Do you trust your battery charger?

[Jig Man]

My neighbor doesn't fish on a regular basis so he is a little careless with his batteries.  He went fishing and returned in 4 hours.  He told me his tmotor quit.  I got my hydrometer and checked his battery cells.  The specific gravity was 11.5 v.  He also said his engine was hard to start.  That battery was barely 12.5v.

He said that he had put a trickle charger on the tmotor battery for 30 min. before he left home and the charged light came on before he left.

We put chargers on both batteries (he only has 2 trickle chargers).  It took 36 hours to get them back to 12.7v.  I don't think he will trust his chargers any more.  He said he was going to buy a hydrometer.

[bassnleo]

My onboard charger is always on. It has served me well. I can't stand having weak batteries!

[frogtog]

I replace my batteries every December the 30th each year. I don't try to see how long I can keep a battery. This is just part of a scheduled maintenance that

I do each year to ensure that my boat is in top performance condition for the up coming year. I have enough trouble trying to keep myself tuned up all year without having to worry about my boat. ;D

[Cajun1977]

do i trust my battery charger? yes its a guest

[HPBB]

yes I trust them.

You said the magic phrase "he is a little careless with his batteries" that is an understatment

first off is the trickle charger 30 min before leaving. he should be charging the battery as SOON as he gets back.  I realy don't care what battery charger you have trying to charge a battery 30 min before a trip.  :-?That's smart

My batteries are always on the charger , 24/7/365 x  2 boats, when I am not out and my batteries are always ready to go. get an on board and let it do its job. I have a Pro mairniner 3x20 and a  XPS 5/5/5 charger, yes they are both made by pro mairiner, I trust both of them 100%

[Team_Dougherty]

I am with HPBB. My batteries are on the charger whenever I am not using the boat. I, as well, have two boats. I do not have an on board though, I use a fully automatic 75/12/2 amp Schumacher charger for my big boat. on my electric only lake boat. I bring it to full charge using the Schumacher and once it is there I have a 2 amp maintainer I keep it on. I only use that battery about six times a year. It is always ready to go when needed and has yet to let me down.

[Ann-Marie]

SNIP

He said that he had put a trickle charger on the tmotor battery for 30 min. before he left home and the charged light came on before he left.

SNIP

A trickle charger for 30 minutes is virtually useless.  It would add less than 0.5% of battery capacity.  Trickle chargers tend to be less sophisticated than the more expensive on-board or portable chargers so I would have less faith in a trickle charge indicator.

Most chargers, even the smart ones, will show the battery charged quicker as the battery ages when in fact the total charge absorbed gets less.  As it ages the internal resistance increases so the voltage on the terminals rises quicker than it does for a battery in good condition, fooling the charger into thinking it is charged.  

[farmpond1]

Seems to me putting the trickle charger on 30 minutes before pulling out of the driveway was, in essence, too little too late.  I am hardly an expert on the subject but I try to recharge my batteries immediately after getting back from a trip and I keep the trickle charger plugged in all the time.

A friend of mine has had similar "problems."   He says his charger indicated a full charge and then had little juice when he put his boat on the lake.  I suspect he isn't maintaining his batteries very well.  Don't know about your neighbor, however.

[Tin]

Seems to me putting the trickle charger on 30 minutes before pulling out of the driveway was, in essence, too little too late.

Thats what I was thinking. If these things were not charged 30 minutes would do nothing, and seeing as though he "careless" he probably doesnt always keep them charged so therefore whatever charge they get probably doesnt hold. Just my $.02

[Catt]

24/7/365 batteries are always on the charger at home; 75/12/2 amp Schumacher

On the lake I use a 12V Phase Charger. Phase Charger senses when the alternator output indicates that the crank battery is charged, then an internal 4-amp relay connects the troll and crank batteries in parallel so that the troll battery is charged while the motor is running. When the motor is turned off, and the alternator output is no longer present, the parallel circuit is opened and the troll and crank batteries are isolated for use.

[George Welcome]

My neighbor doesn't fish on a regular basis so he is a little careless with his batteries. He went fishing and returned in 4 hours. He told me his tmotor quit. I got my hydrometer and checked his battery cells. The specific gravity was 11.5 v. He also said his engine was hard to start. That battery was barely 12.5v.

He said that he had put a trickle charger on the tmotor battery for 30 min. before he left home and the charged light came on before he left.

We put chargers on both batteries (he only has 2 trickle chargers). It took 36 hours to get them back to 12.7v. I don't think he will trust his chargers any more. He said he was going to buy a hydrometer.

Even at 11.5 the trolling motor would continue to work.

12.5 is close to fully charged.

However those voltages readings are deceiving.

As for using a 2 amp trickle charger to charge deep cycle batteries -  :'(

[farmpond1]

Gang,

I did a little research and this is what I found.  It was written in a way us laypersons can actually understand.  I've also included the link from which it came to credit the proper source and for those who want to do some more homework:  

"A battery can meet all the tests for being at full charge, yet be much lower than it's original capacity. If plates are damaged, sulfated, or partially gone from long use, the battery may give the appearance of being fully charged, but in reality acts like a battery of much smaller size. This same thing can occur in gelled cells if they are overcharged and gaps or bubbles occur in the gel. What is left of the plates may be fully functional, but with only 20% of the plates left... Batteries usually go bad for other reasons before reaching this point, but it is something to be aware of if your batteries seem to test OK but lack capacity and go dead very quickly under load."

http://www.solar-electric.com/deep_cycle_batteries/deep_cycle_battery_faq.htm#Major%20Battery%20Types