Charging question???

[BassChump]

I saw the thread about jumping the starter battery with the trolling battery and I was wondering why you couldn't charge the trolling battery with the engine battery. Maybe have a battery switch that switches between the two or ties them together??? I've seen that on some bigger fishing boats with alternators and inboard motors.

I'm assuming that since I've not seen anything on this on outboards that it either doesn't work or is bad for the charging system since it isn't an alternator or generator?

Just curious.

      Thanks.

[Catt]

Bass Pro Shops sale a switch for this purpose  

[NBR]

Unless you run long distances the output of many or most outboards won't keep the cranking motor up day after day. I learned this the hard way on a weeks fishing trip and couldn't start the big engine after the third or fouth day. Better for battery life if you charge after every use.

I put on a three bank charger and charge every time I come home or to the dock on longer trips.

[NBR]

When all else fails read the post again before you answer. My earlier post was a little correct. The outboard alternator just doesn't have enough output to keep the TM batteries charged up. My boat has a gizmo that is supposed to charge the cranking battery to full charge and then put the outboard alternator into the TM batteries.

In my boat at least if you rely on this you need a set of jumper cables or a good paddle unless you charge the TM batteries every day.

[jim payne]

You can charge the trolling battery from the start battery and it depends on what size the outboard is. If the outboard is not keping the start battery up then you have a problem or you just need to run the outboard longer. If you have a battery gauge on the boat it should let you know what is happening. You can put a switch between the batteries and you can charge them both that way. they have a switch that has batt 1 batt 2 and both that can be used. Or you can make your own wire jump set up and just hook them together as you make longer runs. It all depends on how much you run. Good luck

[Way2slow]

Depending on the size of your charging system, determins if you would gain anything by trying to charge you TM batteries with your outboard. Some of the newer V6's have gone to 60 amp charging systems because the manufactors finally realized the modern bass boats uses lots of battery power. A 60 amp charging system would probably keep the cranking battery charged and put some into your TM batteries if you made fairly long runs.

For several years the standard big charging system has been about 35 amps. This will usually keep up with the cranking battery if you make long runs, but will probably not put much into the TM batteries.

Anything smaller than a 35 amp charging system, it would be a total waste of money to install a system that charges you TM batteries from the motors charging system. Not unless you did more running than you did fishing.

Unless your running one of the big V-6's don't plan on your motor having a 35 amp system unless its fairly new and says it has.

Most of your older and V4 or smaller motors only had about a 16 amp charging system and those won't even keep the cranking battery charged during a days use.

On the average, when your big tournament bass fishermen come in for the day, their cranking battery is about 80% charged and is charged by their onboard charger every night along with their TM batteries.

My boat has a 225 Evinrude with a 35 amp charging system. My ProMariner ProTourny 300 onboard charger will charge the TM batteries from the motors charging system once the cranking battery has reached full charged. I also have a Battery Discharge Indicator on the front deck monitoring my TM batteries and I don't think I've ever seen it gain any charge during my normal fishing day where the motor has charged the TM batteries.

To answer your question, there are a number of systems out there made to charge your TM batteries from the motors charging system.  It's just they are usually worthless because the motor can't keep up with the cranking battery, much less the TM batteries also.

[jim payne]

Man i am glad you have all the facts of the world on how these systems won't charge on the water from the outboard. It has been almost ten years I have been charging batteries on boats from truck while on the road and only around six years we have been charging batteries on boats while running up and down lakes. Everyone has there opinions and I will not argue about yours but whenpeople ask questions on subjects that people use everyday and they really know first hand how the systems work I would suggest other let the people that use the systems help the people who want facts and not just opinions. We have over 4000 units on the market today as well as other companies that do this that have alot more out there then we do and for someone that has not used our system to tell other they don't work is just a lie. We give our customers a full 90 day money back guarantee on our products if they don't work and I have never had one returned yet for that reason. Not wanting to get into a talking match over this so if your not using the products first hand let other that do help the people that are looking for information. Have a saafe weekend to all.

