battery tender

[firehog6305]

ok folks, I have a question for ya, I have a cabin crusier that has two 305 motors, they are not in a dog house, but in their own egine compartment under the back deck, I have 3-batteries (1-seperate and 2-wired together) now the battery charger (tender) that I purchased, says to make sure area of charging is (well ventilated) my question in: under the floor with the fiberglass doors, and carpet down, is that vented enough??? I really dont want to have to leave the doors up! what are your thoughts????

 

[Silvertip]

Re: battery tender

First question: Is the battery tender a sealed unit? If it's not, it does not belong in an enclosed area or even on the boat since its not marine rated. Although I doubt the tender has enough output to really "gas" the batteries, it is still a good idea to provide as much ventilation as possible as this is an explosive situation. My starting and trolling motor battery hatches are always up when the on-board charger is active.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: battery tender

What about running the engine compartment fans while charging? One could wire up a simple relay to turn them on when the on-board charger is working.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: battery tender

The fans will draw more power than the battery "tender" outputs. Sort of defeats the purpose.

 

[QuadManiac]

Re: battery tender

It's their way of avoiding responsibility if you blow up your boat. They know that charging batteries generates hydrogen... and if that hydrogen (generated through the use of their charger) collects and explodes they are likely to be sued. Ergo the warning. Now they're covered.

 

[PondTunes]

Re: battery tender

The fans will draw more power than the battery "tender" outputs. Sort of defeats the purpose.

Bleh filthy high draw fans
As long as he's connected to shore power guess he could run the fans off a 120v inverter. How many CFM are these fans normally rated? I'm sure there is a low draw fan that would do the trick.

 

[Kymasabe]

Re: battery tender

All you need is minimal air movement to vent the area. There are some high speed, low draw fans available for the computer market. Can be easily wired and should move enough air to keep the area vented.

 

[firehog6305]

Re: battery tender

well thanks for the info guys, yes its a closed unit, there is enough wire to put it somwhere else to, so I will wire it up outside the bilge arae thanks

 

[Silvertip]

Re: battery tender

If the battery tender is a sealed unit it is not a problem and can be installed close to the battery. It's the gas given off by the battery that's the issue. Moving the tender doesn't solve that problem.