Battery Charging Ideas

[Gamonman]

I'm new to all of this and I'm wanting to know how to keep a charge on a trolling motor battery. <br /><br /> -Is there a way to charge it off of the outboard motor?<br /><br /> -How long will can you use a trolling motor on average before the battery runs out?<br /><br /> -Does anyone ever wire the battery to be charged by the towing vehicle while in transit?<br /><br /> I'm just afraid of running out of juice, I guess, and ruining the fun. Plus it would be nice to not worry about charging it when I get home. Thanks for any help.

 

[JB]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

Howdy, Gamonman.<br /><br />Welcome to iboats. <br /><br />- Yes, if the motor has an alternator. What engine do you have?<br /><br />- As long as it takes your troller to use up the amp-hours of your battery. What troller and what battery do you have?<br /><br />- Yes, some people wire the trailer harness to charge the boat battery while under tow.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

check out raystackle.com, they have a system for charging off your truck and doesn't cost a lots.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

Welcome and I agree with JB 100 percent.<br /><br />Charging from your Outboard motor can be a good Idea if Your motor has a good size alternator. If it is a older motor and only has a 6 to 9 amp alternator then just let it charge your starting battery. Newer outboards with 15 to 30 amp alternators then sure charge both batteries, but do not expect to charge a trolling motor battery you have been useing all day in a 10 minute run back to the launch ramp. I would always do a full charge when get home, it will extend the life of your battery.<br />Most groups 27 will last most of the day if your working a bank bass fishing. If the wind comes up or your stright trolling then at best half of a day.<br /><br />I do not have a electric trolling motor on my boat but do have two batteries and charge both thru a battery isolator from my 45 amp I/O alternator. I also have a power plug on the bow of the boat and can charge both batteries thru the same battery isolator from my trucks alternator while going down the road. More important that I can charge both batteries from the bow plug with my home charger with out taking the cover off or climing on board. This makes it easy to charge summer and winter so I charge at least once a month even in winter. I also charge as soon as I get home while we unload the boat and clean fish and cover the boat.

 

[Gamonman]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

Wow, I can see I have a lot to learn. <br /><br /> I have a small Mini-Kota 24lb trolling motor, and a 1960 Evinrude 10hp outboard with tiller steering. I assume there is no alternator. It's a two cycle, two cylinder antique!<br /><br /> I'd love to see some wiring diagrams if possible. I don't have a battery yet, but I was thinking about a Wal-Mart Everstart 150 amp hours or something like that. I don't know anything about marine batteries or how to rate them, and neither did the guy at Wal-Mart. That's why I love forums like this.

 

[Lark40]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

That engine uses a magneto ignition. It will run forever, bit it can't provide any external charging. <br /><br />You can buy a Chilton's 1956-1972 Johnson/Evinrude 2-40hp Repair Manual with all the diagrams at any boat store for about $30.<br /><br />There is a good FAQ on Exide's website. Search Google for "Exide deep cycle charge".

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

That TM draws around 35 amps from the battery. So with a 150 AH battery, you should theoretically get 4.3 hours of run-time at full throttle (150 divided by 35).<br />Now, there's all sorts of qualifications to this. First, deep cycle batteries like to be discharged at a particulair rate. Go outside this rate and the Amp-Hours will suffer. The quoted 150AH is probably at the battery's 20 hour discharge rate - in other words, with a 7.5 amp draw. What will it be if you do it in 4 hours with your trolling motor? Probably around 100AH.<br />Second, to make your deep cycle batteries last longer it's best not to discharge them past 50% of their capacity. They are capable of doing that, but they degrade far more quickly when you go much beyond that.<br />So, if you want to be nice to your battery, you will only use 50 AH of that 150AH (well, really 100AH) capacity. Which means just under 1 and 1/2 hours operation at full throttle.<br /><br />Now, if you operated at 1/2 throttle, your current draw is only around 18 amps. Since you're discharging the battery slower now, it'll effectively become a 115AH battery. So, using 50% of that (57AH) you get a little over 3 hours of operation (57 / 18). If you were to completely discharged the battery (115 / 18), you would get almost 6.4 hours of run-time. <br /><br />Hope that helps you understand it a bit!

 

[Gamonman]

Re: Battery Charging Ideas

Wow, thanks for that info. I can't think of any question you didn't answer.<br /><br /> Any ideas on how to charge the batteries from the towing vehicle? Thanks for all the help!