The best marine battery is the one that will meet your needs, last as long as you own your boat, and that you got at an acceptable price. Marine batteries are a cross between car batteries with their high cranking amps (short bursts of high power) and deep cycle batteries used on golf carts, trolling motors, and other devices designed for continuous use. Good marine batteries have high cranking amps (which the marine industry calls marine cranking amp's) to get the motor started but they also have to be able to run continuously for several hours like a deep cycle battery does. There are three battery types that you need to consider before making a purchase. First is lead acid (also called flooded), AGM, and gel cell. Gel cell batteries are modified lead acid batteries with a gelling agent added to turn the battery acid into a gel. These batteries take a recharge very slowly. AGM batteries recharge very quickly, are sealed and leakproof and can take a lot of abuse. Lead acid batteries can also be sealed and made maintenance-free. Time to recharge a lead acid battery is between the gel cell and the AGM.
You also need to be aware of the reserve capacity rating (how long you can drain the battery). Higher is better. You also will want to look at the CCA rating which stands for cold cranking amp rating. Higher is better. Also the higher the marine cranking amp rating the better. Another vital statistic is the pulse cranking amp rating which measures the starting amperage of the engine
Deep cycle marine batteries are the ones that are designed for continuous use for long periods of time. But they still have to have enough cranking amperage to get the motor started. All three types of marine batteries (lead acid, AGM, gel cell) can be deep cycle but more people favor AGM and lead acid than gel cell. When you look at the pricing for marine batteries you will see a wide range, from around $100 to as high as $750 per battery. The vital statistics above will help you sort out the differences between the low end and the high end products. Also there are several online calculators that will help you figure out the battery size you need. You simply enter the load voltage, the load amperage, and the inverter efficiency rating. This will help you figure out the size marine battery that you need to best meet your application.
Because a Marine battery is a specialized type of application the worst thing you could possibly do is to buy a car battery and think you would be happy. On our website http://www.bestmarinebattery.net/ we have several more pages of analysis that we take you through so you can determine which is the best battery for you depending upon your application. Come see us at http://www.bestmarinebattery.com/
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