XH2Oskier

Hi Wayne, as Ed Johnson indicated, most chargers work just fine on Optima batteries, including our chargers, which are not intended to be permanently-mounted for marine use. The best chargers are microprocessor-controlled and will have specific settings for AGM batteries, but “regular” or “deep-cycle” settings will work fine as well. We just caution folks to avoid “gel” or confusing “gel/AGM” settings. Jim McIlvaine eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries

In the interest of full disclosure, I work for Optima Batteries, which means I do a bunch of crazy stuff with batteries. My 1994 GMC dually has a mildly-cammed 454 and last summer, I was in Arnold, Nebraska for the Sandhills Open Road Challenge. While we were out there, one of the event organizers invited us to use his trebuchet. We chucked a brand-new D34/78 YellowTop a couple hundred yards with it, it passed a load test and we installed it in my truck. I drove it 700 miles back home and continued using it for the next two months until it would no longer hold a charge. You can see the video here- https://youtu.be/NGK2vY5ZfO4. Cranking amps is important for starting, Ah or reserve capacity is what you want to look at for extended use with your engine off. Compared to what we did with my truck battery, most boat batteries probably enjoy an easier life. Fastguy888, to answer your question about a bigger battery being friendlier to your alternator, versus a dual battery setup, the answer is it depends. Your boat is going to use the energy it is going to use, whether it comes from one battery or two (if they are not isolated). Using a single, larger battery can eliminate the chance of some additional loose connections or more resistance in wiring with a second battery, but either scenario could place a lot of demand on your alternator, perhaps more than it was designed to handle. If you are concerned about it enough, you may want to consider upgrading your alternator, but ultimately, your electrical system will only be as strong as the weakest link. It's refreshing to see people like Bracemaker call out the gauge of wiring you are using, as I rarely see anyone mention wire quality in towboat conversations about batteries. I guess that might be because the process of upgrading wiring is far more involved than changing out a battery. On the tournament fishing side, where guys are very serious about making sure their electrical systems work, there is a lot of focus on the gauge of wire being used, especially when they are running wires from batteries in the very back to trolling motors at the very front. The same is true for competition car audio (just google “the big 3”). If you want your system to work efficiently, you need a solid alternator (and good belts), a solid battery, a solid starter and good wiring connecting it all together. Try to push more current through a smaller wire and you won't be happy with the results. A lot of people in car audio use isolated starting batteries as others have suggested, because they know no matter how loud or how long they play their stereo, they can always get their engine started. While I would agree with jhughes that Optima batteries are overkill for a lot of folks, I would definitely disagree about Optima not bringing anything “extra” to the table. Optima is one of only a few batteries on the market that uses 99.99% pure virgin lead, which is far more resistant to corrosion than recycled lead. The faster corrosion builds up in a battery, the shorter lifespan. The six-pack design isn't just for looks either, it significantly reduces the number of components in the battery, which significantly increases consistency and the SpiralCell design is far more resistant to damage from vibration than a typical flat plate design. We also cast robust straps across the top of our cells, instead of using cheaper, more fragile tombstone welds that tend to have much higher resistance. Even with all that, I agree with dvskier, that a lot of people still throw money away on Optima batteries, because they don't take care of them. If you're not going to plug your boat into a battery charger and keep the battery properly-maintained when you're not using it, you might as well find the cheapest battery you can, with the longest warranty and the most-liberal return policy, because you'll probably need it. You can also ignore the comments from “the street” about Johnson Controls, who divested their battery business in 2018. Regardless of who owns Optima, producing the best batteries has always been our top priority. As the biggest AGM brand in the world, we've been hearing conspiracy theories and false rumors about our batteries for as long as we've been making them. Jim McIlvaine eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries

Just as a follow-up, I wanted to thank everyone for their assistance here. We passed on the Mt. Dora home and ended up in Howey on a nice spot on Little Harris.

My flight should land at Orlando at around 11:30 and then I can make myself available for you at any point during the rest of the day.

Any availability on the 11th?

That would be fantastic. I won't be back down again for a few more weeks. I have to fly in for work on the 11th. Would you have any availability on the 14th?

Hello, my name is Jim and I'm a longtime lurker, first-time poster. I grew up in Wisconsin, skied briefly in the Brown's Lake Aquaducks in the late-80s before life got in the way. I managed to get a Sport Nautique for a few years in the late-90s when I lived on Lake Washington, near Seattle and near the Rock River in Janesville, WI. Then life got in the way again. Now I find my life is finally directing me to Florida, where I hope to purchase a home on a lake and resume skiing again, but I need some assistance. One of the homes I am considering is on a very small lake near Mt. Dora, called Horseshoe Lake. It apparently has a channel into neighboring Lake Carlton & Lake Beauclair (and beyond), but there are very few boat owners on the lake and no inboards that I can see. I'm trying to locate someone with an inboard in that area, who can confirm for me that I can actually get an inboard into and out of Horseshoe Lake and at least into the other two lakes to ski. Anything beyond that is gravy. Any insight or assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!