[BassChump]

Wow! I wasn't expecting all these responses. Thanks to everyone for their input.

My boat is an 84 Trophy with an 85 horse Force outboard. Since those are cheap outboards, I'm assuming it will have a very small charging system. I have used jumpers on occasion to add some juice to the trolling batteries and it has worked. My question was more toward if I do that, will it hurt the charging systems.

I think I fixed the problem though. The lakes I fish are a lot smaller in comparison to a lot of lakes you guys fish. I can usually get to where I'm going withing a few minutes of launching so what I did was just bought another trolling battery. When the first gets run down, I just go to the other.

The last thing I can do now is have a big, expensive fix on my boat so I'm going to play it safe and with the additional battery, it should be fine.

If anyone has any other imput, please post away.

              Thanks again for all the information.

[Way2slow]

Well, I started to repsond, but decided it's just not worth it.

Just couldn't find in my post where I mentioned your system or anyone elses other than the "ProMariner" in "MY" boat.

Ya'll have a great day.

[jim payne]

To answer your question, there are a number of systems out there made to charge your TM batteries from the motors charging system.  It's just they are usually worthless because the motor can't keep up with the cranking battery, much less the TM batteries also.  

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That is all I was talking about and I to do not want to get into that here,I was not wanting to start anything and I will leave it alone. You have a great weekend also.

Using a second battery is a good idea and you can also hook them together plus to plus and neg to neg and you will get double the time on the water that way also, good luck

[Catt]

I have a dozen or so friends & guides who have a 12V Phase Charger installed on their boats and have no problems keeping their trolling motor batteries hot. Now with that said every one of them is running at least a 2006 150 hp outboard and run Toledo Bend or Calcasieu (Big) lake.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_27369_200003004_200000000_200003000_200-3-4

[BassChump]

My boat is a 1984 Trophy built by Bayliner. It has a 1984 Force engine. 85 horsepower. It's an inline 3 cylinder engine. Does anyone know what the output of this charging system is and can it handle chargine more than just the crank battery????

[Way2slow]

I think you will find that it has a 20 amp rectifer with no regulator.

I posted what I thought about those charging system on anything less than a 35 amp charging system and was told (excuse me, it was implied) I was FOS. StayNcharge says he has a 90 day unconditional money back guarantee. Try your boat for several trips and do a voltage reading with a digital meter on your cranking and TM batteries and record it at the end of the trips. A fully charged battery will read 12.6 o 12.8 VDC, depending on the battery. You need to fully charge yours, after aboutr five minutes of running your TM on the lake to knock the surface charge off take a voltage reading to determine your full charge voltage. A fully discharged battery will read approx 11.4 VDC but you should try to never run down past 12.0 VDC for longer battery life. Install the StayNcharge, make several trips and take a voltage reading on your batteries after using it. See if there is any significant increase in voltage. Unless you do a whole lot more riding than fishing, I'm pretty sure what the results will be.

[BassChump]

Yes, I figured on an older motor that it wouldn't have much of a charging system on it. Perhaps my best bet would be to just keep the trolling batteries charged. I can go about 10 hours of constant use before they both go down so that's good enough for me.

I ran them down once since I had the boat that that took 2 days of steady fishing.

Most of the lakes I'll be normally fishing are pretty small and I can get from the ramp to wherever I want to go within a few minutes so it probably wouldn't work in my application anyways.

I appreciate your knowledge on the subject and I thank you again for the advice.

[jim payne]

was told I was FOS.

No one used those words at all and I also never said to use the Stayncharge system because he doesn't need it. I was not trying to sell him our products at all. I was just stating the facts that you were making comments on units you have never tried and thought that was the end of it. There is not a Stayncharge unit that will charge a single trolling battery from a outboard. We only charge 24 or 36 from the outboards and I am sorry if I hurt anyone feelings because it was not my intent. The original question was about putting a switch in the boat and the answer was yes you can do that and see if the batteries are brought up from the outboard. We also don't sell switches. Good luck