bat. chargers shore power

[bill harris]

going to buy a charger for start and deep cyl' bat. what are the bads and goods about them and the amps. I need for shore power charging at the slip small house boat

 

[12Footer]

Re: bat. chargers shore power

Deep cycle betteries must be trickle-charged, but get a charger with a timer or other cut-off circuitry. The trickle chargers will keep any battery hot, but the only cautions are not to leave a charger on the battery that is capable of boiling it, and not to charge deep cycles bats at a high current.<br />There are many good chargers out there on the market, but don't go cheap, or settle for a chgarger you must 'babysit'. GUEST SHUAER, and PYRAMID are 3 good makers, but only look at the high-end, truely "plug-in and forget" models.

 

[Boatist]

Re: bat. chargers shore power

1bill2boat<br />Yes get a good automatic battery charger but get at least a 10 amp charger even if useing a cheap group 24 battery. Even a 10 amp automatic will take about 20 hours to reach 85 percent of charge. If have a group 27 will take about 27 hours to reach 85 percent of full charge. I do not know if you run your deep cycle down like most bass fisherman with trolling motors. I know my group 27 if run down half way Saturday prefishing 1/2 day even if I connect charger to it right away when get home by 2pm will not be fully charged by 4Am Sunday for Tournament.<br /><br />Actually West Marine say get a 13 to 26 amp for a group 24 or a 16 to 32 amp for a group 27.<br /><br />My batteries last 6 years or longer with a 10 amp Schauer automatic that I have been useing since 1980. I think most important thing is to charge battery asap and never leave discharged.<br /><br />West Marine has a pretty good artical in there 2003 catalog on page 531 and some charger on page 530. I actually use a good 10 amp Schauer automatic automotive charger with setting for flooded/conventional and maintenance free batteries.<br /><br />Read West Marine advisor on page 531 of online catalog. Use link and wait for page to load then put in 531 for page at top. You will get page 530 with chargers and 531 with good info. Enlarger as big as want. <br /><br /> http://wmarine.mobular.net/wmarine/5/5/2/index.jsp

 

[rons boat]

Re: bat. chargers shore power

I am sure there are many good companies around but I have experience with Pro Mariner and they have been making completely automatic 4 step charges for marine use for many years. I am doing a techinical review on one of their units now and it will be replacing one of their old units of about, 25 years, that I just gave away. It is important that your battery be desulfated after discharge at about 14.3 V +- temp for several hours as determined by the size and condition of the battery, then the charger should go into float mode at 13.3 V where the battery is in equalibrium, the battery can be maintained here by the unit without further gassing and eliminates damage to the battery. If the battery voltage drops down to about 12.5 V +- temp then the unit should start its desulfate cycle again. All these steps can now be accomplished automatically for lead acid batteries and other types. The unit continually monitors the battery(S) and provides the charger info it needs to optimize individual battery needs , up to a bank of three They are quite sophisticated and only require you to make one option selection (lead acid or gel type). These chargers are the new breed of switching types which are much lighter than the heavy 50-60 Hz transformer ones they replaced and can be sized to provide ample power to run lots of lights and other equipment at the dock. They are available at lots of marine places as per the post above. One caution, some of the fishing types do not automatically go back into the recharge cycle as you might assume even though they are billed as automatic chargers. Read the fine print. . If you intend to leave it hooked up at the dock as I do on my sail boat, be sure to select the charger that retriggers back to the desulfate cycle automatically which will greatly extend the life of the battery. Check specific gravity and water level monthly, especially when you are installing a new charger. You will be surprised how economical these new units are priced and how they extend the life of your batteries. One of the companies is: WWW.pmariner.com