[C320-list] Starting Battery

[T. Scott Thompson]

Some potential downsides that come to mind:

(1)  storage.  Where to put it?  One more thing cluttering the boat.

(2)  How do you know it is charged well enough and reliable if you 
aren't using it regularly?

(3)  Less self sufficiency while afloat.  Suppose you need to use it 
while out cruising, say because of a failure of your main battery bank.  
Will it start the boat all the times you need to get back to an AC source?

(4)  One more thing to lug between the boat and home if (like me) the 
boat lives on a mooring and not in a slip with AC.

(5)  Are these things as reliable as a dedicated battery in cold 
weather?  My experience with automobiles says the answer is no.  I've 
had the experience of not being able to start a car with one of these, 
even at full charge, but then successfully starting the same car a few 
minutes later using conventional jumper cables to a regular auto 
battery.  That experience admittedly was in really cold weather with 
borrowed units that perhaps weren't as good as the ones you have in mind.

Jeff Church wrote:

> There has been some discussion on the C36 list about using a portable 
> jumpstart powerpack instead of a dedicated starter battery. Everstart 
> and Xantrex make powerpacks, there are probably many others. They seem 
> like a nice simple solution. Plug them in for a charge every 2 or 3 
> months and you are set. If the house batteries ever drain too low to 
> start the engine, jumpstart the engine with the powerpack and you are 
> back in business. In addition, with the powerpack as a safety you can 
> use your house batteries in parallel (battery switch set to BOTH) and 
> you will not subject them to as deep a cycle as if you ran then 
> individually. Is there a downside to this?
>
> JeffC
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Russell Monaco" <russgm at yahoo.com>
> To: <kmielen at iwon.com>; "C320-List" <C320-List at catalina320.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 7:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Starting Battery
>
>
>> Karl-
>> Did you see teh bit in the Mainsheet, I think it was a 350 where 
>> someone had installed PWC batteries as a starter? I was tinking about 
>> it, wondering what others thought.
>> russ monaco
>> commodore
>> C320IA
>>
>> "Karl Mielenhausen  _/) " <kmielen at iwon.com> wrote:
>> I'm planning on a dedicated starting battery for my Yanmar 3GM30. It 
>> seems most folks are using a Group 27 for this application. I would 
>> prefer a smaller battery to leave more room for my next project (golf 
>> car batteries for the house bank). According to my read of the Yanmar 
>> manual, at least 500 CCA are recommended as a start battery, which I 
>> can easily get in a Group 24.
>>
>> 1/ What size starting batteries have folks found acceptable?
>>
>> 2/ Are there any compelling reasons not to use an automotive battery 
>> (other than not having "marine" terminals)
>>
>> Thanks...
>>
>>
>>
>> Karl Mielenhausen
>>
>> 2000 C320 Hull#690 "Silver Lining"
>>
>> New Bern, NC
>>
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