Cruiser 37 Batteries in th US

[Asylum2.0]

Hello all,

My 2014 Cruiser 37 is ready for new batteries.
I noticed that they are all shorter in height than regular batteries.
I need a 24 for starting and three 31s for house bank.
What brand of battery has worked out for some of you?

[tiger79]

Can you get straight replacements?  My Cruiser 37 has Exide batteries which seem good.

[symphony2]

The original fit were these tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/exide/ek950/ They are also original fit on many Land Rover and Jaguar vehicles with the V6 engine. Excellent batteries and they are indeed lower than many other batteries of similar type and capacity. However I am not sure height is an issue - certainly was not in my 2015 33 except maybe for the start battery which was in the cockpit locker under the floor - stupid place to put a battery! However, it is way oversized for  starting a Volvo 30hp, or even a 40. If I had kept the boat and needed to replace the battery I would have used a proper high output start battery like a Red Flash or an Odyssey which could have been mounted in the engine compartment. I guess Bavaria bought batteries by the thousand at that time (4 or 5 to a boat) so standardised on one battery across the range.

I was so impressed with the Exides in my Bavaria that I have used the same  in the old boat I am restoring where the low height is an advantage because they are housed in a box under the cabin floor in the front of the engine. The photo shows the 2 Exides and the Odyssey start battery in place before complete wiring. 190Ah capacity and a start battery, which could be mounted in any orientation in a 50*50cm box.

[fjoe]

Bavaria installed originally EN-batteries (European Norm, former DIN standard).
Interstate Batteries is supplying such batteries in the US produced by the leading global battery manufacturers.

[Asylum2.0]

I have found the H6 size fits in the well at the bottom of the companion way and H8 fits in under the port settee.
Walmart Everstart AGM were well priced and easy to get.  Hopefully, I'll get years of service out of them.  My boat is a 2014 and I am changing batteries for the first time.

[nightowle]

We have a Trojan AGM group 24 for starting. Many boat yards like the Trojans.  (Picked it up on Vancouver Is. when we needed it.) We have two AGM 8D's for the house that came with the boat, indeterminate brand—still working great.  Seattle-based www.DynoBattery.com manufactures well-favored long-lasting AGMs that I would get for a house set.

[symphony2]

A deep cycle battery like a Trojan is completely unnecessary for an engine start. Engine start needs a high CCA battery not a high capacity battery intended for regular discharge and recharge. A start battery spends most of its life fully charged doing nothing. I use a 26Ah high output AGM for a 30hp engine. A slightly bigger one of say 35Ah would do a 40hp and a 43Ah would do up to 55hp. These are expensive but last. I had one in my Morgan car (28Ah) which leads a similar life to a boat engine start and have just changed it - 19 years from new. Next best would be an AGM designed for a stop start automotive application. Readily available in capacities from 55Ah to about 110Ah. One at the lower end would be fine for small marine diesels.

Boatyards like Trojans because they are expensive and make them lots of money. Justifiable if you are a heavy user for your domestic services but not for engine start.

[nightowle]

Trojan has their "Motive" Dual purpose units, so we can combine it if needed with the house batteries or vice versa in an emergency.  At least, that's the theory.  I've not needed to. 

[symphony2]

Yes, not good practice to use the start battery for domestic use. The parallel function is for exactly the opposite, to use the domestic bank to start the engine in the unlikely event of the start battery failing. The development of "leisure" or dual purpose batteries dates from the time when boats commonly did not have dedicated start batteries but two batteries the same used for both engine start and domestics with switching to to give a choice of which one to use.

More modern boats like Bavarias that have a split charging system and dedicated start battery allows the choice of the most appropriate batteries for each purpose. Leisure batteries are still available but are not as good as AGMs for domestic use, nor as good as high output, usually AGMs for starting