On board charger

[SweeperForce]

Hello,
I got a bit of a confusions about charger the get rechaged from the moter. The reason I am only running one battery is someone on here told me the my Force 150 may not be able to charge 2 batteries. However I don't want to be stranded so I want to buy a charger the hooks up to you battery permamently. The charger has an internal battery the will jump you battery if it dies. Will my OB be able to charge both my main batt and the charger?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Silvertip]

Re: On board charger

Whoa back. You are talking about three different things here. 1) If you DO NOT have a trolling motor on your boat, your engine will indeed be able to keep two batteries topped off but you would need to add an ACR (automatic charge relay) or a dual battery switch. You then would have accessories hooked to the house battery and your start battery would be for starting only. A dual battery switch would also let you COMBINE both batteries or to select BAT 1 or BAT 2 for starting purposes. 2) An on-board charger is nothing more than a battery charger that is permanently mounted in the boat. It has a standard AC power cord attached to it and the only time it charges batteries is when it is plugged into standard 120 volts AC at the dock. 3) You can also use a jump start unit which is typically a small battery installed in a portable case with jumper cables attached. Those units come with a cigarette lighter adapter that lets you charge them from that source. The instructions however typically state that this is not the preferred method for charging. This is strictly an emergency jump start box. Unless that unit is kept fully charged they are worthless. Some even have a small air compressor built into them.

 

[lncoop]

Re: On board charger

I'm not sure I understand the question, but if you're planning to install an onboard charger you're on the right track. They're very easy to install and they work great. Be sure to buy one that has two charging banks, hook it to both batteries and always plug it back in when you get home from the water. That way you won't be stranded as a result of dead batteries as long as the batteries themselves don't have any issues. In any case, you probably shouldn't be relying solely on your outboard to recharge them. Good luck!