24V system charging

[kenh1010]

This may be a dumb question but here goes.<br />I have a on board battery charger that can charge<br />three batteries. I have three batteries, two of<br />witch are hooked together for a 24v trolling motor. Is it ok to hook up the charger to the two<br />that are hooked up together? Im worried that putting the charger on the positive of one battery<br />that is hooked to the negitive of the other will<br />be like crossing the terminals. Thanks, Ken

 

[petryshyn]

Re: 24V system charging

Is this a specialized charger, or just a "off the shelf" 12V unit?

 

[btwitche]

Re: 24V system charging

If you have the two batteries wired in series you will be able to connect a 12 volt charger to one of the batteries without affecting or conflicting with the other; however, you will be charging only the battery which the charger is connected to. If you have a 24 volt charger and the batteries are wired in series you can connect the charger to the outer two terminals of the series pair (one positive and one neg) to achieve a simultaneous charge. Also you can avoid the 24 volt charger all together and temporarily wire the two batteries in parallel and therfore connect the charger in parallel to achive a simultaneous charge(the charger will behave as if it was charging a larger battery). Note: these techniques may not work if you have a voltage isolator or series parellel mode switching box wired to/between the batteries. These devices contain diodes which may behave unpredictibly when a charger is connected.