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When avid fisherman James Wolfenbarger purchased his first ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries for his 21-foot bullet bass boat in July of 1999, he never dreamed that the high-performance batteries would provide him with 17 years of dependable power. But that’s exactly what happened.
“I was living in Northwest Georgia and fishing the upper end of the Chattahoochee River where there’s a lot of current,” explained Wolfenbarger. “I was constantly running my batteries down and having to replace one about every couple of years – sometimes it was every year depending on which one would go bad. That’s how I got to looking for something a little bit better.”
He did his research and read reviews about ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries. “The review that sold me was one that said you couldn’t run them down in a day’s time. I thought, ‘well, we’ll see about that.’”
He installed two batteries on his boat. For about a year after that, Wolfenbarger would go as far up the river as his bass boat would let him go two or three times a week. His sole purpose of each day was to see if he could run the batteries down. He couldn’t.
“Those batteries performed exactly like they said they would, even in some pretty swift current,” said Wolfenbarger. “I’d fish for eight or nine hours and I could tell very little, if any difference, from the time that I started that morning until that evening—almost none!”
Boat owners like Wolfenbarger have traditionally had to make a choice between starting power or deep cycle power when replacing a marine battery. But most boaters want both — a marine battery that delivers robust starting power when needed, yet also withstands deep and frequent Depths of Discharge (DOD) without significant power loss.
ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries are able to deliver both massive starting power and amazing deep cycling capability due to their unique design. Compared to spiral-wound batteries of equal size, ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries pack 15% more plate surface area into the case. Avoiding the “dead space” between cylinders commonly found in “six-pack” designs means ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries deliver more power and reserve capacity. This makes them ideal for trolling and starting, as well as for powering the many on-board electronic accessories common in today’s boats and recreational vehicles.
In addition to relying on the starting power and deep cycling capability of the ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose battery, Wolfenbarger also was diligent with the maintenance of his batteries. After each day on the water, Wolfenbarger would disconnect the crossover wire on one of the batteries, hook his charger up and wait until it kicked off. Then he would repeat the process on the other battery. Once finished, Wolfenbarger would leave the crossover wire unhooked until the next time he went out. That meant no load on either battery.
Over time, Wolfenbarger also grew more and more impressed by the ability of his ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries to endure long periods in storage, while still providing reliable starting power whenever he needed it. When the water temperature would drop down into the 50s, he would store his bass boat for up to six months at a time. Periodically, he would test the batteries to see if they had lost any power during storage. “They never did,” said Wolfenbarger. “It would just go straight to float charge, so I never worried about it. They never drained down.”
Finally after 17 long years, Wolfenbarger saw the first of his two ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries die in early October of 2016. Despite the fact the second battery was still working, Wolfenbarger decided to replace both batteries with a new set of ODYSSEY® Marine Dual Purpose batteries.
“I’ve been fishing since I was 5 years old. I’ve had 50 years experience and I’ve seen equipment come and go, and rarely do you ever find a product with this kind of quality and get this kind of service out of it,” said Wolfenbarger. “So, to say I’m impressed is an understatement. I don’t know what my lifespan’s going to be, but I do know I’ll never buy another marine battery that’s not an ODYSSEY® battery. I can tell you that.”
For more information on EnerSys and its full line of products, systems and support, visit www.enersys.com.
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