Mariah battery question
 

We just inherited a 2001 Mariah with a Mercruiser 5.0. We're still learning about the boat, but we think it needs a new battery.

I searched and saw some threads that said we needed these specs:

*550 cca / 700 mca / 120 Ah

But they didn't say if that was a single or dual battery set up?

My understanding is that it should be a dual purpose battery since it's a single?

The boat has an on board charging system. Is that what we should be using to charge?

If someone could proved a "boat batteries for dummies" answer I sure would appreciate it. A link to a good battery we can find local auto store would be great too. I'm not worried about finding one cheap, I want a good one.

TIA!

Re: Mariah battery question
 

I've no idea if the boat had one or two batteries when sold as you dont mention what model it is. If just one then i would suggest a dual purpose battery but with a little more cca's (I'm thinking around 750 - 850). Mine has 830 and I'm thankful for the extra when I've run the battery down a bit listening to music while moored.

If i was just buying a single battery i would probably look at the Optima yellow top group 27 battery as my first choice. An interesting choice though would be one of the newer Lithium-Ion batteries like the ones from Banshee. The cca's are up around 1000 and at 27-28lbs, they weigh only about half as much as a conventional battery/

IF your boat doesn't have dual batteries then i would seriously consider installing two with an isolator switch. That way you have one battery for starting the boat and one battery for your accessories. That 2nd battery can also act as a backup for the starting battery if needed. Doing a google search for 'installing dual batteries on a boat" will provide all the necessary information.

Re: Mariah battery question
 

Yes, we're sure it only had one battery. We inherited it from my Father in law, who bought it brand new.

Thank you for your help!