Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

[captaindale]

I have a dual battery set up on a very nice used boat that I purchased recently. It is set up with a battery switch for choosing battery #1,#2, and both; I need advice for from my very good friends on the iforum that have been so patient with me in the past on other questions. I have heard that a charger could used to maintain the batteries to keep them in good condition when my boat is not used every weekend or whatever.

I would like to know what chargers are reputable and safe to use that provide the proper support for maintaning the batterys. I was told that I could put the setting on "both" and the charger would pass through one and also charge the other at the same time. I have seen the type that look like a box that is screwed to the inside of the boat but I would like for it to be portable and be capable of taking it out of the boat when it has done its job. Battery #1 is set up to be only for cranking my Suzuki 150 and the battery #2 is designated for my bilge pump. They are both Interstate batterys.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

I have been very impressed with my Schumacher Brand Charger.

Fast, Normal, and Slow Charging. Computer Based.
Switches to Maintainer Mode when Charging is complete.
Available nearly everywhere, and only ~$50.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

I like the Husky charger I bought at Home Depot 3-4 years ago. It has a 'desulfate' function, battery selector (Lead-Acid, Gel, AGM), multiple charging amperage selection, and cost $59.00. It shuts off completely when the battery is full and will kick back on again if voltage drops. Here's a link to my original thread when I bought it. If it isn't still available, it'll give you an idea of what features to look for:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=240684

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

Are the batteries identical? If they aren't, I'd caution against charging them both on the same circuit... You can boil off a battery that way. A better solution is to get a charger with multiple banks. They are meant for your exact situation.

http://www.iboats.com/Bank-Battery-...9614087--session_id.291130763--view_id.190971

 

[coreybv]

Re: Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

Are the batteries identical? If they aren't, I'd caution against charging them both on the same circuit... You can boil off a battery that way. A better solution is to get a charger with multiple banks.

Seconded. I learned this the hard/expensive way.

 

[captaindale]

Re: Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

Yes they are identical...they are both Interstate Batteries and both are the same size.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Seeking Battery Charger Opinions

There's a couple of choices. I've run both Guest and Pro Mariner onboard chargers and they're nice but the one thing they lack is portability. I now use a Shumacher 80 amp digital charger and it will do the AGM and Gel Cells along with the standard batteries. I think I paid 125.00 for it and it's a nice little compact charger. Charging rate is 20/10/5 and if you leave it on the battery it will pull off the surface charge and float charge the battery as long as remains connected. What I really like about it is that it also has a feature for testing your alternator and it not only shows battery voltage but also charge percentage which it determines from a series of test it does on the battery when it's first connected. That's pretty handy because I know I'm going out with batteries at 100% charge and not 80%.