What on board charger do I need

[TravisP32]

Hi, I'm looking to upgrade my on board charger. I have what i think is a 2 bank charger for two 12 volt batteries hooked up to 24 volts for a trolling motor. I added another deep cycle battery for stereo and electronics. I aslo have a 12 volt starting battery. I would like to charger the 3 deep cycle batteries and if possible the starting battery. Starting battery is not really a concern but would be nice. So basically I need to charge 3 batteries. One is just a 12 volt by its self and the other two are hooked up to 24 volts for a trolling motor. Can someone point me in the right direction to what I need. Thanks

 

[Silvertip]

Re: What on board charger do I need

Leave the existing 24 volt system as it is. The dual bank charger you have is just fine. You have a choice on the other two batteries. 1) buy another dual bank charger and use it to charge the other two batteries. or 2) buy one new single bank charger to take care of the added accessory battery. With all that excess power on the boat I would not be concerned about a dead starting battery. The engine is perfectly capable of keeping that one charged. The net result of this is you do not need to eliminate what you have. Just add to it. My personal solution to this same situation was to add a Schumaker 1.5 amp maintainer and a single output 6 amp charger for the accessory battery. The engine battery rarely required the maintainer to kick on. In option #1 above you would have two AC plugs to deal with but that is solved by adding a duplex outlet into which the two chargers can be connected. That duplex outlet can be fed from a one of the recessed AC connectors so you simply plug the extension cord into that receptacle and both get power. If you go with the maintainer, single output, and the existing dual bank you would have three cords to deal with. Again, add a quad outlet box.

 

[TravisP32]

Re: What on board charger do I need

Leave the existing 24 volt system as it is. The dual bank charger you have is just fine. You have a choice on the other two batteries. 1) buy another dual bank charger and use it to charge the other two batteries. or 2) buy one new single bank charger to take care of the added accessory battery. With all that excess power on the boat I would not be concerned about a dead starting battery. The engine is perfectly capable of keeping that one charged. The net result of this is you do not need to eliminate what you have. Just add to it. My personal solution to this same situation was to add a Schumaker 1.5 amp maintainer and a single output 6 amp charger for the accessory battery. The engine battery rarely required the maintainer to kick on. In option #1 above you would have two AC plugs to deal with but that is solved by adding a duplex outlet into which the two chargers can be connected. That duplex outlet can be fed from a one of the recessed AC connectors so you simply plug the extension cord into that receptacle and both get power. If you go with the maintainer, single output, and the existing dual bank you would have three cords to deal with. Again, add a quad outlet box.

Thanks. I didn't think of adding a single one. I wasn't to worried about the starting battery anyway. I'll check into a single. Thanks