Tip if you're shopping for batteries - Advance Auto

Stee6043

Stee6043

Well-Known Member
Jun 1, 2015
6,778
West Michigan
Boat Info
1997 Sundancer 400
Engines
7.4L Gassers
It looks like Advance Auto is running a 25% off deal through sometime next week. I'm strongly considering buying three new Optima blue tops. Saves $180+ over list price on three. I have to see if they will let me come in three days in a row and buy them all separately to avoid the $100 max discount. Should be interesting...

Batteries Plus is also running a discount - 10%. I may buy their Duracell (Dekas I think?) if I can't convince myself the blue tops are worth the investment in the next 24 hours...
 
I probably searched for a month before I just gave in and bought 6- D31M and 1 D34M from this gentlemen on Ebay: buyritetire

The D31's were $230 each which included free shipping (60 lbs per battery) and no sales tax. They showed up today well packed in seven separate boxes. I ship a lot of things UPS and can't imagine what it costs to ship 60 lbs anywhere let alone 7 batteries.
 
PlayDate said:
I probably searched for a month before I just gave in and bought 6- D31M and 1 D34M from this gentlemen on Ebay: buyritetire

The D31's were $230 each which included free shipping (60 lbs per battery) and no sales tax. They showed up today well packed in seven separate boxes. I ship a lot of things UPS and can't imagine what it costs to ship 60 lbs anywhere let alone 7 batteries.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty stellar deal! I guess i need to check ebay next.

The deal at Advance currently gets you group 27s for $195 shipped free to your local store. $261 list.
 
I checked and your guy on ebay is the lowest price on ebay. He's selling 27's for $219 shipped. I'm surprised the 31's and 27's are so close in price?
 
So am I but the weight is close between them 53 lbs (27) versus 60 (31) so that probably has something to do with it. The specs are close as well. I would guess that this guy ships 1000s of Optima's.
 
PlayDate said:
I probably searched for a month before I just gave in and bought 6- D31M and 1 D34M from this gentlemen on Ebay: buyritetire

The D31's were $230 each which included free shipping (60 lbs per battery) and no sales tax. They showed up today well packed in seven separate boxes. I ship a lot of things UPS and can't imagine what it costs to ship 60 lbs anywhere let alone 7 batteries.
Click to expand...
That's a great deal. I plan to go with those when the time comes.
 
Just to add a bit more color.....I originally was going to buy D27s but the D31s were only $11 more and seem to have more power. The only real physical difference is the 31 is 3/4" taller than the 27. Other than that which is not a problem on my boat....it seemed like a good buy.

I have always had wet cells on my boat since I bought it. I would buy the batteries (Group 27) from Costco and the original Sea Ray charger would burn them up in two years. I changed the charger 6 years ago (Xantrex 30 amp) and put in a new set of Costco wet cells and they have lasted six years which tells you that the charger has a major impact on the life of the battery. The Xantrex charger has different charging profiles for each bank depending on the battery type (so you could have wet cell and AGM technology on different banks). So once the Optima's go in......it is a quick code change to the charger. I'm hoping they last a long time.
 
I don't suppose that would be good for a trolling motor?
I need to replace the batteries in my 18' fishing boat, I'm thinking about going with two 6 volt 235ah Crown batteries, or two 6 volt 225ah NAPA batteries
 
Check jet.com.

I bought 4 group 27 Bluetop Optimas from them last month. They have a special going on where you get 15% off your first three purchases. I got all dour batteries for less than $800. I staggered the purchases so I could get 15% off each battery.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'll just caution you. A battery is not a battery. There are basically 4 brands of premium batteries. Lifeline, mastervolt, rolls-surrette, and North Star. If you compare the actual specs the others are fairly comparable.

It's like an oil dicsussion in a car forum where everyone has an opinion. But long term the better batteries make since. I installed rolls surrette and they have a 7 year warranty.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
NotHerDecision said:
I'll just caution you. A battery is not a battery. There are basically 4 brands of premium batteries. Lifeline, mastervolt, rolls-surrette, and North Star. If you compare the actual specs the others are fairly comparable.

It's like an oil dicsussion in a car forum where everyone has an opinion. But long term the better batteries make since. I installed rolls surrette and they have a 7 year warranty.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Equally important to quality/life expectancy (in my opinion) is how you use the batteries. If you're a weekend warrior staying nearshore 99% of the time with only the occasional night on the hook I personally don't think the premium batteries are particularly attractive.

My only reason for considering the Optima is so I don't have to break my back watering them. Otherwise, for my type of boating, replacing $90 batteries every 3-4 years is fiscally more reasonable than investing in the big guns up front.

My two cents only of course.
 
