Creative ways to charge your boat without shore power

[stk44]

I camp often in the spring- fall, and would like to bring my boat for more than a 1-day fishing trip. The issue is that I cannot fit, nor am I allowed to keep my boat on-site with my camper to charge the boat. I am forced to keep my boat in overflow which has no shore power access. I would prefer to keep a cover on my boat, but security is not really a major concern (albeit I’m not one to take chances). I’d prefer not to get a generator, but I would consider one if that’s my best option. Does anyone have any creative ideas for charging my boat? 

[Jig Man]

Generator or big lithiums is all I can come up with.

[looking45]

Take the batteries with you to camp and connect them to a charger overnight

[A-Jay]

1 minute ago, looking45 said:

Take the batteries with you to camp and connect them to a charger overnight

Better yet, have a second set of betteries. Fish one set while charging the other. 

Btw all of that sounds like a PIA.  Maybe change to a more accomandating camp ground to start with.

A-Jay

[gim]

9 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Btw all of that sounds like a PIA. 

You beat me to it.

 

Changing out lithium batteries might not be so bad.  But changing out heavier lead acid or AGMs would be a major pain in the rear.

[12poundbass]

 

Mouse power to recharge it

[stk44]

1 hour ago, Jig Man said:

Generator or big lithiums is all I can come up with.

I’ll probably go this route after I burn up these Lead acid batteries 

1 hour ago, looking45 said:

Take the batteries with you to camp and connect them to a charger overnight

I guess that would be simple enough but the overall process kind of a pain. I’ll keep this one in my mind as I think about it. Thanks! 

[stk44]

50 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

 

Mouse power to recharge it

Maybe my two kids can operate a more industrial-sized one? 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Better yet, have a second set of betteries. Fish one set while charging the other. 

Btw all of that sounds like a PIA.  Maybe change to a more accomandating camp ground to start with.

A-Jay

That’s another good idea. Still will be a PITA, but maybe I can at least do this for my trolling motor batteries. I’ll have to keep my eyes opened for a different campground. It’s a trade off between city-like camping, high costs, and stupid rules. 

[padlin]

It can take a long time to charge batteries on a generator, at least ones small enough to lift into a boat.

[slonezp]

Spare batteries or a Honda generator. Quiet and low emissions. .

[TnRiver46]

Solar 

 

(And an anchor in case it’s not too sunny out)

 

some folks have it rigged where the engine alternator charges the the trolling battery. 

[stk44]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Solar 

 

(And an anchor in case it’s not too sunny out)

 

some folks have it rigged where the engine alternator charges the the trolling battery. 

Any ideas on what type of solar setup? I considered this and watched a few videos on it previously but wanted to jump out of the window a few minutes in. 

[padlin]

I don't know how feasible solar would be on a bass boat. You'd need to figure how much power you use in a day, then see if you have room for enough panel to generate that.

 

An example. A 100 watt panel is 42" x 21" and generates about 5 amps in an hour, depensing on weather, season, and time of day. Might get up to 30 amps a day. If you burn just 50 amps, you'd need 2 panels, etc. Got room?

[WRB]

Small quite 2000 generator is your most reliable option.

Harbor Freight offer the Predator 2000 $700 and Honda 2000 is $1000. If you have onboard chargers just plug in the generator, if not switch to DC with jumper cables and run it a few hours.

Tom

 

[stk44]

26 minutes ago, WRB said:

Small quite 2000 generator is your most reliable option.

Harbor Freight offer the Predator 2000 $700 and Honda 2000 is $1000. If you have onboard chargers just plug in the generator, if not switch to DC with jumper cables and run it a few hours.

Tom

 

Do you think this would be enough to fully charge my batteries after a practice day before a tournament? 

[TnRiver46]

I use a couple little solar panels I got from academy for $35, they will charge one some but not if she’s dead. Seems like I put my voltimeter on the cord coming out of it and got like .43 volts. I have 12v troller so not tons of power. I charge my batteries at home with a 1 amp charger/maintainer so I’m not exactly charging a spaceship computer with my basic setup 

 

 

works a lot better plugged into an outlet but clearly that’s not an option. Definitely wouldn’t use solar for a tournament 

[padlin]

You need to figure out battery level at the end of an average day as well as the capacity of the batteries to determine how long it’d take to recharge from any source.
 

 

[stk44]

1 hour ago, padlin said:

You need to figure out battery level at the end of an average day as well as the capacity of the batteries to determine how long it’d take to recharge from any source.
 

 

Does this make a difference if I have a 3 bank charger? I believe it’s a 30 amp charger and have a 24 v system for my trolling motor. 

[GaryH]

10 hours ago, stk44 said:

Do you think this would be enough to fully charge my batteries after a practice day before a tournament? 

Steve if your going to be fishing tournaments I see your only options would be to either get extra set of batteries for the trolling  motor (Lithium) or use a generator. You don’t want to be thinking about saving battery life while fishing in a tournament. 

[Tennessee Boy]

There’s some bad electrical engineering happening on this thread.  You probably need at least 500 watts of power to run your charger.  5 solar panels might get you 500 watts on a sunny day for maybe 4 hours.  That’s not a good option.  You need a 500 watt generator or you need to pull the batteries out and charge them.  If it’s a major pain to pull the batteries,  you could use a couple of extra batteries and a 500 watt inverter to power your charger. This would be enough to put a significant charge on the batteries but would not be enough to fully charge depleted batteries.  Any gas generator should give you enough power to charge your batteries.
 

There’s just not an easy solution to your problem.

[TnRiver46]

Anchor and drift and paddle 😂 

 

you’d have to dominate the tournament trail to warrant the cost of a generator 

[stk44]

14 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Anchor and drift and paddle 😂 

 

you’d have to dominate the tournament trail to warrant the cost of a generator 

I already cashed 4 “checks” this year. I think somewhere around $300 total. That justifies the “boat investment” and generator, right? 

31 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

There’s some bad electrical engineering happening on this thread.  You probably need at least 500 watts of power to run your charger.  5 solar panels might get you 500 watts on a sunny day for maybe 4 hours.  That’s not a good option.  You need a 500 watt generator or you need to pull the batteries out and charge them.  If it’s a major pain to pull the batteries,  you could use a couple of extra batteries and a 500 watt inverter to power your charger. This would be enough to put a significant charge on the batteries but would not be enough to fully charge depleted batteries.  Any gas generator should give you enough power to charge your batteries.
 

There’s just not an easy solution to your problem.

If I buy the generator like @WRB recommended, it seems like that will be the best option. Thoughts?

 

I dont want to waste money, but I won’t lose sleep over a $1k generator if it allows me to fish more and get more enjoyment out of fishing from camp. 

[Tennessee Boy]

15 minutes ago, stk44 said:

If I buy the generator like @WRB recommended, it seems like that will be the best option. Thoughts

I agree.  A small generator would give you plenty of power to run your onboard charger.  They weigh about 50 pounds which is much easier to deal with than two 90 pound batteries.

[gim]

I'd recommend a quiet version for a generator.  Nothing worse than someone running a loud engine all night when everyone else in the vicinity is trying to sleep.  The Honda ones are very quiet.  Make sure you keep an eye on it too.  People love to steal them.

[stk44]

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I'd recommend a quiet version for a generator.  Nothing worse than someone running a loud engine all night when everyone else in the vicinity is trying to sleep.  The Honda ones are very quiet.  Make sure you keep an eye on it too.  People love to steal them.

Agreed. My intent would be to shut it off before quiet hours.