery that is the same size and has the positive and negative terminals on the same side as the old one. That will be a drop in replacement. A battery of different size may need the location arrangement altering so it still meets boat safety requirements for movement/tipping.

The engine battery isn't something that needs over thinking, unlike house batteries, it doesn't lead a hard life.

Jen

[David Mack]

17 minutes ago, BlueStringPudding said:

I need to buy a new starter battery. But I've no idea which to get. 

I've got a fairly basic 12v set up, with 4 × 12v wet domestic batteries charged by their own alternator, and a 12v wet starter battery with its own separate alternator.

 

Looking on Midland Swindlers website they've got sealed starter batteries, wet lead starter batteries, 2 different brands, some with 2 terminals, some at £60 and some at £85. I don't know what's best to get, or whether I should go for a different brand from somewhere else? https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/search?query=Starter+battery

 

(Having just had a chat with a chap from a nearby boatyard, he's made buying a starter battery sound very complicated and expensive (£125) and that it takes up to a month to order one in. Midland Swindlers have them in stock ready to dispatch, but boatyard guy said their batteries are rubbish (I paraphrase). He wouldn't tell me what brand battery it would likely be for £125, so I felt a bit fobbed off.)

 

Any starter battery buying advice, please? 

Whatever you get choose one the same size and with the same terminal type and layout as your existing battery. That way it will be a simple drop-in replacement.

There's plenty of online battery suppliers out there who will deliver Tayna and Battery Megastore are often referred to on here but there are others. 

Delivery charges for a single battery might be a problem, so check out your local Halfords or car spares place if you can collect yourself.

I got quite a good price from Uxbridge Boat Centre, and they gave me a tenner off for exchanging the old battery - but I did have to reverse a mile up the canal with moored boats both sides to collect it!

[mrsmelly]

Ive just looked on fleabay. Loads available at 65 quids and above that will do you a great job. Many are next day delivery.

[BlueStringPudding]

Brilliant. Thanks everyone. I'll ask my monkey man to measure up the old one so that I definitely get the right size and check the terminal layout. 

 

I suspected the boatyard guy was making it sound way more problematic (and expensive) that it was!  🤔 I also had my doubts when he questioned in disbelief that my Kubota 3 cylinder really had 3 cylinders! What!? 

 

No worries. I'll find myself a cheapy online. Sealed or wet, do you reckon? I've had sealed domestics before but they didn't last long so I went back to wet. Does the same apply to wet vs sealed starter batteries? 

 

 

[robtheplod]

Its national battery day today - apparently???   Good timing OP!

 

Battery Megastore offering next day delivery with cheap prices   use nbd_10%hankook and get 10% off Hankook batteries..

[Tony Brooks]

5 minutes ago, BlueStringPudding said:

Sealed or wet, do you reckon? I've had sealed domestics before but they didn't last long so I went back to wet. Does the same apply to wet vs sealed starter batteries? 

 

No it does not but your domestic battery experience probably says more about the battery design than being sealed or wet.

My own view is always wet because an ordinary boater will find them far easier to diagnose when problems occur that dry but ts a personal view. I also think that as starter batteries can last in excess of 10 years and on newer charging systems the charging voltage is higher than it used to be then wet is better because you can top them up if needed.

[Alan de Enfield]

44 minutes ago, Rivelin said:

I bought a Halfords HB013 starter battery for mine about 3 years ago and it still works fine. It was about £60 then, and now they're £82

 

Choosing the right leisure battery is much more important, but IMHO for starting, it's just the same as a car starter battery so save yourself some cash.

 

 

 

Last year my 220Ah batteries were £180, this year the same supplier had the same batteries and they are £260.

 

World shortages of everything !!

[Rivelin]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Last year my 220Ah batteries were £180, this year the same supplier had the same batteries and they are £260.

 

World shortages of everything !!

Ouch!

[Tracy D'arth]

A cheap 65 to 80 Ah  Diesel engine starter battery, sealed if access is not dead easy would be by choice.  Will last for years.....

Batteries for diesel cars can sustain higher currents than others.

 

Something out of a diesel van, make sure the pos and neg posts are in the right place. Oh, and that it fits!

[TheBiscuits]

6 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Last year my 220Ah batteries were £180, this year the same supplier had the same batteries and they are £260.

