# Trolling Battery



## BensalemAngler (Oct 15, 2007)

OK so I believe I have settled on a boat, now time for the power. My first purchase will be a trolling motor for the back of my boat. I am going to go with the most thrust I can afford. My question is the battery.

I know that I have to buy a battery, BUT do I or should I also purchase some type of charger for the battery?

I have printed out a previous thread about batterys but there is very little info on charging or notcharging.

I am so sorry if these questions are simple, I just have very little idea on the whole thing and I thought it would be just easier to ask a question than to reread things I have found on the Internet.

Thanks in Advance


----------



## Captain Ahab (Oct 15, 2007)

You will need to charge the battery

Hopefully Gamefisher will chime in - he has the never die battery in his boat and maybe will share his secret


----------



## BensalemAngler (Oct 15, 2007)

Thank you for your quick response


----------



## Gamefisher (Oct 15, 2007)

I am going to have to go look at my battery, as I forget what brand it is and the specs. It is an AGM type so it is no spill, deep cycle, and it was in the $100 range, which is less then the popular Optima version.

My charger is an old Sears 4 amp. Nothing special. It does take a whole day to charge the battery though so when it quits working I will get something better.


----------



## dampeoples (Oct 15, 2007)

On the battery, look for a marine/deep cycle battery for the boat, which is designed to be charged, then drawn way down over and over without damage to the battery. A standard car battery will not last more than a few cycles like this, they are designed to used, then topped off immediately.

As far as a charger, get the largest charer you can afford, and make sure it's an automatic charger. Always charge your batteries as soon as you get done, so they are ready for the nex trip. If you get an automatic charger, you can leave the charger hooked up to the battery without harming it, it will automatically turn itself on and off, to keep the battery full.


----------



## redbug (Oct 15, 2007)

As Stirling stated get a deep cycle battery. the AGM ones tend to run a bit more than the lead acid on the cost effective side the AGM say they will last for up to 10 years as opposed to the 3 or 4 from acid I don't use agm so I wonder about the life span also be sure if you get an AGM you get the proper charger it will say it can charge AGM batteries on the box. and as soon as you get hoe hook up the charger that will help them last longer also.
If you are getting a charger get one that is at least 10 amps it will help if you go away for the weekend and plan morning and afternoon fishing outings you can get almost back to 100% charge in a few hours 


Wayne


----------



## Waterwings (Oct 15, 2007)

As stated above, go with a deep cycle/marine battery. As far as your charger, I recommend the _Guest_ brand (good chargers, good customer service), and yes I'd go with at least a 10 amp. You can leave the charger hooked-up, but if using a lead-acid battery you still need to check the water levels occasionally, and use distilled water (I find mine at WalMart) to fill them with.


----------



## dampeoples (Oct 15, 2007)

There's another thing - you don't _fill_ your batteries with water, you just add to it if needed  Not 100% sure, but it only needs to be about 1/4" or so above the plates, any more and you'll have constant leakage problems.


----------



## Waterwings (Oct 15, 2007)

dampeoples said:


> There's another thing - you don't _fill_ your batteries with water, you just add to it if needed  Not 100% sure, but it only needs to be about 1/4" or so above the plates, any more and you'll have constant leakage problems.



_fill_, _add_, just a matter of semantics and which county you're from, lol :wink:

Where I live we use warsh rags, while others somewhere else might call them wash cloths.


----------



## Jim (Oct 16, 2007)

And if your going to add water, Use distilled water..You can pick it up from any pharmacy for around a buck a gallon.


----------



## dampeoples (Oct 16, 2007)

Waterwings said:


> dampeoples said:
> 
> 
> > There's another thing - you don't _fill_ your batteries with water, you just add to it if needed  Not 100% sure, but it only needs to be about 1/4" or so above the plates, any more and you'll have constant leakage problems.
> ...



I know it, but after he filled his batteries, his next question would be why is it leaking  Yeah, I've always heard distilled water too, but I've never actually gone and gotten any  I've also heard that it's the chemicals they put in water, such as chlorine, which I don't think is in well water, but who knows


----------

