Some battery chargers are over rated.

I bought a big name-on board- dual bank-charger. When it got here I read the instructions. It said to install it in a dry location. That was only one of the things that I didn't like about it. It was big and it was heavy. I have found out since that Schumacher makes a portable charger designed especially for marine deep cycle batteries and has all of the features of the big name one and more plus it is smaller and lighter. I will install the shore plug receptacle and stow the ship-n-shore charger away a lot easier than the hassle of the permanently installed one.

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

Another option is to read the Owner's Manual prior to selection and purchase, then to select a product that has the best fit to all the requirements.

Big and heavy has a very significant feature in a high-power device. One of the most difficult aspects of product design is keeping the product cool, with most of the internal heat generated from electronic power devices dissipating heat.

All things being equal, a small enclosure will be warmer, have higher component temperatures and worse MTBF numbers than a larger enclosure.

One of the things I like about my Charles 5000 SP charger is the large aluminum "bathtub" extrusion that is used for the chassis. It only gets warm when operating at full rated output.

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

All I was saying was that if you have to keep an on board battery charger dry you might as well use one of the smaller lighter ones that cost half as much and you can still use them portable if you want to. I got to thinking about dual bank charging and found out that if you have two batteries that are at the same voltage you can charge them both at the same time by hooking them up parallel an connecting the red lead of the charger to the positive on one battery and the neg lead to the other battery. After that you can charge them with about any good charger.

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

I believe that the dry requirment is telling you not to mount it where it could be sitting in water. My onboard two bank charger is water "resistant" I can get some spray on it and its OK, but can't mount it in the bottom of the bilge where it might be submerged. My battery charger can also charge two different size batteries at the same time, and at different levels of charge. It's a pro-mariner.

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

Yes it should most definitely water resistant (pretty much water proof) if it is a new name brand charger. As long as you don't mount it in your live well you should be fine.

Are you staying it doesn't clearly say on the box "Water resistant" ? A recommendation in the instructions to mount in a dry location (IN A BOAT?!?! haha) is just that...recommendation. Pretty much everything that is "Water proof" is only water proof to a certain degree. depth, "splash proof", time limits, pressure.... etc. The dryer you keep something that is waterproof...the better!

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

Where's fucawi when we need him? I'm sure you're all wrong...

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

gpfishingdude said:

All I was saying was that if you have to keep an on board battery charger dry you might as well use one of the smaller lighter ones that cost half as much and you can still use them portable if you want to. I got to thinking about dual bank charging and found out that if you have two batteries that are at the same voltage you can charge them both at the same time by hooking them up parallel an connecting the red lead of the charger to the positive on one battery and the neg lead to the other battery. After that you can charge them with about any good charger.

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I would discourage charging two batteries in parrallel. One will always want to be a slightly different voltage than the other, but because they are in parrallel, this cannot happen. Thus either one battery will be abused (overcharged), or one will be undercharged.

TerryMSU

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

halfmoa said:

Where's fucawi when we need him? I'm sure you're all wrong...

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He definitely had some interesting views.

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

TerryMSU said:

I would discourage charging two batteries in parrallel. One will always want to be a slightly different voltage than the other, but because they are in parrallel, this cannot happen. Thus either one battery will be abused (overcharged), or one will be undercharged.

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All battery manufacturers specify that batteries should be connected in parallel to increase capacity.

It is best to use batteries w/ identical date codes and history to limit the issues you've identified.

Trojan Battery Manual

Lifeline Battery Manual

Re: Some battery chargers are over rated.

Just get ya a couple of battery tenders (that's what I use) and be done with it. Easy, just plug them in and forget about it. They'll charge your battery until full then switch over to float to keep them fully charged.