charging batteries while driving

[gshock]

read somewhere that you can buy a kit for<br />about 50 bucks that will allow you to charge<br />your trolling motor battery while driving.can i <br />do the same thing by running my own wires without<br />purchasing the kit.<br />is it as simple as running wires to boat battery<br />from your truck battery, or am i missing something ?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: charging batteries while driving

Your technique will charge the battery just fine. However, have a fire extinguisher handy when you attempt to start the car. The same current being taken from the battery in the car will be drawn from the battery in the boat. Unless you use the kit or the wires you run are the same size as battery cables, you will have a melt down. Current is not selective, it doesn't care where it comes from. When you hit the key, the starter draws hundreds of amps. 10 gauge wire will not handle it. You need the kit which allows current to flow only to the boat battery. It cannot back flow to the car.

 

[surfmonkey]

Re: charging batteries while driving

check out this site:<br /><br /> http://www.raystackle.com/

 

[demsvmejm]

Re: charging batteries while driving

If you want to do this yourself, you will need to isolate the trolling motor. You can do this with an isolator, a continuous duty relay or a large diode. But I suspect you will be really close to $50.00 regardless of how you do it. <br />Another possibility would be to use a self-resetting circuit breaker. It would open during high current draw such as starting, and then close and complete the charging circuit during lower draw periods. If you can measure the current draw in the circuit, that would be the best measure to ensure that your install will be safe and reliable.

 

[Boatist]

Re: charging batteries while driving

I have had this set up for over 20 years. You could run a straight 10 gauge wire from you truck to your boat battery and it would work fine. When you start your truck you would draw from your boat batteries as well but with a 10 gauge 40 foot wire there would be plenty of resistance and voltage drop to limit current and make a 10 guage wire safe.<br /><br />However do not do it that way. What happeneds if your wire rubs on the frame of your truck and shorts to the frame near the front. It would melt and burn. <br /><br />If you decide to do it install an auto reset 30 amp circuit breaker near your trucks battery. Use real high amp high quality connectors from the truck to the trailer and from the trailer to the boat. A trolling motor socket and plug will work.<br /><br />I have had this setup for many years and it works good but I hardly ever use it. Since my boat has a battery isolator I charge both batteries thru that isolator.<br /><br />Even if you do this do not think when you get home your batteries will be fully charged. If you have run your trolling motor all day it is going to take many hours to recharge. Your trucks going to put out 13.8 to 15 volts. That run thru a 10 guage wire to the boat batteries when batteries are low will drop some voltage. I would not expect a charge rate more than 15 to 20 amps at the start and less that 10 amps near the end. At that rate would take 5 to 10 hours to fully charge your batteries.