Gc 8

[Briankinley2004]

Just wanted to share a bit of information that I had trouble finding about GC8 golf cart batteries. They will easily crank a 12V71 in a 32 volt bank of 4. I was told they would but only found one person who had done it. I am in Florida so I can't attest to cold weather performance. The 8V21's on my port bank have went from $250 each to almost $600. The 8V195 are now $420 each. Sams club has the GC8's made by East Penn Mfg./Deka for $106 each. So I could buy four of these for $20 more than one of the 8V195's made by the same company. At current dollars I can replace the GC8's four times before I am at the cost of one set of the others. Since this is the house bank I like that they are deep cycle. I will probably keep the larger batteries on my starboard engine and use the parallel switch if the GC8's ever let me down.

 

[oscarvan]

Just wanted to share a bit of information that I had trouble finding about GC8 golf cart batteries. They will easily crank a 12V71 in a 32 volt bank of 4. I was told they would but only found one person who had done it. I am in Florida so I can't attest to cold weather performance. The 8V21's on my port bank have went from $250 each to almost $600. The 8V195 are now $420 each. Sams club has the GC8's made by East Penn Mfg./Deka for $106 each. So I could buy four of these for $20 more than one of the 8V195's made by the same company. At current dollars I can replace the GC8's four times before I am at the cost of one set of the others. Since this is the house bank I like that they are deep cycle. I will probably keep the larger batteries on my starboard engine and use the parallel switch if the GC8's ever let me down.

Just went through this and put in 8 Rolls 8 FS GC-HC. Not sure what they are telling you but the 8V195 has not been made since 2019. The replacement is the 819 and it is a few inches longer (it should JUST fit) and yes, it's $500 ish. Indeed being a deep cycle battery the cranking amps are not listed. They were however for my Rolls at 580 ish marine. Not sure I would want to repeatedly start an 8V71, let alone a 12V71 on 580Ah.

The GC8 is, I believe too wide to fit 4 in the box. Otherwise you could go with one set and add another if needed.

 

[Boatsb]

Seriously?

Original equipment for 32 volt boats was the 819 battery. That's why they fit the boxes. The 8v195 was not original to our hatts. Some upgraded to the rolls at purchase and I believe they were standard equipment on some boats.


The fact that the company that makes Sam's club garbage batteries is the same as the ones making high end batteries means nothing. Deka and Johnson controls will make anything you contract for. The quality of the battery is based on the design.


I know of many motoryachts with golf cart batteries. Even some sports fish owners but I've not seen a serious fisherman go that way.

I have a customer with a whaler 28 that fishes. He has 4 group 31 batteries. 2 house and 1 each of 2 engines as a start batteries. The pure lead start batteries are inthe $4-500 range each. The house batteries are high quality agm and not much less.

Another customer has 4 x 8D pure lead batteries on his viking at over $500 each. Fires up beautifully. One will start his 8v92TI.

$2-4k is not alot for batteries. On newer boats with decent house banks it's often considerably more.

 

[Briankinley2004]

Oscar I easily put 4 in my battery box and now have an extra box. Scott say what you want about the Sams garbage I really don't care. I hate going to big box places but I needed some batteries as I had a trip this weekend. They had 3 in stock, all had 6/21 as a date of manufacture. I needed a fourth and didn't want to leave my boat without a house bank until they got more later this week so I went to the coveted NAPA and paid $159 for the same $106 battery from Sams. Got it home and noticed a bulge at the top. Put the volt meter on it and it measures 5.61 volts. The Sams ones all measured 8.3 and up. After charging all night it is up to 7.6 volts but I am probably taking it back. So I paid $53 more for a piece of crap and got 3 good ones from Sams.

I did not start this thread to debate what kind of batteries are supposed to be on my boat. I started it in case anyone has the same question I had about cranking my engines. Its my boat and my money. I would rather pay $400 and change every year than $4000 for a battery bank that may or may not last any longer. If the $4000 ones had a 10 year warranty I may go that route but I haven't seen that yet. I know you get what you pay for but you can also pay alot more and get something crappy. I did replace my 4D 12V generator battery with a NAPA one that worked just fine. I think the age of the stock has alot to do with what you get and high volume places my tend to keep newer stock on the shelf.

 

[Boatsb]

Hey Sky.

Would you chime in on the rolls please. I know you're getting 10 plus years.

 

[Boatsb]

Just one thing to think about.

