battery charging?

[NJfishinGuy]

just wondering how to tell when a battery is fully charged, i havea 2/10 amp charger i forget the brand its my dads but i usually charge my battery all night on 10amp setting . the little meter on it i think goes from 0-12  and usually will get down to about  4-4.5 and stop, would that be the point its done at if thats where it stops? the battery finally seems to be acting like a normal battery its about 3 or 4 years old now and for a lng time i could fish all day it never seemed to even loose power but lately its will get a little slower at the end of the day. just tryin to figure out if im charging it all the way or maybe not

do they make peak chargers thats shut off and go to trickle when its done like r/c cars have.

[jb_from_texas]

do they make peak chargers thats shut off and go to trickle when its done like r/c cars have.

yes they do make batteries that slow the charge process down when nearing the final stages.  check back to your thread soon as "WaytoSlow" will reply with all kinds of good advice.

[Way2slow]

Not too sure about the lots of good info part but will say what I would do.   First off, as old as that battery is and using one of those hot boxes to charge it, you are probably getting close to the end of it's life cycle.   If it has caps where you add water, use a hydrometer and check the specific gravity (if you don't have one, NAPA has a good one for about $8, the one with the thermometer in it).  A good deep cycle battery will charge up to 1.275, or higher depending on the make, and should be about the same on all cells.  Check the gravity 24 hours or more after charging.

As for a charger, yes several companies make "Smart" or Intilli chargers that use a logic controlled three step process to charge the battery and go into a float mode to maintain the battery after the charge is complete and are in the $50 - $100 price range.   These are much better than that thing you're using now but even with those, all are not created equal.  I've never tried but one, it came from Northern Tools and the float voltage was too low to properly maintain a battery so I took it back.   Home depot has a Huskey Brand and Schumacker has a line of them also.  Again, I never have used these so can't say about their voltages, my chargers are programmable commercial chargers other than my onboard chargers and they are ProMariner PT 300's

If you use one like you have, you should put it on a timer that will shut the power off to it after 10 - 12 hours.   Once the current drops to minimum, the battery should charge approx another hour and then cut it off, It's should be fully charged then.

[NJfishinGuy]

ok thanks for the info i definatly have a little better idea what to do with it now, the battery is a wallmart EVERSTART 115 amp hours if that helps at all

[cart7t]

3-4 years is all you'll get out of those Walmart batteries.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Three to four years of completely draining and recharging is all you will get out of MOST batteries. The only ones that may last a little longer are the Optima batteries, but those you have to pay an arm and a leg for. I would say spring for some new batteries and be happy with the life the others gave you.

[Sam]

I received a marine slow trickle battery charger from my wife this past Christmas and I love it.

I set it up and it turns itself off automatically.

I charge all three of my boat batteries one or two days before I go fishing just to make sure they are ready to roll.

My fishing buddies like the Wal-Mart yellow batteries.  They say that these batteries are longer than the standard marine batteries so you will need to modify your battery holders to accomodate them.

I need to clean my battery connections, too.  I have not done this in three years but so far all is going well.  I hate to "fix" something that isn't broken, if you know what I mean.

I also carry an "extra" cranking battery in my jeep just in case I need it to get started.  My pro bass fishing friend carries one of those yellow car chargers with him.  Its the one that gives your battery a jolt so it will start.  They cost around $60.  We have one of those, too, and I may consider taking it with me on the boat.

Of course, it weighs an arm and an leg and I am trying to lighten the load in the boat so I have not decided on adding it to my collection of useless stuff in the compartments.

Let us know which battery charger you get.

[NJfishinGuy]

i picked up a shumacher charger at wallmart. its a 2/4/6amp charger smart charge its suposed to stop when its done and stuff. 25 bucks. i need to use it now, but i think my battery is on its way out.

[Way2slow]

If it wasn't one of these, don't leave it connect. http://www.batterychargers.com/itemlist.cfm?cid=2 There is a huge difference between the "Smart" charger and the Auto shut off.

[NJfishinGuy]

its the first one on the list in that link.

[Guest avid]

I have the 10/6/2/ Ship and shore model shown in the link.   Very cool.  It has a switch that shows the percent of charge and the actual voltage.  At 100% the voltage is 13.2

I think way2slow considers that the correct max charge for gel cell whereas agm would max out a little higher at 13.6, but for my purposes I'm perfectly happy with the max charge I get.  My MK battery indicator lights up showing full power, and if I open the throttle that sucker will lunge forward.  I'm still getting my shoulders and elbow in shape, the elbow is a slow heal.  But I have been out on the water for 3 hours and still have over 80% capacity.  It's a nice secure feeling to know that when I get back to longer fishing days or rough weather that I have power to spare.