I have 4 Dyno 6v GC2(tall). These are a slightly larger version of a regular GC2. After 2 seasons of service they are working well. I bought them at the factory in Ballard,WA (Seattle). They are used widely in this area. Dyno is a relativly small family company making batteries for marine and industrial purposes. Though I think I could have gotten a little better price on another brand I was able to have low profile terminals put on at the time of purchase which are not readily available in stores.
Bottom line, rugged industrial batteries is the only thing these guys make and they are well thought of in the marine business here and abroad.

I'm also in the greater Seattle area (I can't imagine the added cost of shipping back East). After looking at the price of Dyno's, I opted for Costco's 6v GCs 2 weeks ago. But, I have SO MUCH to restore on the '85, I can't do everything 1st class on the first go around.

Just cut & crimped all the new 2/0 cables yesterday :)

[QUOTE=GMatthesen;21408]Buying new batteries. Anyone have experience with Dyno 6 volt flooded batteries. I'm looking to do 4 of them in parallel/series. Also under consideration are Interstate, can get a "good price" from an auto mechanic friend.[/QUOTE]

Be aware that there are relatively few battery manufacturers but a great number of battery brands. The same battery will go off the production line with any of several dozen labels. There is a list here: [URL="http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm"]http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm[/URL]

I suspect there is not a lot of difference between brands when you're using standard deep cycle wet cells. AGM and gel are far different, but conventional batteries have all been similar for me.

[QUOTE=SailorJackson;21415]Be aware that there are relatively few battery manufacturers but a great number of battery brands. The same battery will go off the production line with any of several dozen labels. There is a list here: [URL="http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm"]http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/batbrand.htm[/URL]

I suspect there is not a lot of difference between brands when you're using standard deep cycle wet cells. AGM and gel are far different, but conventional batteries have all been similar for me.[/QUOTE]

In the US we still have a number of actual manufacturers and you can find marine batteries from most all of these suppliers...

Superior
Douglas (Sold of most of it to East Penn)
Trojan
Concord / Lifeline
Enersys / Odyssey
East Penn / Deka (largest private labeler to marine markets)
US Battery
Crown Battery
Dyno
Johnson Controls
Exide

[QUOTE=neilroach;21409]I have 4 Dyno 6v GC2(tall). Though I think I could have gotten a little better price on another brand I was able to have low profile terminals put on at the time of purchase which are not readily available in stores.
[/QUOTE]

I'm curious about which 6V battery brands have the lowest profiles... as I would like to install in the same compartment as my 4D's are without modifications if at all possible. Most everyone seems to have had to modify the battery compartment..

[QUOTE=HowLin;21427]I'm curious about which 6V battery brands have the lowest profiles... as I would like to install in the same compartment as my 4D's are without modifications if at all possible. Most everyone seems to have had to modify the battery compartment..[/QUOTE]

No modifications here with Costcos. But it's a MK1. Don't know how the MK2 is different here.
[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-fhYWyEdVUYA/UwVTFOUf77I/AAAAAAAAKPI/O...

[quote=HowLin;21427]I'm curious about which 6V battery brands have the lowest profiles... as I would like to install in the same compartment as my 4D's are without modifications if at all possible. Most everyone seems to have had to modify the battery compartment..[/quote]

See attached picture. These are US Battery XC2200, 464 AH, they fit right into the Mk II aft seat where the 4Ds used to sit. No height issues. I made a 1/4" plywood box for them and glassed it all in case of a spill. On the left side of the picture you can see a small cut out of the seat lip, that was only required so I could get the box in there. If I hadn't used a box there would have been no modifications at all.

The link in post #4 lists battery sellers and who actually makes their batteries. In that list, if it is factual, it shows Interstate being made by a variety of manufacturers depending on what battery it is and what name they sell it under. You'd have to know the exact battery you're buying to find out who made it and what kind of reputation the maker might have. Personally, I would not feel warm and fuzzy about that situation.

Car batteries have fairly much zero relevance to boat use, especially the house bank, so your brother-in-law's experience in that field is not a good indicator to go by.

I know here in wa interstate batteries are made by Dyno after talking to the owner

One resource for getting feedback on batteries labeled "GC" is to go to golf cart battery reviews. Golf cart use is by nature a deep cycle operation, probably more taxing than our use in boats. The use profile is different between the two applications so golf cart reviews may not apply equally, but there should be some value in checking them out.

I bought my Golf Cart Batteries from a Golf Cart dealer who does a large amount of maintenance. He buys them by the truck load and sells them at low prices, under $100 each. He will not deliver them or install them. Just cash and carry.

That's why we have this Association, Gary, to help each other.

[QUOTE=GMatthesen;21615]I now have an ass kicking 464 Ah of power for the fridge, and cold ones! All these ideas came from you!

