charging battery from 71 rude

[bissinger]

heres the scenario. i finally got a deep cycle battery to go along with the starting battery that i've been running my accesories off of. i ran it like that a couple times for about 4 hours at a clip just off the starting battery and had no issues but i figured it would be the right thing to do to get a deep cycle. im still a little worried about the motor charging the battery and relying on it so how can i test that the battery is charging when the motor is running. when i did run the battery however, the boat started right up becuase we were running a tube so it was frequent that we turned it on and off.

 

[F_R]

Re: charging battery from 71 rude

Two worthwhile accessories that will tell you if the battery is charging are a tachometer and a voltage guage. A tach gets it's signal from the alternator and if the alternator quits, so does the tach. A voltage guage shows the actual battery voltage. The voltage of a battery being charged is higher than one at rest or being discharged.

 

[steelespike]

Re: charging battery from 71 rude

Measure the voltage at the battery with the motor running at 1,500 to 2,000 rpm.Should be about 14+ volts.Motor doesn't put out a whole lot of amperage
So depending on how much you are running and for how long.It will take some time to recharge it.A fully charged battery should be over 13 volts.
You can tell where you are at at the end of the day by checking the voltage before and after the days use.let the battery settle for about an hour before the final check.