outboard motor charging ?

Q

qjim206

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hello all, I'm new to the boating scene so you are bound to hear a lot of questions from me, so I'll start with a dumb one :) I have a 76 fiberfirm originaly with an i/o currently has a evinrude 150 hanging off it, I have three batteries 1,for starting & 2 for radio and amp and all lights & such. But these run dead after a half day or so on the lake. Is there a way to keep a charge on all three from the outboard, or at least on the one or two for the radio ?
 
tashasdaddy

tashasdaddy

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Re: outboard motor charging ?

the motor is designed to maintain the starting battery, you can install, a battery selector switch, to switch to each battery, requires proper wiring. you are either running some high demand equipment, or have some bad batteries. have them load tested, may have a dead cell. are they deep cycle batteries for the electronics. could go with bigger batteries.
 
Q

qjim206

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Mar 2, 2008
Messages
3
Re: outboard motor charging ?

I'm running an amp for the radio that draws quite a bit of juice . If I use a battery sellector switch will that allow me to switch the charge to the batteries I'm using for the radio & amp. All my batteries are new as last month .
 
Silvertip

Silvertip

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Re: outboard motor charging ?

The issue with using the engine to charge batteries that have a high current draw is that you would have to run wide open for hours to keep them fully charged. Outboards don't have overly large output alternators. Are your batteries "deep cycle" or plain automotive batteries?
 
Q

qjim206

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Re: outboard motor charging ?

Thanks for the replys , they are deep cycle batteries.
 
tashasdaddy

tashasdaddy

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Re: outboard motor charging ?

ditch the amp. you are polluting the peaceful environment of the river.
 
Silvertip

Silvertip

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Re: outboard motor charging ?

I agree with the noise but everyone to his own. The question is do you "really" need a gigawatt amplifier on a boat? And it must be a very large one at that if it's killer two deep cycle batteries (unless they are very small capacity batteries).
 
Boatist

Boatist

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Re: outboard motor charging ?

Just a dumb question, How do you charge your batteries now?

I also agree that I do not see the need for a radio over 10 watts on a boat. I love the water and the piece and quite. Dislike the nuts that think I want to hear their music.

A 150 Hp Evinrude could have a belt driven alternator with as high as 30 amps output. If it does I would suggest a three battery isolator to charge the batteries. No Switches to mess with, just start your motor and all three batteries are charging.

Now if you alternator is small like 8 amps then best you can do is just make sure Fully Charged before you go.
 
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