What Is the Best Hot Dog Cart Battery?
Steve, I have a quick question for you. You had said that any marine deep cycle battery will do to run lights, radio,. My question is, does it have to be a marine, or will any deep cycle rechargeable battery work for the purpose? Wal-Mart has a deep cycle they said would work, but it isn’t a marine, and harbour freight has another for powering solar, but it is just a 12 volt rechargeable. Thanks for the help on this.
-Teri
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Hi Teri,
No, it does not have to be rated “Marine”. But yes, it needs to be a “deep cycle” battery, not a “starting” battery.
What’s the difference?
Both deep cycle and starting batteries are lead-acid batteries. They use the same chemical reaction to produce electricity but they are built very differently for very different uses.
The term “deep cycle” means that this type of battery was designed to be discharged slowly and deeply all the way to empty and then recharged again. This process of deep discharging and recharging over and over is what called the battery’s “cycle”.
Many of these batteries are used to power electric trolling motors on fishing boats, hence the “marine” designation.
You will also find deep cycle batteries in use on RVs. These don’t need the “marine” rating.
Deep cycle batteries are very different than an automotive starting battery which is designed for very brief bursts of full power output. A starter battery will work for powering lights but not nearly as well as a deep cycle battery.
That is why you don’t want to leave your car headlights on without your engine running. A starting battery will be depleted quickly because it isn’t designed for that mission.
If you need to start your tow vehicle, get a starting battery. If you need to power electrical equipment on your cart, get a deep cycle battery.
-Steve
P.S. Be sure to check out part two of this series, How to Connect Your Hot Dog Cart Batteries
https://hotdogprofits.com/blog/how-to-connect-your-hot-dog-cart-batteries/
Hmmmm, I just learned something about batteries. And you may have just opened up some new possibilities for the cart next year!
Cool Robin. Keep me posted!
Aye lassy !!
Get yer self one of them 1,000,000 watt dog slinger batteries !!
Ye be good fer life .
Har har har !!
1St Mate Jim.
How about a “power station” to plug your lights and radio in to. They come with a USB port, a regular household plug and a cigarette lighter plug on them?
-Mark J.
Sure that works.
Will a deep cycle batterie work with a solar system
To run a refrig and two seam tables?
That’s a stretch. Lights are one thing, heat is another. Hot plates used to heat an electric steam table draw a LOAD of current. Anything is possible IF you have enough battery capacity though. I’m not a solar expert so you’ll need to find someone who can tell you what size and how many cells you will need.
I have worked for a national battery franchise and concur with Steve. Spend the money on a good deep cell battery (Walmart, Sam’s…). Also, you need to decide if you are going to run strict DC/LED type of lighting or AC. You can get a cheap inverter for AC applications as in the lighting you mentioned, to charge the cell phone or have tunes.
Dave
Davey Dogs, LLC
Right on Dave.
Learning has occurred. Thanks.
Gunny
Thank you sir!
Nothing wrong with asleep cycle on a solar charger especially for those long haul events BUT! if you are charging your deep cycle needs lots of fresh air because it is gassing off volatile by products. So make certain your battery compartment has adequate venting to prevent any fire/explosion hazard. Wouldn’t hurt to have a new charging system looked at by your safety inspector as your battery system will have changed and likely requires it anyway. Think of it as very cheap peace of mind you have many other concerns while working your cart. Your battery shouldn’t be one of them. If toting a second deep cycle for a long event these batteries are heavy so be extra careful with polarity when hooking up terminals so you don’t “fry” any components. ??????
Great tips Rich. Thanks!
Steve this is a good topic.I learned the hard way a car stereo uses a lot of power over 12 hour work days. I found a stereo amp that runs on a 9volt battery and my little portable radio that runs off the same size battery. They both are now hooked up to my deep cycle battery and it never goes dead.I have 2 batteries in my cart and run the water heater,pump,homemade LED lights and little stereo system.They outlasted a 16 hour music festival this summer 2 days in a row so minimum recharge time.I’m putting solar on the cart for next summer.Thanks for a great site.
Sounds like a good system you have there Joe. Let me know how I can help you!
If your going to buy a deep cycle battery make sure that you get a 110 Ah (amp-hours) or bigger, i can run my shave ice machine for 6-8 hours, i run two battery for everything lights, radio,shave ice,refrigerator,and a small chest freezer i use interstate batteries.
10 amps goes into 110 Ah battery for 11 hours of run time
Awesome. Thanks Charlie!
Thank for the tips
I use a interstate srm-29 battery for my cart, music, and lights at night.
Thanks Calvin!
Hi Steve. What a great topic. And thanks everyone that left some advise. I was going through the same turmoil deciding what type I should use. Now I know I can use my marine battery I used in the trailer.
Keep up this nice sharing of information. i love it.
Barb
Barbs Hot Dog Express
Ottawa, ON. Canada
Will do Barb!
I have found that using 2 6 volt golf cart types of batteries hooked to together will give you a longer charge and are faster and easier to charge as well as much lighter in weight
Awesome tip. Thanks Jim! Just be sure to hook them together correctly like this.
https://hotdogprofits.com/blog/how-to-connect-your-hot-dog-cart-batteries/
Hello Steve.
I have a Jump Starter DURALAST 900 Peak Amps charger that I acquire in Autozone. Also I have a Duralast 250 watt inverter. With this inverter connected to the charger; I want to connect a bulb light string; every light is a Led 5 watts; so I have 6 lights total is 30 watts.
The question is; how this buld light string should be connected?, serial or paralel?
Series should be fine. Modern light strings have a continuous circuit. If a bulb burns out the rest of the string keeps going. Older and cheaper light strings don’t, which means that when one bulb goes out, everything “downstream” goes out too. If you have the older type, connect them in parallel.