Cranking battery?

[DManey]

I ran across a Duracell Marine Battery at Auto Zone today. Just wondered if anyone had any info on it. 1000 MCA and 182 Reserve Capacity. From what I seen it is made by the same folks that made the old Sears battery’s. Not bad for $100.

[bobsquatch13]

I have an older, 2001 Pantera III with 200hp Optimax and was also wondering about that, think that one has 800cca? The new Interstate 27 that was in my boat when I got in 1 1/2 yrs. ago is dead? There is a Deka 27m6 Marine  that has 840cca and 1050mca with 182 reserve have seen at $128.00. With my older rig with basically only extra’s hooked to it are a 7″ & 9″ Hook2 graphs so not much extra draw. There is also a Decka HD farm equipment battery (not marine) that sounds very interesting with 950cca and 1140mca about $145.00, just don’t know about non marine though is maintenance free that I like, so is the Deka 27m6. Really don’t want to put more than necessary into a 19 yr. old rig. Good luck!

[DManey]

The Interstate I have now is 1000 MCA and 800 cca. I’m sure it is the original that came with the boat. New to me 2017. Though about trying it out. I have installed a new Live Scope and it also runs off the cranking battery. Another reason I think it may be time for a new one just for piece of mind. I am not going to add a 4th battery to my Sabre.

[CB_SabreFTD18]

I’ve used that Dual Purpose 1000CCA battery from Autozone for about 10 years now.  It lasted 5 years in my last boat, and I replaced it with the same one only because I figured my luck would run out.  I put one in my Sabre when I bought it early 2018.  No issues thus far. I checked the level in it a month ago, and it looked perfect. It’s a Group 27.  My buddy has had it on his Cougar for about 5 years now without a problem.

[catdude28]

DManey, you are correct in that being the exact same battery that you now have.  It is manufactured by JCI, the manufacturer of Interstate, and relabelled for AutoZone. 800 ccas, 182 RC. If you have an Opti and accessories, it is best though to be up around 950-1000 ccas, in a group size 31  if using electronics and livewells seeing as cranking the Opti alone requires 800 ccas. Not sure what engine you have.

On the Interstate web site you will see that identical battery listed as a 27 M-XHD marine starting battery.

Bobsquatch, that farm battery from Deka is a commercial battery, and lots of us use them for cranking our boats quite successfully.  I used them in two of my previous Cats  (and would still be using a commercial battery, but my newer 4 stroke calls for an AGM).  That one is a strong one. It is not really maintenance free for long term usage in a boat, as, still being a flooded battery, you have to peel off the labels to access the caps for checking and watering as necessary. There really is no such thing as a maintenance free flooded battery when intended for long term use. Commercial batteries are marketed as such simply because when they are used for their true purpose (ambulances, trucks, tractors, emergency vehicles, etc.) they are discarded and replaced quite regularly rather than maintained and watered. At Sam’s Club, that same Deka battery is 109 dollars and 120 dollars at Batteries Plus. The 27 M6, also a good flooded battery, is not truly maintenance free either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DManey]

This is the biggest CCA battery I can find close to home that does not have a colored top on it. I was going to use the group 31 Super Start from Oriley’s as a replacement (basically the same money) Thought this one may be better because of the CCA rating being higher. I am running a graph on it also. 2 Helix 7 on my trolling batteries with no issues and a LS on the cranking battery. Just not sure which way to go.  2017 Mercury Pro XS

[catdude28]

That Superstart 31 from O’Reilly is a deep cycle battery, not for cranking.  That is why the ccas are low and Reserve Capacity is high. The only flooded group 31 batteries with high ccas suitable for cranking that I am aware of are those commercial type as mentioned above. Otherwise, you have to go to an AGM.

 

The most common set up today with high power graphs, shallow water anchors, livewells running, etc., is to use a group 31 cranking battery for all of this. It is not recommended to run graphs from the deep cycle batteries for several reasons. If you intend to leave your graphs as they are, you might be ok with that Duralast, but, not sure how much power that LS will draw from it.

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