The Optima's a spiral wound and don't require watering, but $/amp hour you could probably buy other AGM's that are better and will last longer. One great thing about the Optima's is they will accept dang near any charge profile so you won't need a new charger. I just did a ton of research, and what is comes down to is $/day. So after a ton of calculating... You have to make 1 decision first AGM or Lead Acid wet cells. My opinion on this is simple, if they are easy to get to and you will do it then the wet cells are still much better. If you can't get to them or know you won't maintain them properly then the AGM's are probably worth it, with one exception, you MUST have an AGM charge profile on your charger or you are wasting money.

So... If regardless of wet cell or AGM once you make that decision there are different brands and those brands have proven life expectancy. All of that said, it's fairly simple to put 4-5 brands and the life expectancy in a spreadsheet and calculate $/day to find what is the best overall deal. (There will always be exceptions like, I'm selling my boat, or I got these half off, or I needed them right then and this is what was in stock).

Every boat will be different and prices are literally all over the board in different regions, but my calculations never showed a less expensive battery being the better option overall. Since your boat has Gas engines, you may be able to start it with optima's but I would advise you to check the marine cranking amps required by Mercury as well.

All in all I just add comments to these threads because I feel the majority of people go to the local auto parts store and ask's what's the best and they get a very uneducated answer. Also in about 2 months, there will be multiple posts on here about batteries being dead and they only seem to last 2 years. I'm not trying to punch any holes, just help out and share some opinions and advice!

Best of boating

Josh
 
NotHerDecision said:
The Optima's a spiral wound and don't require watering, but $/amp hour you could probably buy other AGM's that are better and will last longer. One great thing about the Optima's is they will accept dang near any charge profile so you won't need a new charger. I just did a ton of research, and what is comes down to is $/day. So after a ton of calculating... You have to make 1 decision first AGM or Lead Acid wet cells. My opinion on this is simple, if they are easy to get to and you will do it then the wet cells are still much better. If you can't get to them or know you won't maintain them properly then the AGM's are probably worth it, with one exception, you MUST have an AGM charge profile on your charger or you are wasting money.

So... If regardless of wet cell or AGM once you make that decision there are different brands and those brands have proven life expectancy. All of that said, it's fairly simple to put 4-5 brands and the life expectancy in a spreadsheet and calculate $/day to find what is the best overall deal. (There will always be exceptions like, I'm selling my boat, or I got these half off, or I needed them right then and this is what was in stock).

Every boat will be different and prices are literally all over the board in different regions, but my calculations never showed a less expensive battery being the better option overall. Since your boat has Gas engines, you may be able to start it with optima's but I would advise you to check the marine cranking amps required by Mercury as well.

All in all I just add comments to these threads because I feel the majority of people go to the local auto parts store and ask's what's the best and they get a very uneducated answer. Also in about 2 months, there will be multiple posts on here about batteries being dead and they only seem to last 2 years. I'm not trying to punch any holes, just help out and share some opinions and advice!

Best of boating

Josh
Click to expand...

This is great feedback. Thank you!
 
I had 3 group 27 batteries on my old boat. 1 on the port bank and 2 on the starboard bank. I was in the habit of replacing a bank every year so no battery was more than 2 years old. The lead acid batteries were reasonably priced enough that it was a small price to pay for peace of mind.
This boat has a lot more batteries so I think I'm going to go with AGM. I've already got 2 for the bow thruster and will likely swap out all the rest when the time comes.
 
Not a boat but I am going to throw in my two cents about optima. I bit into the hype and bought a red top for my Mustang at the beginning of last summer. This winter my car and my wife's (also a Mustang) sat all winter with the batteries disconnected and I maintenance charged them both around Christmas. Went to move the cars last weekend and my optima was dead and the cheap old wal mart battery in my wife's car fired right up. Maybe there is a difference in the blue tops or maybe I just got a lemon but I am not impressed at this point.
 
NVERL8 said:
Not a boat but I am going to throw in my two cents about optima. I bit into the hype and bought a red top for my Mustang at the beginning of last summer. This winter my car and my wife's (also a Mustang) sat all winter with the batteries disconnected and I maintenance charged them both around Christmas. Went to move the cars last weekend and my optima was dead and the cheap old wal mart battery in my wife's car fired right up. Maybe there is a difference in the blue tops or maybe I just got a lemon but I am not impressed at this point.
Click to expand...

Did you get a free replacement for the dead one? The Optima should have a 2 year warranty??
 
NotHerDecision said:
So... If regardless of wet cell or AGM once you make that decision there are different brands and those brands have proven life expectancy. All of that said, it's fairly simple to put 4-5 brands and the life expectancy in a spreadsheet and calculate $/day to find what is the best overall deal

Josh
Click to expand...

Josh ... Can you share your results?... How did you figure out the life expectancy?
 
Stee6043 said:
Did you get a free replacement for the dead one? The Optima should have a 2 year warranty??
Click to expand...

I thought it was only one year, I will now. It charged back up and is currently working fine though.
 
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