Dumb Battery Question...

[fishweewee]

Recently acquired a nifty 30 gallon KeepAlive livewell (thanks MikeCC). 1100 model, methinks.

I like my scup frisky and it's nice to just reach in and grab a scaly snack when I'm hankering for some bloody, squirming, slimy sashimi.

I'm in the process of shopping for a battery for the thing.

I was instructed to go out and get a 12 volt, 2 amp battery and charger.

I bought the charger at Wal-Mart.

But I'm having trouble picking out a battery that fits the 12 volt, 2 amp description.

Any helpers out there?

Thanks. In the meantime I will just go to the sushi restaurant around the corner.

-WW

[macojoe]

A 2amp charger charges at 2 amp (a slow charge) People like to use deep cycle batterys for things like bait tanks, trolling motors, ect...
I have bought marine deep cycle batterys and just plain marine batterys in the past, and have to say you pay alot for nothing!! Most of these batterys last just a couple of season's. With just a one year warrante.
IMO I buy auto Batterys. I bought 2 $29.95 batterys with a 3 year warr. and they are now on there 5th season!! The one I had before that went 4 seasons! I have never had a marine battery go that long. I have friends that have had the same problems.
On my bait tank I use one of my auto batterys and have no problem. Ran for 6 hours just fine! I have one that is showing signs of getting bad , but after 5 seasons for $29.95 it owes me nothing!!
IMO
I am sure that there will be alot of people that will say different
Good Luck

[RickBomba]

Yup,
What he said...
I bought a deep cycle for my livewell three years ago from Costco for $33 and haven't had to charge it yet (it's dead right now, though).
Good Luck,
Rick

[Raven]

FWW: one of my I.T. teacher's would always say:
"the only dumb question is the one not asked"
and i second MJ'S statement that its not the battery that has a 2 amp discharge rate....they also have these cool solar panels that keep your battery's charged while your fishing via photovolteic cells ....
check this out: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...=&cmCat=search



_Raven

[BobT]

Take the charger back !!!!!! Get a Sears Deep Cycle "27" model. That will run it all day with no problem. Then get a Sears, at least, 10 amp charger that will do deep cycle's. I have a bass boat and use the Sears battery with no problem. My electric motor has an Action Pack DC and it's going after 3 years. My last Sears I had on it ran 6 years. Stupid me for giving up a good thing. I also use a Sears 20 amp charger and it will charge them over night. Lower amp chargers will charge OK but will take a long time. You really want to charge a DC fast. HAY.....it's just my .02 but I've had bass boats for 25 years and always have to use battery's. Sorry for the ramble.

[Saltheart]

I would go with a bigger charger and one that has an auto setting. There are some that also have an auto-deep cycle setting. The auto is nice cause you can leave it without keeping checking. The deep cycle setting allows a very high volteage finishing charge , at the end of the charging ccyle. That's suppose to be good for the battery. I never heard of a 2 amp battery , just 2 amp trickle chargers. The trickle chargers are also suppose to be good for the battery but they are sooooo slow they are imprcatical IMO. In season , you are going to want to recharge the battery fast for another use. I say 10 Amp minimum and up to 20 if you can find one at a good price . Automatic is worth it. Keeps you from overcharging which will eventually cost you battery life.

There is some logic in getting a big but cheap battery. what you want is AMP-hours , not cold cranking amps. Its how much energy total the battery will hold , not how fast it will delivery it. Cold crank is important for starting a car in the cold but for running a pump , its Amp-hours.

I think its the off season that kills the batteries. If you were contimously using the battery and recharging , they last a long time. A couple of winters stored without use is what kills them.