Best Three Bank Charger

[tennwalkinghorse]

Hey guys looking to buy a three bank charger for my 14feet fully decked Jon Boat. I have a Minn Kota 55lb on the bow and a 30lb Minn Kota on the transom. I fish about three times a week. I have two brand new type 27 deep cycle batteries and a type 24 auto battery to run accessories on. Most all the lakes around me are electric only. Let me know the Pros and Cons any and all input will be appreciated.

Thanks

[thetr20one]

I have had Dual pro three bank pros in my last two boats and have never had any problems.

[Wayne P.]

I just installed a 3 bank Dual Pro in my boat and based the brand decision on two factors.

#1-It has the smallest foot print of any comparable brand.

#2-It is in just about every bass boat that I have been in.

[Way2slow]

The ONE YOU BUY.

Another "The Best" poles. If you realy think about it, there is no such thing.

Everybody likes to think they bought the best, and probably is for what they wanted when you look at the price and their needs.

You're gonna have those that think the Dual Pro, MinnKotta, Guest and so on. While they are all good chargers, they are still old technology.

Then you're going to have the more informed that like the ProMariner Pro Tournament 300. I'm one of those. Yep, gonna get slammed by the Dual Pro guys but hey, won't be the first or last time. I took a Dual Pro two bank out five years ago when I upgraded to the PT-300 and it beats the Dual Pro in every way you can think to compare them. Unless you want to compare which one takes the longest, then the Dual Pro wins, hands down.

Then you're going to have those that go for the Stealth but it has limited versatility and is not a three bank.

Oh, I guess I should mention one plus for the Dual Pro is it is Made In the USA and the PM PT300 is made in China.  

As for customer support, I wouldn't rate one any better than the other, they are both great.  I've had a Dual Pro go bad and had another the next day.  I've had a PM go bad and same thing, I had another the next day.  Both with no questions asked.

[Wayne P.]

Way2slow, when charger shopping, I considered the Pro Mariner like you got, but the physical size was too large. There was another spec that the charger has that eliminated it even more. The possibility of a charge rate of 30A for one battery if the other two are fully charged. I did some research about proper battery charging that changed my thought of the proper size charger-  From the Exide web site:

All batteries should be recharged as soon as possible following a discharge with a constant voltage charger. However, to recharge in the shortest period of time, raise the charging voltage to 14.40 volts for a 12 volt battery (2.40 volts per cell for series strings of batteries). The charger should incorporate a current limit feature. The maximum recommended charging current for the battery is shown below:

Model

Current (Amps)

12V U1 4.5 A

12V Group 22NF  6.0 A

12V Group 24 8.0 A

12V Group 27 10.5 A

12V Group 31 13.5 A

[thetr20one]

Wayne I have the three bank pro which is 15 amps per bank. Will that have any affect on battery life? I usually replace batteries every 3 years or so .

[Way2slow]

Ok, lets get technical.

First off, if you did happen to someway have a totally dead battery connected with two fully charged batteries, it would only charge at the 30 amp rate during the fast charge phase of the charge cycle until it reached 14.6 volts, the absortion phase. While not the greatest thing for the battery there is no significant damage to the battery, because a battery can be charged much harder during the intial fast charge phase, it just has to be reduced when it reaches 80% charge. Once it reached 14.6 volts, it only charges at a rate to maintain 14.6 volts so  the closer the battery gets to full charge, the current is going to be reduced because it internal resisantance to the charger is going to be much higher.

As for your point about Exide recommending 14.4 volts, that's one of the few I've seen using 14.4 for flooded cell batteries. Most recommend 14.6 and 14.6 is the average. Trojan actually recommends 14.8 volts.

As for charge rates, the industry standard is 10% of the 20 hour amp hour capacity, so if it's a 130 Ah battery @ 20hr rate, it will charge at 13 amps.

Show me where any Dual Pro charger is current limiting other than to it's max rated capacity so a 15 amp bank knows to only charge a 80 Ah group 24 at 8 amps. Actually any onboard charger built as far as that goes.

Now, what about the battery maintenance mode. The recommended is a float voltage of 13.2 - 13.6 volts, depending on whose battery you are looking at. Unless Dual Pro has made changes I don't know about, (I haven't used one in a few years and they don't readily advertise theirs), that ain't gonna happen. The last I know of, theirs cuts off and turns back on when the battery reaches a certain discharged state. Sorry, but that's not what I want.

Oh, and physical size. I'm sorry but not sure about that one either. I don't have the specs by I don't think my PT 300 has any larger of a foot print than a Dual Pro three bank Pro model and is only about three inches high, weighs less than 10 pounds and can be mounted sidewasy on a side panel, well out of the way. Do that with a Dual Pro.

I looked up the specs. PT 300 is 3" lower, 3/8" longer, 1" wider and 12 pounds lighter.

[Wayne P.]

thetr200ne, I got the 3-bank 10A per bank size due to the battery mfg recommendation and I use group 27 batteries with around 110  Amp/Hour rating. I have no opinion on the charge rate as I trust the recommendation of a company that makes batteries. I have five group 27 deep cycle batteries in my boat, three for the 36V trolling motor and the other two for two 12V trolling motors. There may be around 6 to 8 square inches of open floor space under my rear deck left over on a Tracker PT170TX.

