"Al Hall" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 10:16:10 -0800, "Chuck Taylor"
wrote:

Marine batteries have the advantage of being able to repeatedly handle
long
periods of use (discharging) better than typical auto batteries.
Auto/starting batteries are made for short periods of high current use
followed by recharging. If they are repeatedly used for long periods as
with
a scope, they will not last as long as a marine battery.

Any reason not to use a deep cycle marine battery in the car in place
of a regular auto battery?


Seems like a very good question to me. I asked this very question when I
was buying some batteries for astronomy use and I'll paraphrase what I was
told...

A boat and a car place different requirements on a battery and it's a good
idea to buy a battery that's made for those requirements. As an example,
it's very important for a car to have a big reserve of cold cranking power,
while this is not too important in a boat that is used during the warm
weather months. On the other hand, it's common to draw small amounts of
power from a boat battery while the engine is shut down and the system is
not charging. Of course, when you're ready to go home, it's important that
the battery has enough power to get you home.

In spite of the superior marine batteries available today, you should see
some of the batteries going into boats these days. I have a huge 75 pound
battery for each of the engines, plus a bank of 3 deep cycle batteries to
operate accessories. Not too many gas stations out there. These days,
boatmen pray that they never need a tow, as a tow could cost you a thousand
dollars or more.

Al