wondering how it works?

[master_baiter]

i was reading another persons post about a on board charger and was wonding how it worked?  is it like a battery that just puts out amps to other batteries that need a refill as u use them?

I just got a boat the other week and the one fear is a dead battery( i fish 80% at night).  I have had to pull start at night 50 hp easy enuff but wasn't battery problems.  But the thought remains what if i have charging problems.

[master_baiter]

i don't have a trolling motor yet but will for next season.  should i run a seperate battery for that?  also how do u rig your batteries(lights, finders, gps, main motor, and trolling motor)?  i do have extra space to run 2 batteries.  i have been reading and getting hints u al run 2 batteries. if this is the norm i'll be investing in this also once i can get a better definition on this on board charger

[bowjunkie35]

Here is some info:

http://raystackle.com/1chargers.html

Also read this thread.

http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=boating_ID;action=display;num=1126500816

I fish alot of tourneys and don't know too many with these.

[mferris]

an onboard charger eliminates the need to plug in a portable battery charger when you get back home..an onboard can charge multiple batteries..just plug one cord into an outlet..with a portable charger you need to hook up one batery to the charger,charge that one up then hook up the other battery to charge that one...i would assume most bass boats have at least 2 batteries..i have one for the trolling motor and one to start the engine and run the rest of my electronics

[bowjunkie35]

an onboard charger eliminates the need to plug in a portable battery charger when you get back home..an onboard can charge multiple batteries..just plug one cord into an outlet..with a portable charger you need to hook up one batery to the charger,charge that one up then hook up the other battery to charge that one...i would assume most bass boats have at least 2 batteries..i have one for the trolling motor and one to start the engine and run the rest of my electronics

Nope. You are refering to a multi bank charger, which is different from an onboard which chargers batteries while you fish. When the big motor is running, the onboard charges your deep cycle batteries.

[mferris]

apparantly there is some confusion on what a onboard charger is. all i know is that  in my minn kota manual and on the charger itself,it is called an onboard battery charger  model MK220..your right it is a dual bank charger but called an onboard charger nevertheless

[Ben]

"On board" just means the charger is mounted in the boat (as on board the boat). Most of the more common/cheaper models only charge the battery when it's plugged into a 110 VAC source. It just stays connected to the batteries at all time so all you have to do is plug it in when you get home. Most also have the capability to maintain the batteries during storage so it doesn't have to be unplugged.

On board chargers can be anything from a single output (bank) to a four bank charger (charges four batteries at one time)

There are a couple of makes that do charge the batteries from the outboards charging system, Stealth and some of the ProMariner's (ProMariner also make BPS's so some of them may have it) are two of the more popular that have this capabiltiy. For the ones that have that feature, it only starts charging the TM batteries after the cranking battery has fully charged so if you're running a small or older outboard that only has a 10 - 15 amp charging system, it would be a totaly waste of money to pay the extra bucks for one of those chargers. 10 - 15 amps will not even keep the cranking battery fully charged during a days fishing if you're running pumps and electronics off it also. A 35 - 40 amp system would be the minimun charging system that could provide enough current to charge the cranking battery quick enough for the charger to switch over to charging the TM batteries, and that would still only be on fairly long runs.

[bassdocktor]

They also used to sell another unit called a phase charger that worked on a similar idea. It was like a little little battery charger that as soon as the cranking battery was full it would switch the current coming from the alternator over to the trolling battery. Bad thing with this unit was you would hear a clicking noise every time it turned on. Most likely the same idea that you guys discussed with the newer onboard multibank chargers except it was a seperate unit.

[NBR]

My boat has a system that allows the big motor to charge all of my batteries when it is running. But if you depend on the big motor to keep any of the batteries charged up then you are running a whole lot with the big motor. Generators(alternators) on outboards don't put out a lot of juice and at low rpms very little.

I had nothing but problems when I back charged through the TM circuit. I just couldn't get enough back into the batteries using a seperate charger. I put an onboard in the boat (3 bank in my case) and the problem is gone. I plug in as soon as I am home or back at the dock. Nothing is worse than a boat with low cranking or TM batteries.