Battery Charger Question

[007]

Planning on heading to the lake in the next week or so and hooking up battery chargers for the winter. The boat is lift kept in a slip.

Since I already have one, I was contemplating just buying another Battery Tender Jr. and leaving them connected for the winter (maybe with simple timer attached to the extension cord so they are not on 24/7).

Thoughts on if that is sufficient, or reasons to upgrade to a more dedicated 2 bank charger?

[chpthril]

Ddi your 2015 not come with the OEM Pro Mariner option?

If its a multi-stage smart charger, then you are OK to leave plugged in, but it wouldnt hurt to get the thoughts of the manufacturer on that. A typical marine on-board charger is designed to be left plugged in, as they have a float mode thats virtually no output, when the battery is topped off. Flow only picks up if the batteries drop. This prevents over charging and drying out of the cells. The advantages of a 2-bank marine charger is that they offer a single cord plug in, are waterproof and ignition protected.

[007]

Don't think I knew about the OEM Pro Mariner Option...

Guessing I do not have that.

[talltigeguy]

I think it is hard to find a charger nowadays that is not a 'smart' charger. Your battery tender jr. would do fine for your lead acid batteries.

It used to be that battery chargers would put out a constant amperage without sensing whether the battery was fully charged or not. Last time I checked, I couldn't find a charger that doesn't shut off when the battery reached a specified voltage. Different chargers have different algorithms, and that can be especially important if you have something besides the usual interstate lead acid battery. For example, some might go to float mode when you reach 12.8 volts, others when you are at 13.2 volts.