Battery Maintainer

[kottenmouth21]

Quick Question… I have two batteries in the boat with Perko switch and I have a battery maintainer that I use in the winter. If the switch is set to “all” will it charge both batteries through the switch with only being connected to one battery? Or do I have to get another maintainer or switch is each month?

Thanks

[robert theisen]

Your best bet is two chargers to maintain the batteries separate.Also if you remove the batteries they will stay maintained better.If they are left hooked up there will always be a small draw on them.

[talltigeguy]

Quick Question… I have two batteries in the boat with Perko switch and I have a battery maintainer that I use in the winter. If the switch is set to “all” will it charge both batteries through the switch with only being connected to one battery? Or do I have to get another maintainer or switch is each month?

Thanks

If you have the switch set to all, the charger will see just one big battery and both will be charged. A simple test to prove this is to get a voltmeter (every boat owner needs to have one, IMHO), and check the voltage of the batteries. Most voltmeters will measure to .01 difference, and undoubtedly your batteries will be slightly different. As soon as you switch the switch to 'All' the voltage will equalize, showing that the batteries are connected together.

I think that they do not combine if you have the Tige isolator as well, for some reason that system has never been able to sink in my mind how it works with both perko and iso.

Your best bet is two chargers to maintain the batteries separate.Also if you remove the batteries they will stay maintained better.If they are left hooked up there will always be a small draw on them.

So you don't really need two chargers. But referring to what I said above, every battery has slightly different characteristics and putting the batteries together will shorten their lifespan if they are different makes, ages and types. The more different they are, the worse it is (mixing AGM and lead acid is a recipe for premature failure for sure). A dual bank charger is nice when you have different types of batteries and such. I like this: http://www.xantrex.com/power-product...harge-2-2.aspx

It is not a worry that there is a tiny draw when the batteries are hooked up, because the draw is always being compensated for by the charger. Having said that, I turn my perko switch off anyway when I have the charger hooked up. I just don't want the boat to even see the current when I am not using it.

[glassmaker]

This is what I use.

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender...0435378&sr=8-4

I installed two in the boat, one for each battery. I pull the batteries out during storage and hook them up at home where I have a four bank battery tender. I use a battery tender for my atv, motorcycle, lawn mower,..etc and have never replaced a battery. The battery in my atv is six years old.

[robert theisen]

OP has stated hes has a battery maintainer.That is a totally different animal than a battery charger.A maintainer is to keep a battery with very little or no draw maintained.A charger puts a constant charge in the battery and will over time boil all or most of the acid out of the battery and shorten it's life.

[talltigeguy]

OP has stated hes has a battery maintainer.That is a totally different animal than a battery charger.A maintainer is to keep a battery with very little or no draw maintained.A charger puts a constant charge in the battery and will over time boil all or most of the acid out of the battery and shorten it's life.

Good point about him having a maintainer. But even then, if your boat has a constant current draw that is higher than the maintainer's output, you have a significant problem that needs to be addressed. As long as the boat's current draw is less than the maintainer output, I am sure it would work fine with the Perko switch on both batteries.

These days, I think you cannot even find a battery charger that does not switch to float mode once the battery is charged. The days of chargers boiling out the water are in the past. Like the charger I referenced, it switches to a maintenance mode once the batteries are full. It is an investment that saves me money since I need fewer battery replacements over the lifespan of the boat.

[Guma]

I have a ProSport20 in our Tige and ProSport12 in my Jon Boat. In the Tige I have 2 batteries and leave the Perko switch on All when I charge and maintain my batteries. The ProSport, like talltige mentioned, goes to maintenance mode once the batteries have been charged.

[ajholt7]

I use a single bank charger/maintainer to keep two batteries charged. I don't keep the perko on all, that is done by my ACR.

[chpthril]

Quick Question… I have two batteries in the boat with Perko switch and I have a battery maintainer that I use in the winter. If the switch is set to “all” will it charge both batteries through the switch with only being connected to one battery? Or do I have to get another maintainer or switch is each month?

Thanks

Since you use the term "ALL", im guessing your switch is a multi-battery switch and not the simple ON/OFF used OEM on some years of Tiges.

The simple answer is yes, connecting the maintainer's NEG lead to one of the battery NEG's and then the POS lead to the "C" post of the switch will do what you need.

With the switch in "ALL", both banks are brought in to parallel. At this point, like Talltige stated, the maintainer will "see" one large battery.

With the battery cables still connected, you will have some parasitic draw with the switch in "ALL" or if you have any loads wired directly to either battery. At best, I'd say less then .5A. Any more then that, and I would say its excessive. Depending on the output of your maintainer, I do not see a little draw being an issue.

Now, lets touch on maintainers and chargers just a little. Simple maintainers are perfect for keeping a battery topped off during the season as well as while in off season storage. They are ideal for the starting battery, but will not really cut for recharging a depleted "House" battery. For this you need an actual charger.

[chpthril]

I think that they do not combine if you have the Tige isolator as well, for some reason that system has never been able to sink in my mind how it works with both perko and iso.

The EIDB Dual Battery system that Tige started using in 06 does not use a multi-battery switch. It uses an ON/OFF switch that's in line on the starting battery and the engine management system.

The Isolator that Tige uses is two diode setup, V's a continuous-duty relay. Think of a diode as a one way electrical check-valve. Voltage from the alternator flows in on the center post of the isolator, goes through the two diodes and out the two posts to each battery bank. Because the diodes only allow current flow in one direction, any loads placed on either battery, can not draw off the other battery.

its a simple, effective and automatic system. It works well for many boaters that have light to moderate loads on the house bank. Its one real draw back is that the house battery can not be used as a backup starting battery. This is where a multi-bank switch comes in.

[kottenmouth21]

Switch

Yes, the Perko switch has the following settings:

Off, 1, Both, 2