Can I use my deep cycle battery (from my trolling motor) in my car for everyday use?

bwhitejr

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'72 Duster (Performance 360)
'83 Ramcharger (Performance 318)
'80 TrailDuster (360)
'80 D-150 Truck (See Below)
CompCams 252S, Holley 390cfm, Offy manifold
Ported, Polished and Gasket Matched
P4286813 Springs,0.040 Overbore,
0.090 Shaved Head

Yes.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Deep Cycle batteries have greater reserve time at minimum voltage and are heavier.

They generally do not provide as high of a CCA rating as an automotive battery. (Starting amps available.)

Deep Cycles are designed to handle extreme discharge states, while automotive batteries are not designed to be discharged repeatedly below 75% charge.

While you can use a deep cycle battery, it is not the best choice. An automotive battery has a plate design that allows for greater flow of electricity for brief periods of time, but doesn't have as much plate material available for deep cycling.

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Gotta disagree with you, Ceej. What you said is more or less correct in theory but disregards practical factors. Any presently-available deep-cycle battery large enough to be held in two hands rather than one offers more cold cranking amps than the car batteries that were available when our cars were new — and our cars started just fine with yesterday's batteries. Fact is, the trend in car-battery CCA has been upward, while the trend in the amount of current required in the worst case to start cars has been downward. Car batteries on offer today have much, much greater CCA than will ever be demanded in most cars in most climates...and the guy asking the question lives in <i>Texas</i>, which has definitions of "cold" utterly hilarious to those of us who live way up North here. In that circumstance, the extra-long reserve capacity of a deep-cycle battery is a far greater practical advantage than a useless excess of cold-cranking capacity.

I use deep-cycle batteries in my vehicles even up here in the frozen North. They work well, and I'm going to keep doing it.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Doesn't give cranking amps, but you might be able to figure it out from plates per cell

1965 specs

170 cuin, 38 amp-hour, 7 plates, group 20
170 cuin, 48 amp-hour, 9 plates, group 24 (special equipment)
225 cuin, 48 amp-hour, 9 plates, group 24
361 cuin, 59 amp-hour, 11 plates, group 24
383,413,426 cuin, 70 amp-hour, 13 plates, group 27
170,225,273,318,361, 70 amp-hour, 11 plates, group 24

From a 1993 Motorcraft battery catalog

group 24 only
40 month battery: 7 plates, 350 CCA, 67 reserve
50 month battery: 9 plates, 455 CCA, 86 reserve
60 month battery: 11 plates, 550 CCA, 105 reserve

What's the relationship between reserve capacity and amp-hour?

Couldn't find a group 24 deep cycle in the old catalog, but here's the capacity of the marine / deep cycle:
13 plates, 700 MCA (marine cranking amps),128 reserve


And that's 15 years ago..............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Are we talking Optima batteries here? I have had one in my Dart for about four years, and it has been terrific. My car sits almost all winter, and fires right up in the Spring. Lately I have been tuning the start functions on the EFI, and have started it probably 100 times in a two or three day period, in COLD weather, just to get the cold start tune calibrated. There has been no degradation of power, even when cranking was excessive, before dialed in. I would buy another one for sure.

Sam

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Not necessarily, though I did run an Optima yellowtop (deep cycle) for a lot of years in my '65 in Denver all year round. It worked fine.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

aren't deep cycle (marine) batteries quite a bit more expensive? I am looking at purchasing just a trolling motor for vacation and the battery prices I have seen so far look pretty nuts. Maybe its just because I am looking at boat/outdoors stores though.

am I just confusing a couple things? I am new to the differences and am not familiar with much of it.

I am guessing the marine can be switched into the car, but not the other way around.

Yes they are more expensive. A deep cycle battery has more lead in it.

You are correct about not using an automotive battery for Deep Cycle use. With less plate mass, there is not as much material available to the electrolyte. Each time a battery is heavily depleted and recharged, some of the plate material is removed and goes into the electrolyte solution.

If you want to use a deep cycle battery for your car, you can. Most of our cars and engines don't have the electrical demands that make it important to have higher current available for starting. It still adds weight and cost. Properly maintained, an automotive battery will last a respectable time in our application. Just keep the charge over 75%. In colder weather, keep as close to fully charged as possible. Low charge and low temperatures result in sulfation in all batteries.



CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

Ive run deep cycle batteries in cars many times, no problems ever came up, yeah, it's awful convenient when you have a boat sitting there and you need a battery for your car to get to work til payday... the deep cycle usuallly stays in way longer than just the next payday. When I do go fishing, if the boat has been sitting a while, sometimes I'll drive to the campsite with the boat battery in the tow vehicle and swap them when I get there..... boat battery's nice n fresh when I get out in the lake!

I missed all the hub-bub I guess.


what is a good price for a deep cycle battery anyway? prices seem to be all over the place.

any recommendations of a good brand?

I have seen many different brands be both good and bad over the years. it depends on who is actually making them at the time.

I have been using Interstate batteries lately and have had the best luck overall. Really no trouble and they last like they should.

A later permanent magnet mini starter does not need nearly as many cranking amps, something to think about.

I have thought about downsizing the battery in our Swinger next time it needs one. Along with the mini starter it has this could be a total weight loss of about 30 lbs. I am sure it would still start just fine.

On the topic of regular vehicle batteries, I've been guilty of buying Walmart Energizer batteries for way too long. They seem to have about a two year life span before they're completely nonchargeable. We got a red top Optima for our race car and so far I'm really pleased with the amount we can drain it and it will come back strong. The only down side is it's really heavy.

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I like the Odyssey batteries. Mount in any position, light, last way long. Since no name batteries that suck are around $60-80, paying less than double is worth it for a great product.

I've used the PC680 in my Darts (15 lbs), which works fine w/mini starter, until you have a problem and need to crank for a while. Normally, it's fine. The 925 is extra insurance and weighs 23 lbs.

Lou

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