What kind of battery?

johnsonjam02

johnsonjam02

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
35
1985 Champion Super V 175hp Merc.
There is space for three batteries. I use two.
I just had to replace the trolling motor battery. I don't use it much so I just got a cheap one that says marine.
The main battery is suddenly bad. I might have messed up charging it. I am not allowed to have my boat parked where I live for more than 4 hours. I only have 1 battery charger. I use the main battery alot. I fish at night and use lights, livewells, radio, and fish finder.
My battery charger is a big Napa thing. Here are the options on the battery charger off, 12v 2amp, 12v 40 amp, 12v 60 amp. The last option also says 12v 200 amp. On the higher settings it says that it charges a little then stops and starts again.
There is a meter that says D. C. Amperes.
What kind of battery do I buy? I need it to work with my charger. I need it to power alot of stuff for a long time. I need it to charge quick.
What settings do I use to charge it with my charger?
Can I charge both batteries at a time if I hook them together with jumper cables?
How do I read the DC Amperes Meter? When I put the battery on 12 v 2 amp the meter always stays on about 20.
I am trying to take good care of this boat and make sure that my family stays safe on it so please don't consider my question stupid.
 
River_Lizard

River_Lizard

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 17, 2012
Messages
378
Re: What kind of battery?

If it was me here's what i would do (by the way, I catfish and fish alot at night also)

I would purchase a selector switch that has (A, B and both) and wire your batteries to it. A. Engine only B. Everything else when your engine is shut off.

Here's why. A. Battery would never have to be charged since the OB would be able to charge it. B. Would have to be charged but quick charges on Deep cycle batteries are not the best method, where trickle charging is better (lower amp such as 2 amp)
And since you can't charge for more than 4 hrs, I would recommend looking into a solar panel that could be plugged into the deep cycle (that is, if you store the boat some place outside) and just let the monitoring box (can be purchased with solar panel) monitor the charge for the deep cycle. Once it reaches full charge the box will shut down sending current to the battery unless it's needed again.

If for some reason Battery A fails and you need to start the engine to get back to the dock, you can switch to B to start your engine. If for some reason B is low also, you could switch to A & B and hope between both batteries you have enough juice to get the OB started.

When I am fishing at night I'm usually on the main river channel where ships and barges run at all times of the night, I can't afford to be without a cranking battery when I need it. That's why I run all my Nav. lights, lights on the pontoon, depth finder, VHF, Spotlight, etc... on my second deep cycle whenever I don't have my main engine running. It's just a quick flip of the switch and gives me the peace of mind that I'll have juice when or if i need to move out of the way of oncoming barge or ship traffic.
But this is just my opinion/suggestion, I'm sure others will post up other options that you could do also.
 
johnsonjam02

johnsonjam02

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
35
Re: What kind of battery?

The switch is a great idea. I always figured if one battery went dead in the water I would trade them places. Now that I am rethinking it that is a bad idea. What would normally be easy while the boat is on the trailer would be very hard trying to do in the water in who knows what conditions.
 
kmarine

kmarine

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
591
Re: What kind of battery?

With your circumstances I recomend removing the batteries from the boat when in storage and charging them overnight or keeping them on a maintainer when in storage. You could probably leave one in the boat and carry spare batteries. I would definately instal a battery switch if you dont have one already. You may consider a spiral type battery (optima) or an extrime battery if you store for long periods of time. They have a longer reserve in an inactive state than a regular marine lead acid type battery.
 
N

NMShooter

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Messages
196
Re: What kind of battery?

X2 for Kmarine's post.

Pull the batteries out and keep them with you to treat them right.

If you try and completely charge a deep cycle battery very quickly every time, you will ruin it. If you are charging quickly, and you over-charge the battery because you are not there to monitor the charge level, you will ruin it. If you leave it for extended periods of time without charging, you will ruin it.

Take your batteries out of the boat. Buy a $5 hydrometer and learn how to use it to monitor the charge. When back from your trips, put the charger on 10A and monitor your charge once an hour. After awhile you will get a feel for how long the charge will take. Also buy a battery tender to keep a float charge on your batteries.

A small solar panel is not a bad idea... but you can overcharge your batteries with that too. Always use a charger designed as a float charger if you are going to leave it attached to your battery long term.
 
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