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dual battery question

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Old 06-24-2008, 09:37 PM
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dual battery question

will it be okay to run 2 optima blue top marine deep cycle batterys? i want ot hook them up in parallel. they have a dual post so that i can do it without having tons of connestions on my regular posts. will the deep cycle hurt anything?
Old 06-24-2008, 09:48 PM
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nah you'll be fine. more amps the better.
Old 06-25-2008, 03:32 AM
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If they are Deep Cycle batteries they are not designed produce the heavy amperage to start an engine, the Deep Cycle is designed to produce low current for a long period of time such as for a trolling motor.

Trying to draw 800 ~1000 amperes from them would kill them in short order.

You need one specifically designed as a Starting Battery.
Sorry.
Old 06-25-2008, 06:52 AM
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Tell the whole story to get the best answers , why 2 batteries , why deep cycle .
If your wanting to run some thing , use 1 starting battery & 1 deep cycle , with a battery isolator , so that you can run the deep cycle to low & still have a starting battery , with the isolator , they both charge .
Old 06-25-2008, 09:35 AM
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they are classified as the deep cycle starting batteries from optima. they are the blue top dual terminal. im wanting to go with them because at work we get alot of good used batterys back in and a company sent them abck to us still in their packaging. we tested them and charged them and they are fine. my boss said $20 bucks for the pair.
Old 06-25-2008, 06:48 PM
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nick, like stated above deep cycle battery's are not designed to give you cranking amps. unless if you are planning on some heavy electronics that draw a lot of juice there is no need for duel battery's where we live. a properly running Cummins will fire right up in our climate.
Old 06-25-2008, 07:01 PM
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i disagree you will be fine with the paralleled batteries the deep cycle batteries are hurt less by starting current than conventional they have a larger internal resistance and can not produce as high starting current but by paralleling two he has overcome that problem and he can get several years use out of them
Old 06-25-2008, 08:07 PM
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thats what i was thinkin ^
Old 06-25-2008, 09:25 PM
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Isn't the blue top a marine starting battery??
If so, two of them should work great for that app.
Old 06-25-2008, 10:16 PM
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theres a marine starting and a marine deep cycle starting i have the marine deep cycle starting.
Old 06-27-2008, 02:22 AM
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Just about every lobster boat I've worked on had deep cycle batteries on them. Dad always put deep cycles in his truck for the cold winter. They are designed to be drawn down to their lower limits and charged back up more than normal batteries. And if they are Marine Batteries to boot, I'd go with them for $20!!! We've always had great luck with deep cycle in our less forgiving climate than yours. But like someone said, you really don't need them down there. If you get them for $20, so be it, but I wouldn't pay the premium if I didn't have to.
Old 06-27-2008, 06:12 AM
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Whether you can use them in the truck, or not, two new deep-cycle batteries for twenty-bucks is a no-brainer; they are worth that if only for testing 12-volt stuff in the shop.
Old 06-27-2008, 09:05 AM
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those bats. are like 120$$ a peice at our local auto parts store.
Old 06-28-2008, 12:55 AM
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If they're listed as a starting battery by the manufacturer I'd say you're alright.

Besides, if you do kill them you're only out $20!
Old 06-28-2008, 06:16 AM
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Unlike a gasoliner engine our engines usually start in less than two seconds of cranking time. That isn't a lot of cranking load by any means. Besides that, and even these batteries only last one year, the average person will waste more than twenty bucks during the life expectancy of these batteries. I would not hesitate in buying them if I knew that I could make them fit.


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