What is the Best Battery for Your Snowmobile?

Snowmobile season is just around the corner. As you prep your Yamaha, Polaris, Ski-Doo or Arctic Cat for another winter, let’s take a moment to talk about batteries. Just like cars, trucks and other vehicles, your snowmobile is only as reliable as the battery that starts the engine. In this blog, we’ll help you pick the best battery for your snowmobile, along with tips on how to properly maintain it.

Finding the Most Reliable Snowmobile Battery

Since snowmobiles are used exclusively in cold weather, it’s important to select a battery that can reliably stand up to lower temperatures. Look for batteries with a higher number of cold cranking amps, as this will provide you with the short burst of power needed to reliably start your snowmobile’s engine in extreme cold.

The second thing you’ll want to decide is whether to invest in a conventional flooded lead acid or AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) battery. A flooded lead acid battery is more affordable, however, it requires a greater amount of maintenance. Lead acid batteries are constructed with lead plates inside them. In order to protect these plates from deterioration, an electrolyte solution made of water and sulfuric acid is added to the battery’s interior. In order to keep your battery working properly, you will have to regularly monitor and top off the electrolyte with distilled or deionized water. A High Performance Powersport Battery from Xtreme is a good flooded battery choice for snowmobiles. It features a special lead alloy to help maximize its starting power.

Though they cost more, AGM batteries offer a number of advantages over flooded lead acid types. For starters, due to their construction, they require no maintenance, meaning you don’t have to top off the electrolyte like you do with a lead acid battery. They also have a higher number of cold cranking amps and are very resistant to vibration, both of which make them a great fit for snowmobiles.

If you’re looking for the most reliable battery option, we suggest investing in a Duracell Ultra AGM battery. These batteries are designed to perform in extreme conditions. For snowmobiles we suggest using the group 12 size and group 14 size versions, which offer the following advantages:

• Maintenance-free
• Last longer
• Easy to install
• Increased cranking power
• Superior vibration & heat resistance

How to Maintain Your Snowmobile Battery

Obviously, you want to get the most use possible out of your snowmobile’s battery. A typical snowmobile battery will last between three and five years with the proper care. In order to get that much life out of your battery though, you have to diligently maintain its charge.

Batteries need to be regularly charged. Allowing a battery to sit for too long will cause it to discharge. If your battery discharges too low, it will shorten its overall lifespan. If it discharges down to nothing you might not be able to charge it back up again. Fortunately, you can avoid all of that by picking up a quality charger and using it to keep your battery’s charge strong.

There are a couple of important things to keep in mind when shopping for a battery charger. First off, overcharging your battery can be just as damaging as allowing it to discharge too low. That’s why it’s important to always monitor your battery when it’s on a charger.

If you want an option that you can set and forget about, be sure the charger you purchase has a “maintenance” or “float” mode. Chargers with this option will switch off automatically when your battery reaches a full charge. If your charger does not have this feature, don’t worry, it just means you have to check in on your battery while it’s charging and disconnect it to make sure it doesn’t overcharge.

A battery maintainer is a great option for owners that don’t feel like monitoring the charging process. Battery maintainers are automatic chargers that will stop delivering voltage when your battery reaches a full charge. Best of all, they continue to monitor the battery and will start to recharge it again once the charge drops too low. This monitoring feature makes battery maintainers a great choice for maintaining batteries during the off-season.

We suggest either the Duracell Ultra 0.8 Amp Charger or Duracell Ultra 1.5 Amp Charger for your snowmobile battery needs. These battery maintainers work with flooded, gel and AGM batteries. Plus, they’re designed to prevent reverse polarity and sparks.

A good battery is key to getting the most out of your snowmobile. Browse our wide selection of snowmobile batteries online. We also carry replacement light bulbs, chargers and more. Still have questions? No problem. The experts at your local Batteries Plus Bulbs can help you find exactly what you need, so call or stop in today.