Lessons for battery for trolling motor/canoe

[scuro]

Forget the trolling motor when considering using one on a canoe. The real issue in this equation is the battery. Bought a rv/marine battery for the trolling motor as the main motor of a canoe. From here on in please feel free to correct any faulty assumptions! Bought it last minute, doing not enough research and depended on a kid at the store. What I bought is the Natalius hybrid battery. It is supposed to be both a starter and deep cycle battery. Went out on the maiden voyage and all went well except that the owner of the property I was staying at had a problem with his pontoon boat that was only electric. It was 500 ft from the cottage so when requested I towed him in. It had almost no thrust at the end of that tow into current and wind. It read 9.5 volts. The owner put it on his recharger and near the end of the charge stuff was bubbling out. Was this because it was more like a starter battery and it was being charged like a deep cycle? Lesson one-don't drain your battery for any reason. Lesson two - forget hybrids.

I checked the fluid and some cells were down about an inch lower then the other plates. So I topped it up with distilled water....but higher then it originally was. I have to carry this battery up a hill so it sloshed and some got my pants and hands and the tiles the recharger was sitting on. The battery acid pulled some colour off the tiles and discoloured the grout! Lesson 3 get a sealed unit..AGM, Look for thick lead plates which hold a charge longer and get it as about as heavy as you feel comfortable lifting it. Heavy is good because more lead is good. Wouldn't it be grand if they had a waterproof recharger and a battery that told you how many volts it currently had?

The original battery charges to about 13 volts now. I can get three hours of constant use out of it...with about an hour at maximum speed. Will give this battery to someone as a starting battery.

[scuro]

Double checked my assumptions with guy I know who has a remote camp running off of solar, he needs to store energy for low light days... here is his response, "AGM all the way. Twice the money but you can tip them, leave them in a state of discharge without sulphating (read fuc**** up the battery). They can be discharged way lower and left there for a longer period of time. You'll be paying $270+ for a decent group 27 (mid size) AGM... if you want something good, source out a Trojan. You can usually dicker a little because the have them at independent battery depots. Make sure your charger has an AGM setting our you will pooch the battery".

My battery is charging to 13.6 volts...Not totally pooched. Next one will be AGM.

[sgtMeowsteen]

I'll keep this in mind.
I'm in the market to replace my trolling motor battery.
Thanks for sharing.

sgtMeowsteen