Way2slow, my choice was based primarily on the foot print (the space it takes up on the mounting surface) and secondarily on the per bank output that was closest to the battery mfg recommendation. I didn't feel it was necessary to check every battery mfg to see what their recommendations were. The Dual Pro has three separate and independent chargers in one cabinet. If one fails, it can be repaired independently.

All of the technical stuff was inconsequential to the space I had.

I also like the pretty red and green lights.

Pages 474 and 475 of the Bass Pro Shops 2009 Master Catalog has the dimensions of 4 brands of chargers.

The only other mfg of chargers I considered was Quest and that was too big also.

My previous on-board charger was two bank called a Mighty Mite and it served well for 15+ years and may be still working fine on a boat I used to have.

Having a charger that will (a Pro Mariner quote) "charge your batteries 2 to 3 times faster than leading traditional chargers" is not necessarily a good thing for deep cycle batteries. Maybe that is why the others are "leading".

[jdw174]

My boat is now 11 years old, bought brand new with a Dual Pro 3-bank installed.  That charger has run 24/7 for all these years and still continues to work like when it was new.  If it ever goes sour, another just like it will go in the boat.

[jimmieO]

Don't have a 3 bank, but my 2 bank minnkota has been through about all you can put a charger through and held up fine.

[thetr20one]

I have 3 Trojan batteries (2 for my TM and one cranking) and my charger stays plugged in until ready to head out. When winter rolls around the batteries go in the basement with and the charger goes along to keep them charged. Yes the Dual Pros do have a float mode that is the reason I leave them plugged in always. Really how fast do you need to charge your batteries Way2slow?  With fully discharged batteries or very run down they are usually ready to go in 5-7 hours if not less. I am not arguing your point as I am not a electrician or electronically minded I am just saying my chargers have been very good to me and would buy the same one if mine ever failed. They are a bit heavy but like Wayne says they are compact.

[Way2slow]

Hey, I know the Dual Pro is a good charger, never said it wasn't. I said I like the PT 300. The newer Dual Pro, Pro series 3 bank charger with 15 amps per bank is the only charger they make that even begins to compare. I don't like their technology, I wouldn't have one of those cheaper Sportsman series charger but with most mindsets, that's probably the "Best" charger going for many of ya'll.

I also said there is really no such thing as a "best" charger, the best charger is the charger that meets the person needs, at the price they want to pay. Almost everybody buys what they think is the "Best" and usually is for them.

Don't get you pannies in a bunch just because I don't think the Dual Pro is the best and gave the reason why. I thought that was the reason for the pole.

As for how fast do I need to charge my batteries, I guess a whole lot quicker than you. You see, when I go fishing for the weekend, I go fishing. During the winter, chasing schooling largemouths, hybrids and stripers I may be running my motor on high for hours. When we stop, it's only for a few hours and back on the lake that afternoon. When the water starts to warm and the night bite comes in, it's a 100 mile drive to the lake and I get to their close to dark on friday, fish sometimes to 2 - 3 AM, and if the bite is good may fish all night. We get a few hours sleep (if we didn't fish all night) and back on the water by day break and fish til 2 - 3 PM, get a little rest and back on the water a couple of hours before dark and fish into the night again. When fishing at nite, there a lots of times my trolling motor rarely quits running. When we take breaks it's usually no more than four or five hours from the time we are off the lake til we are back on it so I want a charger that can fully charge my batteries during the breaks. I have come in many times when the TM batteries were down to 30% and fully charged when I leave four hours later heading back to the ramp.

Now, other than the DP Pro 45 amp model, tell me another charger you think will keep my batteries charged and as I said, I didn't want their way of battery maintenance or the extra 12 pounds and I don't have the room to mount their charger flat on the floor in the battery compartment. Mine mounts on the side real nicely.

Also, before anyone starts on charging the battery TOO FAST, learn something about batteries so you know what you're talking about and not what you think. I can assure you, if you think it's damaging batteries discharged to 30% to charge them in 3 - 3 1/2 hours you don't know. Yea, the discharging to 30% reduces the cycle count but not the charging.

I do know a little bit about batteries and chargers. A couple of years ago I got into on of these "discussions" with someone that thought they knew. I had a friend of mine that happens to also know a little about batteries post on here to clear up a lot of miss information that was being posted. That friend also happened to be Chief Engineer for one of the battery manufactors.

[George Welcome]

My experience puts Guest at the top of the list of performance.

[TommyBass]

Its just another ford chevy argument really.  I personally had a dual pro that didn't work that great for me... banks kept going in and out etc.  The unit was over 5 yrs old when I finally decieded to get another one.  I called dual pro and complained slightly and they gave me a $100 credit toward a new one... AND said I could keep the old one.  It had one good bank left so I just gave it to my dad for his speed boat.  I got one of the new 45 amp (3 bank x 15 amps) pro series and it works like a charm.  Will charge the batteries in very little time and keeps them floating when standing by. The unit is a little bulky, but in most boats, mounting something dosn't become an issue of an inch or so... so I see that as a very insignificant issue.  My biggest problem with it is just it weighs quite a bit.  I think it weighs 22lbs or somtehing... but again, if your concerned that a 10lb weight difference is going to sink your boat or something... than I would look a little harder into adding one if the first place.  Ive heard good and bad things about all of the other brands too... all it takes is a simple look up of the reviews on BPS or Cabelas or wherever.  To each his own.