Opinions on onboard charger/wiring setup

[takirb]

I have a 3 bank onboard charger that came with the boat, along with a cranking battery and 2 trolling batteries. I cleaned up the wiring mess from previous owners last night, and was able to fit in a deep cycle battery for my accessories (lights, pumps, radio, etc), leaving me with 4 batteries total now. Would it be better to wire the trollers in parallel, and use just 1 bank of the charger to charge them both, leaving the other 2 banks for the starting and deep cycle? Or should i just purchase another single bank onboard charger for the deep cycle?

If i wire the trollers in parallel, will that affect the 12/24 volt function of the trolling setup?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Opinions on onboard charger/wiring setup

A 12/24 motor requires that the batteries for the troller be wired in SERIES -- not PARALLEL. Parallel wiring delivers only 12 volts while series provides 24 volts. So NO! Do not wire the troller batteries in parallel as you defeat the purpose of having a 24 volt motor. You therefore need two of the three banks just to charge the troller batteries (connect one output to each battery). Use the third output to charge the deep cycle. Since there is nothing on the starting battery except the gauges, you really don't a separate charger on it as the engine is perfectly capable of keeping that one topped off. Add a maintainer to that battery if you feel one is necessary.