inverter/charger question

[boatman37]

so starting to plan this springs upgrades. i was looking at installing a charger. i currently have a maintenance charger set under my back seat with the clips running down through the back of the engine cover. i was looking at a permanent install in the engine bay. looking at pro marine as they seem to be pretty common. i have a 1986 sundancer 250 with 2 batteries and an isolator. my boat does not have the switch panel for AC/DC. i just connect my shore power and my 110 works (only some lights, outlets, and fridge. everything else runs off of 12V.

so i had thought about installing an inverter/charger combo. can this be done? what kind of price tag am i looking at? is it worth it? we do not have air conditioning or generator. most of our trips are a few hours at most but hope to take a few all day trips this summer. from what i have seen it looks like an inverter/charger combo will run over $1000? i have budgeted about $300 max for the upgrade but can go a little higher if i can do this. my main reason for this is convenience. maybe we spend a weekend on the hook or something and we can charge cell phones or maybe have more lighting/LEDS, etc. i have a large generator in my garage that i rarely use but may decide to sell or trade it for a smaller unit to mount to my swim platform for these occasions.

so is it worth it? we boat on the ohio river near pittsburgh so are never very far from shore (not that that matters)

 

[bruceb58]

So what things are you planning on running on 110V when you are not connected to shore power?

 

[alldodge]

I don't see even $500 being able to do anything that an extra 12V battery wouldn't help. Your not going to be able to run a fridge for a weekend on one battery. Now if you want to charge cell phones and small items, get another battery and hook up in parallel to do this. Keep the fridge turned off for a weekend outing, get a good cooler.

LED's are good but keep lighting to a minimum and do some running to recharge every day

 

[boatman37]

thanks guys. mainly it would just be for charging phones, maybe some lights. more for the convenience and 'what-ifs' than anything else. thats why i want to limit what i spend. if it was a real necessity then i would raise the budget but don't want to overspend on something i may not ever use or need.

i doubt we would ever spend a whole weekend on the boat but who knows. we are still pretty new to this and haven't even spent a night on it yet.

so as far as a charger goes, any advice there? the portable one i have does a fine job but i would prefer to have something permanently mounted that is out of the way and not laying on the floor under my back seat. how involved is installing a 3rd battery? i am very good with a wrench but have never wired multiple batteries. will i need a different isolator?

 

[alldodge]

If you have only one engine and now generator, the just put a third battery in parallel to the house battery (neg to neg and pos to pos). So long as you have a 12V cigarette lighter plug, just pick up a 12V to USB plug in and then plug in your USB to the phone.

So far as chargers, I would recommend most any 3 stage charger. I use a Charles model, Guest and Pro Mariner now makes a good one and so does many others

 

[bruceb58]

thanks guys. mainly it would just be for charging phones, maybe some lights.

You don't need 110V to do that. There are plenty of USB chargers that run off of 12V.

The chargers will go directly to the batteries and will not go through the isolator.

 

[boatman37]

cool. i do have a single engine. and have a cigarette lighter on the dash but no idea if it works. but i can verify that and replace it if need be. good idea about the USB port. hadn't thought of that. a 3rd battery may be a good idea. both of my batteries are on the port side, along with my fresh water tank so the boat tends to lean a little to port. i had thought about moving the batteries to starboard but maybe installing a 3rd one i can put the 2 house on starboard and the starting on port to even the weight a little better

 

[bruceb58]

You can either buy a USB charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter or install a permanent one like these:
https://www.bluesea.com/search/results/usb

I have one of the USB chargers that plug into the cig lighter in all my cars.