Now I turn my attention to the alternator output along with the Honda generator to keep those puppies charged up.[/QUOTE]

Great to see you found a solution (batteries are such a popular topic on sailing forums). Gary, a couple of questions.
1. How are your batteries connected - as one large bank or house/starter banks.
2. How much power do you use - will the 464Ahr run the boat for a few days without needing a charge?
3. I realise that GC batteries are very common in the US (and I don't want to start a whole battery technology discussion - again), but did you consider other technology - in particular AGM batteries.

This is a great forum, and will only get better as member input increases.

Cheers

[QUOTE=caprice 1050;21462]I bought my Golf Cart Batteries from a Golf Cart dealer who does a large amount of maintenance. He buys them by the truck load and sells them at low prices, under $100 each. He will not deliver them or install them. Just cash and carry.[/QUOTE]

Florida by far has the BEST prices on Golf Car batteries. Last time I was down at my mother-in-laws in Vero I found a guy selling T105's for $109.00 each.

This is about $30.00 less than my WHOLESALER pays up here in Maine. I pay about $8.00 over his cost... Course Trojan ships this guy an 18 wheeler full at a time and my dealer gets 80 to 100 at a time....

IMHO there are really two "premium" golf car batteries and those are US Battery and Trojan. Then there are the mid tier. Superior, Crown, Deka/East Penn/West Marine/NAPA/Sam's Club/Duracell, Interstate etc.. The Bottom tier would include anything made by Johnson Controls...

All GC2 batteries are pretty close quality wise, they have to be to compete...

Buying the "best" battery usually means SQUAT because "best": is usually defined by laboratory conditions. The #1 deciding factor in which batteyr is the best is which OWNER treats them the best.

Guys I have an 8 year old set of Wal-Mart batteries going back into my brother boat this spring. They are still testing at 89% of original rated 20 hour capacity..... The OWNER makes the battery last, NOT the brand..... Generally buy the lest expensive 6V you can find and they will do fine. (I am not a huge fan of the JCI products but even those do well when well cared for...

Here is an interesting factroid I have learned from my customers and from doing seminars.

The average marine battery barely breaks 125 cycles before dying!!!! Think about your actual use and how many times your batteries ACTUALLY get cycled to 50% DOD per year then figure out how many cycles.....

For example 6 weekend overnights per year usually equals 6 cycles to 50% DOD as the first night you usually only get to 80% or 70% depending upon use. A one week vacation adds another 6 cycles or so... The average owner I ask about use does (even if we add both weekend nights as 50% DOD) 6 weekends X 2 = 12 cycles plus a one week cruise = 7 more = 19 deep cycles per year. (these are "averages"). The "average boater" then has banks that last 2-5 years..... Do the math... None of these batteries should be dying at under 125 cycles.... (wink)

Even if we figure 25 deep cycles per year (this is stretching it for many recreational boaters) that is just 125 cycles in 5 years...

My wife does not work Mondays, and we go in in April and come out in December, so we get more use than most owners. We average 2 three days weekends per month and another single day overnight weekend per month. We also do a 14 day cruise. That is about 7 days per six months or 42 cycles per year plus 14 = 56 deep cycles per year (and that is stretching it because we have solar). I day sail about 6 days per week but the bank never dips below 96% SOC so I don't count these. Our system however was sized for max DOD of 30%. Our lowest discharge was 70% SOC. We put approx 336 cycles on the WalMart batts over 6 years but we very shallow cycled them by design... My brother who has had them since puts about 20-25 cycles on them but he only draws to about 85% SOC because he has a power boat and solar....

Batteries last by how you use them, the over all system design, how you care for them, charge them etc.. Very little of it is the "brand"...

I agree, battery life is very dependent on the charging and maintenance profile.
We install AGM batteries on our charter boats. These boats get used for over 150 nights a year. They are charged with a smart charger when at the marina, then head out for 5-7 nights. During this time, they are charged twice a day from the engine (well they are meant to be, but I am sure this would be the the most, as some spots are less than an hour to the next spot). They also have some solar panels to help top up the batteries.

Now, from experience, the power usage on these boats is not monitored like an owner would. People with little sailing experience expect that the power usage on the boat is like home - leaving all the lights on, running the stereo and TV. Plus the two fridges/freezers.

So far, both boats (320 & 375) are on their original batteries (5 and 4 years).

These boats do not have monitoring systems (other than voltage level).

On our 375, we head out for a night or two, but the batteries do not usually drop below 70% before we head back to the marina (or some charge from the alternator). I would expect between 7 and 10 years from a set of batteries. Not draining them to 50% everytime really helps the life of the battery.

I did hear of one owner that was upset his batteries did not last long, but then he was draining his house battery to almost flat each time he went out (he thought it was like a fuel tank).