ONBOARD BATTERY CHARGERS

[kkallo]

I am looking to purchase an onboard battery charger for my 2 battery (parallel) trolling motor set up. I pretty well narrowed it down to either the Dual Pro Se or a Minn Kota smart charger. Is any one out there has one or heard of one, and how they perform. I am open for any suggestion. <br />Also on the same note, can I charge two batteries in parallel with a dual output charger, without removing the jumper between the batteries. <br /><br />Any help is greatly appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks in advance.

 

[OBJ]

Re: ONBOARD BATTERY CHARGERS

Hi kkallo.....I use a Guest charger in my rig. It charges my trolling motor batt's which are in parallel. Most of your better chargers will do this. I havn't heard a lot yet about the MinnKota chargers. <br /><br />Check out iboats store. They have tons of chargers there. All price ranges.<br /><br />PS...while looking at charges in iboats, push the detail button. Gives you the low down on the charger your looking at.

 

[kkallo]

Re: ONBOARD BATTERY CHARGERS

Thanks for the response OutboardJim.<br /><br />Yea, I heard about the guest chargers, they are one of the better ones as well. Does your charger have two outputs that are hooked up to each battery ? Do you remove the cables between the batteries while you're charging ?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[18rabbit]

Re: ONBOARD BATTERY CHARGERS

You can charge the batteries in the same configuration they were discharged. No need to remove interconnecting cabling. If your batteries are not isolated from each other you do not need a charging source for each battery. You can charge both batteries in parallel with a single charging source.<br /><br />Ideally, your charging source should be not less than 25%, nor more than about 40% of your batteries’ A/Hr capacity. If charging your batteries individually, each charging source should be within that range for each battery. If charging in parallel, the charging source should be in that range for the total combined capacity of all the batteries in the bank. This is “ideal” but lower charging amps can be used…down to about 2% of the A/Hrs, at which point you are merely maintaining a ‘float’ charge.<br /><br />With the Guest charger you can combine both outputs of a 2-battery charger into a single charging source that will allow charging of both batteries in parallel. This is what i do.

 

[kkallo]

Re: ONBOARD BATTERY CHARGERS

Thanks for the great info 18rabbit. Sounds like you are well seasoned on the topic.

 

[Boatman269]

Re: ONBOARD BATTERY CHARGERS

I just bought a 1972 Evinrude 40 HP manual start motor. Is there any way to hook up a charging system to my battery so I can run everything while boating?