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Group 27 Battery upgrade


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Hey All,

Upgraded the amps on my 19' 23LSV this winter, and the new amps draw a bit more power.  Looking at moving to Group27 size batteries.  I think they will fit in the same slot, but there are a bit longer and wider.  Anyone have experience with making this switch?  A battery trickle charger is not a great option, our boat is the in the water all summer.  Am I over thinking what I need to do here?  Also, will create a second post, but now of the stock amps that need a good home.  Would love to find someone who wants them.  Not even looking for money, just don't want them to go to waste.

Thanks

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Yep, i went to 29's.  Had to move the battery box cleats a little and picked up a couple of group 27 boxes.  Super easy.

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2 hours ago, Mattyb said:

Hey All,

  A battery trickle charger is not a great option, our boat is the in the water all summer.  Am I over thinking what I need to do here?  

Thanks

Bigger batteries are never a bad thing and support something bigger than 24s. However curious if you'll still have the same problems just taking a little longer.  ex. your using more amps than your motor will charge each outing aka negative balance.  If you can't top off the batteries between outings ultimately you may need to change behaviors.  Maybe less tunes at the end of the outing to allow more amps to recharge the batteries?  Maybe topping off the batteries once a month?  Sucks if you have to bring them home but still an option.

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1 hour ago, MNNewb said:

 

Bigger batteries are never a bad thing and support something bigger than 24s. However curious if you'll still have the same problems just taking a little longer.  ex. your using more amps than your motor will charge each outing aka negative balance.  If you can't top off the batteries between outings ultimately you may need to change behaviors.  Maybe less tunes at the end of the outing to allow more amps to recharge the batteries?  Maybe topping off the batteries once a month?  Sucks if you have to bring them home but still an option.

Anyone have an idea of how long to run the boat for, with now extra stuff going (stereo, lights, etc) to get a good top up on the batteries?  Would be easy to just leave it running for awhile at the end of the weekend to make sure its good to go.

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46 minutes ago, Mattyb said:

 

Anyone have an idea of how long to run the boat for, with now extra stuff going (stereo, lights, etc) to get a good top up on the batteries?  Would be easy to just leave it running for awhile at the end of the weekend to make sure its good to go.

It's really hard to say, and depends how much you deplete the batteries, what your current charging situation is, and how the batteries are charged on the water (i.e. 1/2/1+2/off switch or OFF/ON/COMBINE switch + ACR).

General rule is that your alternator doesn't put out many amps at idle.  You need to get the RPMs up.  So maybe a good thought would be to do a no-music surf session for a half hour at the end of the day, with switch on 1+2 (if you have that style of switch), or just "ON" if you have an ACR.  That's not perfect but don't let perfect be the enemy of better than nothing.

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38 minutes ago, Mattyb said:

@shawndoggy Thats what I was think as well.  A little trial and error should get me in the ballpark for whats working and isn't.

 

FWIW I had the same scenario you are considering on a prior boat (no ability to shore charge).  But we run on a big lake that frequently has a 20-30 min run back to the dock at the end of the day.  I would put the batteries on a charger sporadically if I could but most of the time they were not on while the boat was stored.  Batteries did quite well and lasted at least four years (when boat got sold).  I did pull them in the winter and charge them occasionally.

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I also am probably worrying needlessly.  over half the time on the boat we don't even have the music cranked.  Should be plenty of run time to keep things topped up.

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FYI just because you buy physically bigger batteries does NOT always mean they are higher capacity! i was buying some new boat lift and boat batteries at Wal-Mart the other day and they had their grp24 size batteries on sale for like $80 they were 115A if i remember and the larger physical grp27s were only 100 or 105 and costs quite a bit more! So while many mfgs don’t like to print "actual" specs because then you would know... MCCA or cranking amps is "sometimes" a general rule of thumb the larger it is the higher the capacity but not always! A good analogy is just because a bag of chips is bigger does not mean it has more chips inside! Check between grp24 and grp27s sometimes the 24s have higher capacity! The grp29s/31s obviously typically are always larger but get huge and WAY expensive! You’re cheaper off buying another grp24 and connecting it in parallel with your house battery IMO if you have the room it’s probably cheaper all around to replace 3pcs grp24 @ $80 each at the same or less cost than 2pcs larger grp 27s/29s/31s. Food for thought at least something to check. AGMS are better but not worth 3X the price IMO!

I constantly have been fighting the dead battery issue in my 2016 25lsv but some of that is my fault. We OFTEN head to sandbar jam out all Saturday, and then drive slowly a few mins back to boat lift. Dot it again on Sunday. Then its left on the boat lift all week and then we do it again the next week! Sometimes could be 2-3 weekends before i get to go surfing or run the RPMS well. Problem is running the batteries down low kills them by end of season, Sub doesn’t hit hard sound not as good.

Anyhow i think i solved my problem this year: i put dual Solar Chargers on my lift with quick connects and charge regulators in the boat. When i put it on the lift i connect them up and the batteries are charging directly all week. (Battery Switch is OFF). I could have done one panel and left switch on "combine". Or i run it into the ACR but figured it’s a hassle and i wanted to monitor each battery independently and take all that stuff out of the equation. So i did 2-panels one directly to each battery with it’s on charge regulator. Did it few weeks ago and now when i come back to the boat my batteries are always 100%. I’m no longer starting off low and hoping my idle cruise around the lake on a Friday night or my short trip to sandbar is enough to charge me up (it never was) So i was thinking swap to higher amp alternator but that still doesn’t solve my problem if I don’t run the boat much. This is working so nicely!

Now i couldn't help myself but to add dual wireless flood lights to the same solar setup so we have plenty of light after getting out onto the dock at night! i do have separate ORANGE canopy lights under the canopy connected to boat lift motor and like orange for that since it doesn’t attract as many bugs on the inside of the boat lift when I’m cleaning up.

Anyhow this dual solar charger is working awesome! Thought I’d share. 

yes there are some cheetos on the floor still! 

92040918_Dual20w-12v-Boatcharger.thumb.jpg.5cacbc7bb8fb447d26da8108af45aadd.jpg2033396357_Dual20w-12von6ftarm-2.thumb.jpg.295185a2fc462a0cc5f0effae788ffc9.jpg1940840965_Dual20w-12v30w-24v.thumb.jpg.46a3c03bdb2726e586149d77e1f98138.jpg1812846364_Dual20w-12von6ftarm.thumb.jpg.150448e443124180d81af89fe962cc61.jpg

Charge Regulators 1.jpg

charge Regulators 2.jpg

Wire Connects.jpg

Wire Connects2.jpg

Edited by The Hulk
  • Like 2
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1 hour ago, The Hulk said:

FYI just because you buy physically bigger batteries does NOT always mean they are higher capacity! i was buying some new boat lift and boat batteries at Wal-Mart the other day and they had their grp24 size batteries on sale for like $80 they were 115A if i remember and the larger physical grp27s were only 100 or 105 and costs quite a bit more

A group 24 with a 115Ah rating sounds wrong. 

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44 minutes ago, MLA said:

A group 24 with a 115Ah rating sounds wrong. 

I need to double-check I just remember suprised it was higher than the 27 that costs more

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@The Hulk Sweet setup!  I had not considered solar.  Our lake is pretty restricted in terms of what you can do with your dock.  No lifts, covers, etc.  May just try and rig something up and ask for permission instead of forgivness!

 

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