6 Volt Battery

[Serenity]

I plan on replacing my 12 volt house battery with 2-6 volt batteries. Is there any advantage to using golf cart batteries as opposed to 2-800 CCA (1000CA) 6 volt marine battery.

[Veebyes2]

It is all about rated cranking amps & cost per amp. The RV crowd prefer the 2X6V way. The wet cells are cheap & readily available at Walmart. You take your pick. With my marine mind I went with a 4D AGM. The AGM costs alot more for the same amps as 2 group 31 12V but I figure the payoff will be in the longevity of the AGM & the no maintenance of it.

[Serenity]

Do they have Walmart in Bermuda? I already have one 4D. If I try to put another one in, part of my body will be lying in the bilge. Thanks for the input.

[Chester B]

I personally like the 6V golf cart batteries (but buy good ones, I use Trojan). They are tough, meant to go through many cycles, and much easier to handle. If one cell goes bad you are only replacing one battery - much less expensive. On our 40' sailboat we had two banks of 4 batteries, we cruised for four years before we had to replace them, spent weeks at anchor (those were our only power) and ran cold-plate refrigeration, electronics, lights, etc. off one bank or the other. I'm changing out the batteries on our 36' DC to two banks of Trojans this winter.

[whwells]

Nibbles has a set of four (2 each) in sealed containers and are golf batteries. They work with the Freedom 30 Marine inverter. They do require water checking. Nice to have sealed batteries that require no service. However, they have been in the boat for several years and continue to perform well. The 6 Volt Golf batteries have a fine record so I will go with them again when the time comes. Plan to investigate whether 6 Volt Golf batteries can be purchased as sealed batteries. If anyone knows the answer please chime in as well.
whwells "Howard"

[Dudley]

core charge on a die hard 12volt marine battery is $10.00. The core charge on a 6 volt golf cart battery is $20 because they have twice as much lead in them. The 6 volt battery is a much better choice for the boat if you have room for them.

[Captron]

We had two 110 amp hour 12v Gel Cells on our last boat. They were installed in February 2000 and as far as I know they are still working ok. No Maintenance, i.e. no corroded terminals (because they don't out-gas)., no adding water. They did require a reduced voltage charging cycle (Max 14.1 volts) but they have an initial acceptance charge rate of nearly battery capacity. That means they recover much quicker than wet cells given that you can provide enough charging current. But they aren't cheap.

On the other hand, the last time I checked, you can buy wet cell 6V golf cart batteries at Sam's Club for $74. Their charging voltage can be higher and provided you keep them watered and the terminals clean, they'll probably last 10 years too. Also don't discharge them below about 50% of capacity. Of course, since they're only 6V, they have to be wired in series by the pair to get 12v so it takes 2 batteries to get 12v. (a 6v battery of 220 amp hours wired in series with a matching mate gives 12v and 220 amp hours, the voltage doubles but capacity doesn't). Typically 12v batteries (say group 31) of 110 amp hours wired in parallel gives 12v and 220 amp hours (in parallel the voltage remains the same but capacity doubles) Also be aware that golf cart batteries are taller than the typical group 27 or group 31 size 12v batteries so measure the batteries and be sure you can fit them in.

For less than half the cost of one Gel Cell, you can buy all four Golf Cart type. Plus given proper charging and maintenance, they should last a good long time. Add to that the convenience of lifting and replacing your batteries in smaller chunks, it might be the way to go.

In my case, it came down to the accessibility for maintaining whatever we put in. We had very limited access for checking water plus you had to remove one battery (and disassemble the locker) to get at the terminals of the other so gel cells made more sense.

Here's a good example of how to wire 6V batteries. Note that these are Trojans, which is a very well respected brand.

Golf Cart Battery wiring.jpg

Charge On!

[Serenity]

I am into the lifting part. I had twin 8 d's on my Luhrs and they left the boat once. My hulk body is in storage for now, so smaller and lighter is my theme.

Thanks

[meridian]

I had 4 Surrette 8-D's on my previous trawler, 168 pounds each. Never again! Went with all 6V even though the 8-D's lasted 12 years.
Terry