Battery Maintenance Options

[The Black Widow]

Hi Everyone,

Looking to purchase a battery tender/charger that has a quick disconnect so we can leave it hooked up to the batteries all the time and plug in when we bring the boat back home.

We have 2 batteries so we would like a dual bank charger.

My question is which model would you recommend? We would like to keep the cost down but get one that is powerful enough to charge for the 5 days in between trips.

I have seen 6 amp chargers (3 amps each battery) and also 1.25 amps each charger. Is there a benefit to having more or less?

[laserfish]

Bass Pro has the MinnKota chargers on sale with a double rebate. Just bought one, read good reviews. Hope it lasts longer than the promarine that we had before. Super convenient to just plug in. Makes the batteries last a lot longer as well.

[chpthril]

If you are looking for a true on-board charger that will be recharging a depleted house bank as well as maintaining the batteries between trips, you want a multi-phase smart charger, not a trickle/maintainer. A good ballpark is to have a 3-phase smart charger that can deliver and amperage in the neighborhood of 10% of you total battery amp/hours. Going less just works the charger harder, leading to a shorter life and early failure.

A typical marine on-board charger is designed to be hard-mounted to the boat and wired to the batteries. They typically have a 3-prong male AC plug that can plug right into an extension cord. What we do on some installs, is to install an on-shore charger outlet. it makes for a clean install and real convenient if you can find a good place to locate it.

[jbort]

Mike:

What are some good models to buy?

[The Black Widow]

What are the benefits to having it mounted in the boat as opposed to being able to just leave the wires in the boat and connect the unit after each trip?

I am only saying this because we would like to keep as little as possible in the boat for storage reasons. Are these units durable enough to handle being in really hot temperatures and bouncing around in a boat all day?

[boardman74]

The marine based ones are. The onboard chargers we have had in larger cruising boats(same ones) will last 20 plus years in the heat and marine environment.

[The Black Widow]

I just was home for lunch and checked what batteries we have. Turns out when the dealer installed our second battery they decided to give us 2 starting batteries. I would assume this is where some of our battery issues have been coming from.

We will be replacing one with a deep cycle this weekend.

Right now we have a Centennial 24SM-5MF (500) and a West Marine Sea Volt 800.

Just shows why it pays to do things like that yourself!

[chpthril]

Mike:

What are some good models to buy?

ProMariner: ProMite, ProSport, ProTournament, ProNautic, ProTech
Guest
C-Tech
Ship-n-Shore
Minkota

What are the benefits to having it mounted in the boat as opposed to being able to just leave the wires in the boat and connect the unit after each trip?

Pure convenience and thats their intended purpose.

I am only saying this because we would like to keep as little as possible in the boat for storage reasons. Are these units durable enough to handle being in really hot temperatures and bouncing around in a boat all day?

The units I am referring to are marine on-board chargers and are intended to be permanently mounted in the boat. On large boats with below-floor engine bays, these units are often mounted there as thats where the battery banks are. These bays get hot during the warm season and when the engines are running. These units are quite different then a portable automotive battery charger you would pickup at the local parts house. These units can work fine as just a battery charger, but not a s a unit that you plug in and walk away. Most do not condition and maintain batteries, as they are not designed to, like an on-board charger.

[The Black Widow]

The units I am referring to are marine on-board chargers and are intended to be permanently mounted in the boat. On large boats with below-floor engine bays, these units are often mounted there as thats where the battery banks are. These bays get hot during the warm season and when the engines are running. These units are quite different then a portable automotive battery charger you would pickup at the local parts house. These units can work fine as just a battery charger, but not a s a unit that you plug in and walk away. Most do not condition and maintain batteries, as they are not designed to, like an on-board charger.

Ok so something like this?
http://www.starmarinedepot.com/Minn+...FSHZQgodJiEAsQ

[chpthril]

Ok so something like this?
http://www.starmarinedepot.com/Minn+...FSHZQgodJiEAsQ

What size deep-cycle are you going to be installing? That Minnkota is 5A per bank, so as long as you will not be installing a large deep-cycle with a lot of Ah's and do not deeply deplete it weekend after weekend.

[The Black Widow]

What size deep-cycle are you going to be installing? That Minnkota is 5A per bank, so as long as you will not be installing a large deep-cycle with a lot of Ah's and do not deeply deplete it weekend after weekend.

Not sure yet but we are going to want to get a strong battery since we do a lot of trips where we are gone for the whole weekend and we use the system a lot while at shore/anchored.

So if we do get a bigger deep cycle with more Ah's then we should get a larger charger right? But similar in style to that one?

[Ewok]

Here is where I have my charger mounted. When I did my ballast install I moved it to the side with the batteries. It's a 2 bank smart charger with 10 amps max to each bank.



I also added an additional battery switch to disconnect the house battery from the electrical system so I don't accidentally drain the house battery:

[chpthril]

Not sure yet but we are going to want to get a strong battery since we do a lot of trips where we are gone for the whole weekend and we use the system a lot while at shore/anchored.

So if we do get a bigger deep cycle with more Ah's then we should get a larger charger right? But similar in style to that one?

It would be a recommendation to go with a higher output charger if you go with a larger deep-cycle. A typical group-24 has about 65 Ah, a typical group-29 has 100 Ah.

[Nobody]

Mike:

What are some good models to buy?

Good question......

I was reading up about the new desulfinator chargers. Anybody have any input on these???

[talltigeguy]

Mike:

What are some good models to buy?

I know you asked Mike, but I think that Xantrex makes very good chargers, but they run a little more expensive too. I have a 20 amp in my boat and have been very pleased.