Choosing an Optima battery for boat is a great choice and there is a reason they are selected in commercial shipping and offshore oil installations. Whether you own a fishing boat, a cruising sailboat or a houseboat or are simply upgrading a newly purchased old preloved boat, trailer boat or a powerboat the subject of the marine battery is going to confront you, whether it is a starting battery or a deep cycle house or services battery.
The leading battery brands all offer good quality products, whether it be Rolls, Surrette, Optima battery, Deka or Exide and many others.
The usual choice is between deep cycle boat battery, gel boat battery, AGM boat battery or a traditional flooded cell marine battery. Now the Lithium-ion boat battery is starting to get very popular. The demands that are now placed on the average boat electrical system have generally outgrown that of older traditional wet cell battery technology with the equally rapid advances in electrical and electronics systems.
The 4th Edition of the Marine Electrical Electronics Bible Get your copy and start becoming self sufficient and save money on expensive technician callouts.Optima boat batteries are among the most advanced AGM battery types in today's marine market. The Optima battery for boat is constructed by using spirally wound cells. This gives an Optima AGM battery many advantages over conventional flat plate batteries and other flat plate AGM batteries. This construction of spirally wound cells has real advantages for deep cycle battery applications. These spiral cells allow the use of lead in its purest form at 99.99% for the internal battery grids. This contributes to a much lower internal resistance allowing Optima deep cycle marine batteries to handle high discharge and recharge rates. This means increased cranking amps and much faster recharge rates, which is the prime aim for most boat owners. Before you ask, the answer is no, I don't get paid for endorsing, this is just a great boating power product and have yet to find anyone who is unhappy with them.
Optima Boat batteries are probably the best AGM batteries on the market, for boats they tick every box. Image Courtesy Optima Batteries.
Within an Optima deep cycle marine battery, the lead plates and separator are wound and then tightly compressed into a cell tube. These tightly coiled Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) separators that are set between each cylindrical cell hold the electrolyte fluid similar to a sponge which eliminates acid spillages. This prevents any movement, plate shedding and breakage or fractures even when subjected to severe shock and vibration. I have read test results that show an optima battery being subjected to 5G vibrations for 12 hours and it still stayed operational. One of the factors within this battery type is that there is no free-flowing acid that can leak or spill from the cells, so operation at any angle of heel or even inverted has no affect on performance. Because the cell is sealed there is none of that electrolyte acid spray on the battery top and so no impacts on the battery connection posts or cable connections and also to trap dust and salt causing eventual tracking and discharge across the top if not maintained.
Optima deep cycle marine battery charging offers significant advantages over the slow charging one constantly experiences with traditional lead acid flooded cell batteries. When charging an Optima boat battery using a typical 100 amp alternator, charging into a 100% discharged battery (my worst nightmare), which is nominally at 10.5 volts, complete recharging will take approximately 35 minutes. They quote this test for an Optima D27F Yellow Top dual purpose cranking and service marine battery, which is rated at 66Ah, 830CCA. Optima deep cycle batteries also accurately rated in amp hours (C20 rate). A fact is that many deep cycle batteries are often rated at 100 amp hours, but in reality it is possible only to discharge 70% of this value. With Optima deep cycle marine batteries you can discharge the battery to 100%, although I don’t recommend you do that to any battery of any type and technology. Check out the Optima marine battery range for yourself at the Optima battery website,
Other
advantages that you get with an Optima battery for boat is the very high battery shelf life of around 12 - 18 months. I
know, like many the frustration of high self discharge rates and the dead
battery when left without a charger. Many who return to recommission a boat after the long winter layup soon discover a dead and ruined battery, even though everything was switched off. Traditional lead acid flooded
cell batteries are typically discharged within a period of only in 3 to 6 months and the life
reducing plate sulfation that it causes. I know many cruisers who use an AGM
deep cycle on the engine doubling as an extra get out of jail power source and the Optima Blue and Yellow top battery range of dual purpose batteries make this a good strategy for reliability and redundancy. It
makes good sense really. So do look at Optima battery for boat option when selecting your next boat battery.