Regular car bateries CAN be used but it's not recommended. They don't have the cycling abilties of a deep-cycle. Once a car battery dies the first time, it's capacity is greatly depleted and it can only handle that, a few times. I ran regular bateries a long time ago for about 2 years, but my system gets constant charge. The speed was good, especially during the winter, but ike I said, they die once, it's time for some new ones.
99% of us use a form of deep-cycle battery. Many run "true" D-C marine batteries, but a few of us use D-C starting batteries. Marine batteries are better for climates where it doesn't get too cold because they're not really suited for cold weather. If you notice, you don't typically see a CCA rating on D-C marine bateries because, well, hey, people don't go boating when the temperature is below 32-degrees, so they don't even spec them for it. And they also have a lower CA rating than many starting bateries. Reason being people don't use D-Cs to start their boats, they use them to run trolling motors, acc's, etc. Starting batteries are the best of both worlds. They can't be discharged as much as true D-Cs, but how many of us actually let our batteries get down to 20% anyay. Yet, they do have the CA to spin that starter we call a pump motor, and they have the CCA to spin it during the winter also. Good stuff.
As far as chargers go, that's up to you. Some get Stretchargers and don't worry about it, some get series chargers, some use regular chargers and hook their bats up parallel to charge them. Sky's the limit on that.
99% of us use a form of deep-cycle battery. Many run "true" D-C marine batteries, but a few of us use D-C starting batteries. Marine batteries are better for climates where it doesn't get too cold because they're not really suited for cold weather. If you notice, you don't typically see a CCA rating on D-C marine bateries because, well, hey, people don't go boating when the temperature is below 32-degrees, so they don't even spec them for it. And they also have a lower CA rating than many starting bateries. Reason being people don't use D-Cs to start their boats, they use them to run trolling motors, acc's, etc. Starting batteries are the best of both worlds. They can't be discharged as much as true D-Cs, but how many of us actually let our batteries get down to 20% anyay. Yet, they do have the CA to spin that starter we call a pump motor, and they have the CCA to spin it during the winter also. Good stuff.
As far as chargers go, that's up to you. Some get Stretchargers and don't worry about it, some get series chargers, some use regular chargers and hook their bats up parallel to charge them. Sky's the limit on that.
