battery question

I have not fished in years--no boat, work, family etc-- but now I am ready to get a boat for fishing and maybe a little tube pulling of the grandkids. When I did fish, it was just a simple boat and a small motor on minnesota/canada lakes. I have been looking at a lund crossover and the alumacraft dominator. Since I now live in a condo association I am going to have to store the boat in a 10 x 25 foot secure storage unit or in a slip with no electrical opportunity. My question is this---my fish finder and trolling motor batteries are going to need charging after use. Do any of you have suggestions as to how best to do this. I suppose I could buy two sets of batteries and bring one home to charge, but they are heavy. I suppose I could pull up in front of condo and run an extension cord out for a couple of hours before storing the boat. Could I use an inverter ? I assume a gas generator, like a honda 2000 would work? I am sure I am not the only one with this problem.

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How about a solar battery charger?

solar battery chargers - Google Search

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JNG I was thinking the exact same thing. A solar charger would be perfect for this situation...

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Unless your going to use the boat a lot the solar chargers mentioned above will do it fine. Worst case take out the battery and bring it home once in a while , you don't need two sets to do that.

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Simplest solution of all, get an outboard with a charging system.

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You gave us all your answer !!

Have a meeting of others & split the expense of a 12 volt/24 volt transformer mounted on land somewhere to send the safe low voltages of A C out to the docks. Get a set of odd ball plugs & sockets at each boat slip that wants one. This is a really safe & simple DIY job.

Put power boxes on the main walk dock. People who leave their boats for weeks or months could still have their battery trickle charged & have the bilge pumps working after a storm.

A simple Integrated Circuit chip WILL limit the recharge currents to about 5 amps maximum per boat........Some serious calculations of each bridge rectifier & I C chip is required.......AC to each slip box. SAFE low voltage. In the box is the AC TO DC rectifier & current regulator........Very safe & doable.

I could draw out the layouts.........When running the AC main dock run. A 2' to 3' loop is left at each finger dock to cut into for a power box when needed in the future...........Very simple & doable by the DIY guys or a licensed electrican.

If enough owners vote yes.......Do it........

Or go all out with 120 volt AC at the docks & battery chargers on each boat.

Lots of different ways..........Discuss everything withh all the owners.. some would have enough money & OK 30 amps of AC to power the bigger boats AC & refrigeration ..............Study & discuss all needs ..........Then do it RIGHTEST.....

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Solar panels are targets for thieves. Besides, those small panels do not output enough current to act as a charger. They are maintainers at best.

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Your options are limited and none are optimum. Something to consider though is that, according to usage, you will not get a proper charge on the batteries with just a "couple of hours" of charging. I would plan on a minimum of 4-6 hours. I am not a fan of AGM batteries but they may be worth the extra cost in your situation. They will take a charge quicker and have a lessor self-discharge rate as compared to a lead acid battery. Also, you will want to get a charger with enough banks to charge all your batteries at the same time and with the maximum amps that is appropriate for the batteries you are using.

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Silvertip said:

Solar panels are targets for thieves. Besides, those small panels do not output enough current to act as a charger. They are maintainers at best.

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Not wanting to dispute what you're saying about thieves and such, but wouldn't the actually boat/motor and or any type charging system be just as vulnerable as well to being removed by non-ownersl?

And yes they do have solar panels capabily of charging 12 volt batteries all over the place for just that purpose... :happy:

It would six of one half dozen of the other to set up a solar panel OR install outlets and battery charger/trickle charger systems...

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gm280 said:

And yes they do have solar panels capabily of charging 12 volt batteries all over the place for just that purpose... :happy:

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Lets say you have two 70 Amp hour trolling batteries and you discharged them both down to half. You would need to replace 70 amps for an hour which would be close to 1500 Watts during the charge(not 100% efficient). If you had average sun for 5 hours a day and you didn't mind it taking 2 days to recharge, you would need 750 Watts produced each day. You would need a 150W panel. Most panels are rated at over 18V so you would likely need an even bigger panel like 200W. That sized panel may be close to 15 square feet and be quite expensive.

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We never have rain on a planned fishing day. Always 2 days before.

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gm280 said:

Not wanting to dispute what you're saying about thieves and such, but wouldn't the actually boat/motor and or any type charging system be just as vulnerable as well to being removed by non-ownersl?

And yes they do have solar panels capabily of charging 12 volt batteries all over the place for just that purpose... :happy:

It would six of one half dozen of the other to set up a solar panel OR install outlets and battery charger/trickle charger systems...

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The boat in question has a trolling motor. That requires two batteries -- one for the engine and one for the troller. Trollers draw a minimum of 30 amps and as high as 50 amps depending on size. Do the math on solar panel output vs charge time then decide if you have enough room on the boat for a properly sized panel. The one foot square jobs will take forever. Trickle chargers are 1.5 amp units and although better than a solar panel, are also called maintainers. A real "charger" will be a smart charger, have 5 - 6 amp outputs (1 2, 3, or 4 of them as needed) and a heck of a lot more efficient than the other options IF - AC power is available at the dock. As for thiefs making off with things, the panel wires can be jerked off and the panel is gone. It takes a bit more time to pull a motor. And of course it all depends on how secure the area is. If more than one person has access, it is no longer secure. As for the engine charging system being used to charge a troller battery -- that depends on how much output the alternator has. Most outboards are not capable of charging deeply discharged troller batteries in a reasonable amount of time. Think about it -- one hour troller run time sucks 30+ amps from the battery. An outboard with a 15 amp alternator would need to run wide open for over two hours to replace that 30 amps. Actually much longer because the alternator must also charge the starting battery.

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Charger on wheels or wiring the docks.

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cyclops2 said:

Charger on wheels or wiring the docks.

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Why would you need a charger on wheels?

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My little marina dose not have powered slips but they will remove, charge and reinstall battery's. Free of charge.

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Because I am 75 & it is a long walk up hill to store a charger out of the rain.

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cyclops2 said:

Because I am 75 & it is a long walk up hill to store a charger out of the rain.

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So run an extension cord (or two) downhill and put the charger in the boat under a cover.

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if you are planning on storing on land then one option might be to have the truck charge the battery while driving it to the storage unit. they make relay kits mainly for the caravan/fifth wheel market to charge the batteries and keep things like the fridge running. it depends on how far you have to move the boat once on the trailer

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A 240 watt solar panel can be had for about $350. A good MPPT charge controller will be about $200 or so. Mount the panel on the storage unit facing south and tilted to about your latitude. This set up should provide a good 60Ah per day on sunny days.

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So why not ditch the electric trolling motor, put a 2 or 3 hp outboard on a bracket for trolling, end of problem.