Battery Charge Time

[Preytorien]

I have a 12V Marine battery that I'm using to power my trolling motor.

 

The battery is 109 milliamps.

 

When I first got the battery, I hooked it up to my trickle charger and it said it had 50% life.

 

I've had this thing hooked up about 4 hours now and it's barely at the point that would virtually be about 60% charged.

 

Is this normal? Does trickle charging take a long time?

[FD.]

It depends on the amperage of your charger and the size of your battery.  I have a 15 amp per bank charger.  That will take a 50% group 29 battery back to fully charged in about 6 hours.

[Way2slow]

Just for guesstimating, 109 Ah @ 50% = 54 Ah. 54Ah divided by how many amps your charger is putting into the battery equals how many hours it will take to charge it. Also, you should not be using a trickle charger.

[Preytorien]

Just for guesstimating, 109 Ah @ 50% = 54 Ah. 54Ah divided by how many amps your charger is putting into the battery equals how many hours it will take to charge it. Also, you should not be using a trickle charger.

 

This charger has a switch that will take it from 12v/2a to 12v/6a.....so I should be using the 6amp?

[Jig Man]

Yes you should be using the 6 amp side.

[Preytorien]

Ah ok. That's probably the issue. I'll switch over to the 6A and see where it goes from there.

[WIGuide]

Remember trickle means slow. It's not going to charge it as fast as a normal battery charger. Trickle chargers are meant to be used more to maintain a charge than to charge it from being dead. Being that it does have a 6A side it will charge faster but not as fast as a normal one.

[Preytorien]

Okay, so I've taken it off the 12V/2A switch and am now charging it on the 12V/6A switch.

 

It sits there for hours on about 60% charge.

 

What's up with that? I would figure it'd at least move a tiny bit, but nothing.

 

Does that means it totally charged?

[FD.]

Okay, so I've taken it off the 12V/2A switch and am now charging it on the 12V/6A switch.

 

It sits there for hours on about 60% charge.

 

What's up with that? I would figure it'd at least move a tiny bit, but nothing.

 

Does that means it totally charged?

 

Where are you getting the "60 %" number from?  Your charger will not know the percentage of charge, only the amount of amps drawing.  Also, you should check the water level in the battery.

 

If you have a volt meter, put in on the 20 volt DC setting and check the voltage.  A fully charged battery will show 13.2 volts or so.

 

FWIW - most auto parts places have a 12 amp charger for around $50 that has a gauge that shows the amount of amps being drawn.  A fully charged battery should draw less than an amp.  Knowing for sure that your battery is fully charged will save you some headache on the water in the future.  Also remember the charge it fully every time you use it.

[Preytorien]

It's a little 12V all-purpose battery charger that I got from tractor supply. It's got a gauge on the front it tells you the percentage charge all the way from 0 to 100%. When it's on 12V/2A it will go all the way to 100%. But, when it's on 12V/6A it only goes up to 60% and doesn't ever get any higher

[FD.]

It sounds like the charger or gauge may have some issues.  Like I said, it does not know the percentage of charge, regardless of what it says on the display, it only knows the amps being drawn.  In theory the less amps drawn, the closer to fully charged.  Some of the cheaper chargers don't meter and reduce the amperage as the battery charges, so be careful not to cook the battery.

[Preytorien]

Here are some photos of what I see. It wasn't the most expensive charger. I got it around Christmas, it was $20 on sale, I think it might've been in the $30 range prior to the sale. Here's a link to the product on Tractor Supply website.

 

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/travellerreg%3B-2-6a-manual-battery-charger-101588799--1

 

The first photo is of it on the 12V/2A setting, it will continue charging until it the needle is at "100%"

 

The second photo is of it on the 12V/6A setting, it will stay at that "50-60%" area for hours, never moving

 

The third is simply the sticker of the specs of this battery. The Wal-Mart Everstart seemed to get fine reviews for a budget once-a-week-for-a-few-hours trolling motor battery

 

[FD.]

I would say you have a problem with the charger.  I use a lot of traveller products but have never used that charger.

 

The everstart batteries are the best.  I have 3 series 29s in my current boat and have used nothing but Everstart for the last 10 years. I am a heavy duty tourney fisherman and use them 100 to 150 times a year. If you keep it charged properly, it should last over 250 cycles. (fully charged to expended to fully charged again is 1 cycle)

[Way2slow]

The biggest problem with the charger is it will slowly kill your battery, and it's too small. You should be using a 10 amp charger, but those little hot box things like that are designed for the farmer or people who might need to charge a battery ever once in a while. They are totally the wrong type charger for repeatedly charging a TM battery that is regularly discharged and charged.

However, you won't by a good charger for $20, but you will shorten the batteries life by enough that $20 charger will have cost you about $50 just on the first one. Then you can start figuring $25 - $30 for each one after that one.

[Preytorien]

The biggest problem with the charger is it will slowly kill your battery, and it's too small. You should be using a 10 amp charger, but those little hot box things like that are designed for the farmer or people who might need to charge a battery ever once in a while. They are totally the wrong type charger for repeatedly charging a TM battery that is regularly discharged and charged.

However, you won't by a good charger for $20, but you will shorten the batteries life by enough that $20 charger will have cost you about $50 just on the first one. Then you can start figuring $25 - $30 for each one after that one.

 

Well from the suggestions above from a few folks I'm in the market for a different charger.

 

Would you think this would do?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SC-1200A-CA-SpeedCharge-Maintainer/dp/B000BQSIWK/ref=sr_1_5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1398766619&sr=1-5&keywords=marine+battery+charger

[FD.]

That's a good start. That should charge your 27 in 4-5 hours.

[Preytorien]

Well I think i'll give that a try.

 

It says it's got float charging, which I hear is nice to have that this little one doesn't.

 

Would you suggest I exchange the battery I already bought for one that's not been experimented on with a cheap charger?

[Way2slow]

My brother had one and recently called and said it went bad and fried two batteries. My son had one that quit and let a battery on it go completely dead and ruined it. He had another one that went bad and fried that battery. All three of these chargers were less than a year old. So, needless to say I don't have much faith in its reliability using the float made as a maintainer.

There Ship to Shore model does a good job but my dad went through three of those in four years.

For my personal use, I use higher end chargers, I don't buy those dime store specials, but not many people are wanting to $200 -$500 for a charger

[FD.]

For my personal use, I use higher end chargers, I don't buy those dime store specials, but not many people are wanting to $200 -$500 for a charger

 

 

I hear ya.  I have a 4 bank, 60 amp Minn Kota on board.  It was $400 but well worth it.

[Team_Dougherty]

I use this one. Has never let me down. Plus. It can saty out in the rain.

 

http://www.marinco.com/en/2612a

[WIGuide]

Got one of the Dual Pro on board chargers in my boat. Having multiple batteries, it's nice to not have to switch the charger from one to the other I just plug it in and let it do it's thing!

[JohnS]

I have an extra battery for when I fish electric only lakes and charge it with a ship n shore 15 amp..  This will Charge a 50% dead battery in about 5 hours.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SSC-1500A-CA-SpeedCharge-Charger-Battery/dp/B000H961YI/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1398996812&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=schumack+ship+and+shore

[ShimanoDobynsGuy]

This is what i use

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JSO1X2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

for cranking and two

 

http://www.sears.com/diehard-platinum-marine-battery-group-size-31m-price/p-02850131000P?sid=IDx01192011x000001&kpid=02850131000&kispla=02850131000P

 

best charger i have ever owned hands down and warrenty is better then any on the market.