 

World shortages of everything !!

 

I have the same format 50+ kilo truck batteries, and I was probably going to need to replace them this year.  At £500+ for the pair.

 

That's why I went for the big lithiums at about twice the price for the same useable power, but hopefully ten years useful life and not having to bother fully charging them.

[Murflynn]

1 hour ago, BlueStringPudding said:

Looking on Midland Swindlers website they've got sealed starter batteries, wet lead starter batteries, 2 different brands, some with 2 terminals, ...........

 

definitely look for one with 2 terminals.  those that don't are not particularly effective.

[Tracy D'arth]

25 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

definitely look for one with 2 terminals.  those that don't are not particularly effective.

Presumably both post and threaded stud terminals? Very handy if there are more than 4 lugs to be attached to one terminal.

[Ronaldo47]

While I don't suppose you would go to Halfords for boat batteries,  just before covid, I tried click and collect ordering a starter battery for a small tractor -cum- sit-on lawnmower from them. After clicking on the battery, their web site insisted on me providing the registration number of my vehicle before proceeding, not possible as it was not licenced for on-road use. I ended up phoning customer services. The guy was able to bypass the registration number stage and confirm that my local branch did have one in stock, which I was then able to go and pay for at the counter. 

[Tony Brooks]

Euro Car Parts beat Halfords price for my car battery and I suspect the same would go for BSPs start battery but you do still have the registration number thing.

[BlueStringPudding]

Now my problem is trying to find a wet lead starter battery that has both the terminals on the same side (the left).  This is where I discover that Midland Swindlers' photos of starter batteries don't match their descriptions!   🤔 

 

And how many amp hours does it need to be?

Edited February 18, 2022 by BlueStringPudding

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, BlueStringPudding said:

Now my problem is trying to find a wet lead starter battery that has both the terminals on the same side (the left).  This is where I discover that Midland Swindlers' photos of starter batteries don't match their descriptions!   🤔 

 

And how many amp hours does it need to be?

Actually it needs Cold Cranking Amps or more correctly for a boat Marine Cold Cranking Amps but in any size that has been in use for a while then a similar physical size will be fine. I am sure 80 Ah plus will be fine,  especially for a little three pot.

[Ronaldo47]

My understanding is  that, for a battery used only for starting,  the important thing is the cold cranking current rather than the Ah capacity.  This information should be provided on reputable manufacturers' data sheets.  While the  larger plates of a large battery will be able to provide a greater short-circuit current than a smaller battery of the same construction, specialised (expensive!) lightweight batteries with a high cranking current rating but relatively small Ah capacity are available for use in aircraft or other applications where weight or space is important and, once started, an engine-driven generator will provide all the electricity that is required. 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Ronaldo47
typos

[Bee]

Depends on the engine really, Look up (for example) Tayna batteries, if you have a Beta 43 that is about 2 litre, any batt for a 2 litre diesel van will do. If you have a great big ancient engine with a 1/2 ton flywheel you might need a bit more oomph.

[bizzard]

That engine I think is indirect injection, you might need reserve. Heater plugs give the battery quite a whack before the engine starts. Also if the engines battery is not charged regularly and no shore power I'd fit at least a 90 amp battery.

[LadyG]

6 hours ago, David Mack said:

Whatever you get choose one the same size and with the same terminal type and layout as your existing battery. That way it will be a simple drop-in replacement.

There's plenty of online battery suppliers out there who will deliver Tayna and Battery Megastore are often referred to on here but there are others. 

Delivery charges for a single battery might be a problem, so check out your local Halfords or car spares place if you can collect yourself.

I got quite a good price from Uxbridge Boat Centre, and they gave me a tenner off for exchanging the old battery - but I did have to reverse a mile up the canal with moored boats both sides to collect it!

Dedication. 

I bought an 80ah starter to replace a 65ah, cos it was a fiver extra, ie £70. It's agm. 

I only have agm, though I know that fla domestic are better value over ten years, but I'm not bothered. I have three battery banks, and I never expect to have to replace all my batteries at once. 

PS I am still running my engine most days, cos its pixxelling down. 

[Quattrodave]

Go to a decent motor factors ie not a chain and ask for a 'black cab battery'.  Cheap & powerful.  The faster you can spin a diesel engine the better it will start...

Edited February 18, 2022 by Quattrodave