[Amel Yacht Owners] Batteries in Caribbean
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Miles,
You do not say
which direction you are heading when leaving Grenada or what type of batteries
you are seeking.
You have three choices:
1) Buy from a local store such as Budget Marine or Island Water World and just swallow the price 2) Freight batteries from the USA using one of many freight shipping options – This will be lower than option 1 but require an agent in Grenada for YIT status and of course will take time. 3) Sail to another country such as Puerto Rico and buy batteries at Costco or West Marine. You can buy on-line and have them delivered to a store for free in PR (sometimes) – it’s only a 4 day sail from Grenada to get there. Some of the other islands also offer a good battery selection such as Martinique and St. Martin.
With best regards,
Mark
Skipper Sailing Vessel - Cream Puff - SM2K - #275 Currently cruising - Santa Marta, Colombia www.creampuff.us
From:
amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...]
Hi folks
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Patrick McAneny
Today I checked on the price in Le Marine for 12v deep cycle at a battery warehouse,$328 about double of in the states.
Hope this helps,I will be nursing my batteries til I get home. Pat SM Shenanigans
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Patrick McAneny
I agreed about battery prices being about double as compared to the states. I just checked on prices back in th US and apparently prices have about doubled there ,since I last bought batteries 4 yrs. ago.So it now makes it easier to pay the price here,as it looks as if it would only be a matter a a few hundred difference. What made battery prices increase so much in a short time, I couldn’t find the answer.
Pat SM#123
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Patrick McAneny
My batteries are shot and I have only been able to find Dual purpose AGMs ,here in Martinique,and that was not easy,slim pickings. Question, Is dual much less desirable than dedicated deep cell,which I would prefer,if only they were available.
Thank You, Pat SM Shenanigans
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We 12 x 6V AGM batteries in our house bank and one 12v AGM battery as the starting battery.
AGM batteries as I understand it, can be used as both start and deepcycle. We have had this setup for nearly 5 years now without problems. One thing we did do on the house bank was to install battery balancers to ensure each battery in the bank gets fully charged. Because of small differences in internal resistance, with 4 6v batteries in a series chain charged as a 24v system, the voltage across each battery will be different and this will mean that some batteries are continually undercharged...and they die. The same applies to 2 x 12V batteries in series but perhaps not so critical. If you have a 2 x 12v system I would suggest at least tying the middle + - links together in each set of 2 x 12. and best, do that and install a battery balancer to keep that mid voltage at exactly half whatever the charging voltage happens to be. AGM batteries are also virtually maintenance free and have a higher charge acceptance rate than flooded. Cheers Alan SV Elyse SM437
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