On Board Chargers??

[Jagrrich]

Hello folks,

I've got a question for all boat owners that has an onboard charger.

HELP!!!!!!!!! LOL

I'm looking to buy one that isn't overly fancy! Just looking for one simple and that will charge at min. 2 batteries. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

[gamblerOH]

I bought one made by battery tender a while back for around 150$ and it was a dual charger. The only prob with it was it took about 24 hours to get back to 100% charge. Most of the time this wasnt a problem unless I  fished a 2 day tournament then my batt. were only about 80% but I still made it no problems. I looked on the battery tender website but cant seem to find it, I'm sure they do make one though. If I can find any paperwork I will get you the model # of the one I had.

[Jagrrich]

Thanks Gambler,

This is sort of a multi question thing. First of all I don't know anything about batteries and the major up keep. The only thing that I know is that red is + and black is -.  Other than that I'm clueless as what to look for, what to get, what the terms mean. So on and so forth.

Right now all I do is hook the batteries up to the charger when I get home.

As of right now I'm just a weekend angler. My boat only gets used about once or twice a week.

I hope this explains my needs better.

I'm looking for the cheapest, easiest on board charger for my trolling and cranking batteries.

Thanks again.

P.S. Gambler thanks for your input, but everything you said was all GREEK to me! LOL

I'm not a smart man.  :-[

[metalhack]

I just picked up one of these for my batteries. Works great, and for the price it cant be beat.

Its a conditioner so all you need to do is plug it in when you get back from the lake and its charges, then maintains until you use it next. The batteries will be fresh whether it cahrges for one day or sits for over a week.

http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cgi?prod_id=38857&current_category=minn%20kota%20battery%20charger&session_id=481230288&cart_id=082337868

[Jagrrich]

So they don't charge while out on the water?

Is this the same thing Metal?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jhtml?id=0000972014360a&navAction=push&navCount=2&indexId=cat600056&podId=0000972&catalogCode=IF&parentId=cat600056&parentType=index&rid=&cmCat=MainCatcat21276&hasJS=true

[gamblerOH]

A 2 bank means it will charge 2 batterys. The total amps of the charger will be divided by 2. say if its a 10 amp charger it will charge 5 amps per battery. That means it will put 5 amps per hour into your battery. A battery usually wont require more than 60 amps to recharge, that means it will take that charger 12 hrs to recharge your battery. Make sure you buy one for a 24 volt system if you are running a 24 volt trolling motor.Check out the minn-kota  mk 210 in bass pro, It has a mail in rebate and will cost you 84.99$ Remember the more expensive ones usually only charge faster so if thats not an issue then dont waste your money on a high $$ unit.

[metalhack]

Yup, thats the one.

[Jagrrich]

So I guess that I made it seem more difficult than it really is.

I was under the impression that they charged while out on the water, but really its a charger for off the water but it maintains and does all the up keep on the battery worry free? So when I get home I just plug it in and leave it on until I get ready to head out again?

How do I know if my tm is a 24 volt or a 12 volt? As of right now there are only 2 batteries on the boat and both ( I guess ) are 12volts. From what I gather the tm is hooked up to one, and the motor/bilge/livewell/lights are all hooked up to the other.

I bought this boat used from a fella last year and its my first "REAL" boat so I'm trying to learn as I go.

Sorry guys I'm really out deep on this one!

Thanks for your patience!

[gamblerOH]

If it is a 24 volt trolling motor your boat will have to have 3 batterys. a 12 volt to run the boat and its other accesories and 2 other batterys to run the trolling motor.

[Muddpuppy]

I priced an on board maintainer for 3 batteries.(charges off the motor, on the water) a little while back and it was I think 400.00 to 500.00. It wasn't cheap any way.  I figured I could live without it for right now.  I don't run my motor long enough to do much good any way.  You can probably find one cheaper.  I have a small Honda Generator that puts out up to 10amps. DC or I can plug in a regular AC charger.

[Jagrrich]

Do I need a maintainer along with the charger?

[Muddpuppy]

Any more most quality automatic chargers will work as a maintainer. They will start out with like 10amps. then drop gradually after the battery is like 30% charged to about .3amps or so. This keeps the battery from overchargeing. Over chargeing can destroy a battery it can burn the plates and cause it to boil over and limiting it's life. The maintainer charges just enough to keep the battery at it's max. charge for a extended period of time and yet not causeing damage. Others turn on and off at its peak. There are some maintainers that are suposed to keep lead sulfate from building up on the plates and reduceing it charge capacity. There are also solar maintainers. You can do a search on battery maintainers on your browser and find a lot of more specific information.

I have had good service just useing a good quality 10amp. automatic charger. I just disconect it after the battery shows about 12.5 volts on a meter. I may put it on for an hour or so before I go fishing if it has sat for any time.

I think Minn Kota has several good chargers and they are reasonably priced. One of these sells for around $56.00 at Wal-Mart and go up from there. It charges one battery at a time (I think) The only battery that you will usually severely drain in a day is for the trolling motor. I think they have some AC onboards starting around $35.oo. These should more than meet your needs if you fish occassionally, and don't have to have a full charge by morning on several batteries. Most service centers that sell batteries and chargers can give you better details on their products. You can always buy a high tech charger as the need arises, I don't think you can own too many chargers.

I just found this site it looks like it has some good info on maintainers  http://www.canadiandriver.com/winter/050209.htm also try like minn kota.

[Redtail]

I have a Minn Kota 3 bank charger which works great.  They also have a 2 bank, but I have a 24 volt trolling motor.  I pd around $200 for it new.  When you plug it in the 3 lights on the charger (one for each battery) are usually yellow (need charging) when they are all charged up they turn green.  It automatically shuts off.  Good luck!

[BassChaser57]

I just bought a dual bank onboard charger at Bass Pro for $79. It works great and wish I would have had one years ago.

[Nick_Barr]

I bought a Guest opticharge 2 bank onboard charger for $75 at cabelas, it is awesome.