Hooking up on-board battery charger

[sabbett4]

Heres what I have:
I have my main electronics (starter, bilge, etc.) all hooked up to one battery--12-volt. Then I have two other batteries that are hooked up to a 24-volt system for my trolling motor. I also have a fish finder/GPS and an anchor hooked up to the 24-volt system--positive on one battery, negative on the other for all three things: trolling motor, anchor, and fish finder. Now, if I want to hook up an on-board charger, which I have (Bass Pro Shops-3 bank, 5-5-5 amp), do I hook positive and negative to all three INDIVIDUAL batteries and leave everything else the same? Any help would be appreciative, because I'm by no means an electrician, and I don't want to blow up my boat. The directions were unclear of this procedure.
Thanks

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

The charger should be hooked to all three batteries as you suggested. Positive and Negative from each charger output to Positive and Negative on each of the three batteries. You essentially have three individual chargers mounted in a single package.

 

[vipzach]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

The charger should be hooked to all three batteries as you suggested. Positive and Negative from each charger output to Positive and Negative on each of the three batteries. You essentially have three individual chargers mounted in a single package.

Won't that cause problems unless his charger is capable of a 24v charge, because of the wire that runs between the pos and the neg?

I would have thought that he should either use two of the charging banks and only hooked up to the pos/neg on one battery and then pos/neg on the seperate battery or removed the wire that completed the series connection and then hooked up like you described.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

Connecting each pair of outputs directly to each battery is not a problem in a 24V or 36V series system IF the charger has isolated outputs. Many older chargers had common grounds on the outputs and therefore would create sparks as you indicate. Newer chargers are designed to connect directly to 12, 24, or 36 v systems. Outputs can also be paralleled or series connected just like the batteries. Very versatile.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

The charger should be hooked to all three batteries as you suggested. Positive and Negative from each charger output to Positive and Negative on each of the three batteries. You essentially have three individual chargers mounted in a single package.

Won't that cause problems unless his charger is capable of a 24v charge, because of the wire that runs between the pos and the neg?

I would have thought that he should either use two of the charging banks and only hooked up to the pos/neg on one battery and then pos/neg on the seperate battery or removed the wire that completed the series connection and then hooked up like you described.

That is the correct way to hook up the charger but it does sound like he has his fish finder and anchor hooked to 24V. They should just go to one of the batteries.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

I think he's ok with the accessories. Sounds like everything is on one battery. If it is indeed on 24V it wont take long to prove it.

 

[vipzach]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

Thanks for the clarification silvertip! 8)

 

[sabbett4]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

Thanks everyone for the input; it sounds like I need to hook all remaining 12-volt items to one battery, and just have my trolling motor hooked up to the 24-volt system. In doing that, it sounds like I can hook my charger up to the pos/neg of each individual battery.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Hooking up on-board battery charger

Hook your 12V accessories to the battery that has the negative lead from the trolling motor connected to it. This provides a common ground point for the electronics and will lessen the chance of interference from the motor.