Detroits pull a lot of amps. Golf cart batteries are not made to start engines. They are deep cycle batteries. Can they start the engines? Yes. Seen it done more than once. Can they fail prematurely from that yes. I've see that too. The engineers who designed these things probably knew more than we do about these things.

 

[ian w]

You will have no trouble with starting 871 engines with golf cart batteries if you parallel them on start
I have done this for several years

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Well I guess block heat would an especially good idea with these batts.

 

[oscarvan]

Well I guess block heat would an especially good idea with these batts.

I use block heat all the time. Depending on temperature (say 40's to 80's) anywhere from 4/5 to one hour. Object is to have it at about 110º at the thermostats. They start in less than 2 seconds, settle right down to smooth idle and no smoke.

Fired them up in front of a crowd this weekend and they were both disappointed and amazed at the total lack of smoke......

And yes, it is also a LOT easier on your batteries.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

If you have to parallel to start, then you have lost your backup. The reason the battery banks were originally oversized was to provide starting capability from one bank. Once they start to degrade, you would still be able to start, even in cold temps. The parallel switch was for emergency use only. Once you have to parallel, its time to replace batteries.

 

[Briankinley2004]

If you have to parallel to start, then you have lost your backup. The reason the battery banks were originally oversized was to provide starting capability from one bank. Once they start to degrade, you would still be able to start, even in cold temps. The parallel switch was for emergency use only. Once you have to parallel, its time to replace batteries.

Thats what I was doing. Bank was 4 years old. As for block heat I haven't turned those on in years. Fifty is a cold day here.

 

[whoover]

When I started to use the parallel switch I was planning on buying batteries but started checking with my load tester first. That's when I decided to invest in replacement of the battery cables. That has made a world of difference, fires right up and no switch required. Another link in the chain worth investigating.

Walt Hoover

 

[mike.s]

I'm 2 years into using Crown 8 volt gc batteries for my 1292's. I doubled them up and did 8 per bank and they have been great. The battery shop that recommended them said they have many Hatteras owners going this way and they average 7 years from them. Lifting 16 small batteries in and out of the hole is a lot easier than 8 big batteries too. The cost was also a big factor. I understand you have to pay to play but at some point there has to be a limit. All 16 batteries and cables to connect them cost me around $1,200, so I can replace them a few times before I get to the Rolls or Deka price.

Oscar I easily put 4 in my battery box and now have an extra box. Scott say what you want about the Sams garbage I really don't care. I hate going to big box places but I needed some batteries as I had a trip this weekend. They had 3 in stock, all had 6/21 as a date of manufacture. I needed a fourth and didn't want to leave my boat without a house bank until they got more later this week so I went to the coveted NAPA and paid $159 for the same $106 battery from Sams. Got it home and noticed a bulge at the top. Put the volt meter on it and it measures 5.61 volts. The Sams ones all measured 8.3 and up. After charging all night it is up to 7.6 volts but I am probably taking it back. So I paid $53 more for a piece of crap and got 3 good ones from Sams.

I did not start this thread to debate what kind of batteries are supposed to be on my boat. I started it in case anyone has the same question I had about cranking my engines. Its my boat and my money. I would rather pay $400 and change every year than $4000 for a battery bank that may or may not last any longer. If the $4000 ones had a 10 year warranty I may go that route but I haven't seen that yet. I know you get what you pay for but you can also pay alot more and get something crappy. I did replace my 4D 12V generator battery with a NAPA one that worked just fine. I think the age of the stock has alot to do with what you get and high volume places my tend to keep newer stock on the shelf.

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[Photolomy]

So, is that the common practice, using 8 batteries per bank when using golf cart batteries? For 8v71s as well?

 

[oscarvan]

So, is that the common practice, using 8 batteries per bank when using golf cart batteries? For 8v71s as well?

Not sure that it's common, but it makes common sense. Quality batteries in the 22" range weigh 120 pounds....... The GC's weigh half of that. Lot easier to maneuver. And, not all GC's are deep cycle only. My Rolls specifically gave a CCA rating, both cold and Marine.

 

[mike.s]

So, is that the common practice, using 8 batteries per bank when using golf cart batteries? For 8v71s as well?

I'm not sure if its common practice or not. Before I purchased the crowns I spoke to tech support at Trojan and they said while they don't post cold cranking amps they have a number for internal testing. I think it was around 550. I just went with 8 because they would fit and in my mind 8 was better than 4. When I bought my boat one side had 4 Trojan gc batteries and the other side had the Deka batteries. I never had a problem with the 4 starting my 1292's but figured more is always better.