What is the best battery for a boat?
Marine
- Sponsor
- OPTIMA Batteries
- Location
- Lake Havasu
Boats tend to be harder on their batteries than cars, so for many boat owners, choosing the best battery for their boat is an important decision. We're biased toward OPTIMA batteries for some obvious reasons, but there is a lot of validity behind our logic. OPTIMA batteries are AGM lead-acid batteries and contrary to popular rumor, AGM stands for "Absorbed Glass Mat" and has nothing to to with gel or gel batteries. That means the electrolyte in OPTIMA batteries are absorbed into the fiberglass matting in our batteries.
What does that mean for boaters? It means when your boat is bouncing across waves or riding on a trailer and bouncing over railroad tracks and potholes, that they won't spill acid all over the inside of your boat. OPTIMA BLUETOP batteries also have dual terminals- traditional automotive-style SAE posts, as well as threaded terminals for connections typically found in boats and RVs, which makes hooking up and disconnecting your battery a snap.
BLUETOP OPTIMA batteries also come in two types. For boaters who just need a good starting battery to get their engine running, our 34M BLUETOP will provide 1000 Marine Cranking Amps. Boaters who might have some significant electrical accessories, like trolling motors, bilge pumps and large stereo systems, have their choice between three different sizes of BLUETOP OPTIMA batteries, that offer plenty of cranking amps, as well as reserve capacity and the ability to be deep cycled over and over again.
OPTIMA's unique six-pack design also has many features that benefit boaters. Our battery cells are connected by robust cast straps, as opposed to the tombstone welds typically found in flat-plate designs. These cast straps offer a more solid connection to the individual cells, which allows them to deliver power faster and accept charge current faster. Our cells are also mechanically inserted under pressure and only have about 30 internal components, as opposed to more than 120 parts found inside a typical flat-plate battery. Fewer parts mean fewer potential points of failure.
What About Lithium Batteries?
Just as OPTIMA's BLUETOP AGM lead-acid batteries can offer significantly longer life than a traditional flooded lead-acid battery, lithium batteries, like OPTIMA ORANGETOP batteries, can offer significantly longer life than AGM batteries and with less weight. However, quality lithium batteries will typically come with a much higher price tag than AGM batteries. There is a wide array of quality when it comes to lithium batteries, so we can't speak to their attributes as universally as we could with AGM batteries, but the high-quality lithium offerings, like OPTIMA's ORANGETOPs, will have a state-of-the-art BMS (Battery Management System), be IP67-rated against dust and water intrusion and highly resistant to damage from vibration.
Whatever battery you choose for your boat, know that AGM batteries in general and OPTIMA batteries specifically are not only far more resistant to damage from vibration, but they can also last longer and perform better than traditional flooded lead-acid batteries. They are also more resilient in situations where they might be deeply discharged, but keeping any battery fully charged will maximize performance and lifespan.
Fully charged, our ORANGETOPs will measure about 14.0 volts and our BLUETOPs will measure about 13.0-13.2 volts (~12.6-12.8V for the 34M). We're so confident that maintaining proper battery voltage will maximize performance and lifespan, that we'll add a year of warranty coverage to your OPTIMA battery, if you purchase an OPTIMA 1200 series charger from us when you buy your OPTIMA battery at the same time.
What does that mean for boaters? It means when your boat is bouncing across waves or riding on a trailer and bouncing over railroad tracks and potholes, that they won't spill acid all over the inside of your boat. OPTIMA BLUETOP batteries also have dual terminals- traditional automotive-style SAE posts, as well as threaded terminals for connections typically found in boats and RVs, which makes hooking up and disconnecting your battery a snap.
BLUETOP OPTIMA batteries also come in two types. For boaters who just need a good starting battery to get their engine running, our 34M BLUETOP will provide 1000 Marine Cranking Amps. Boaters who might have some significant electrical accessories, like trolling motors, bilge pumps and large stereo systems, have their choice between three different sizes of BLUETOP OPTIMA batteries, that offer plenty of cranking amps, as well as reserve capacity and the ability to be deep cycled over and over again.
OPTIMA's unique six-pack design also has many features that benefit boaters. Our battery cells are connected by robust cast straps, as opposed to the tombstone welds typically found in flat-plate designs. These cast straps offer a more solid connection to the individual cells, which allows them to deliver power faster and accept charge current faster. Our cells are also mechanically inserted under pressure and only have about 30 internal components, as opposed to more than 120 parts found inside a typical flat-plate battery. Fewer parts mean fewer potential points of failure.
What About Lithium Batteries?
Just as OPTIMA's BLUETOP AGM lead-acid batteries can offer significantly longer life than a traditional flooded lead-acid battery, lithium batteries, like OPTIMA ORANGETOP batteries, can offer significantly longer life than AGM batteries and with less weight. However, quality lithium batteries will typically come with a much higher price tag than AGM batteries. There is a wide array of quality when it comes to lithium batteries, so we can't speak to their attributes as universally as we could with AGM batteries, but the high-quality lithium offerings, like OPTIMA's ORANGETOPs, will have a state-of-the-art BMS (Battery Management System), be IP67-rated against dust and water intrusion and highly resistant to damage from vibration.
Whatever battery you choose for your boat, know that AGM batteries in general and OPTIMA batteries specifically are not only far more resistant to damage from vibration, but they can also last longer and perform better than traditional flooded lead-acid batteries. They are also more resilient in situations where they might be deeply discharged, but keeping any battery fully charged will maximize performance and lifespan.
Fully charged, our ORANGETOPs will measure about 14.0 volts and our BLUETOPs will measure about 13.0-13.2 volts (~12.6-12.8V for the 34M). We're so confident that maintaining proper battery voltage will maximize performance and lifespan, that we'll add a year of warranty coverage to your OPTIMA battery, if you purchase an OPTIMA 1200 series charger from us when you buy your OPTIMA battery at the same time.