Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

[gt]

New boat on order, 20' fish/ski (mostly fish if I have my way..)
3 batteries, 1 starting, 2 for 24v trolling motor.

Is there a need to charge the starting battery on a regular basis? Average day of fishing for me, is several hours of trolling motor usage, probably 1/2 hour of main motor usage.

What do you guys do...

Thanks, Gary

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

Depends on the size of charging system you have. I use an older motor with a small (16 amp I think) charging system. All I use the big motor for is to get to where I'm going to fish which is normally very close. It never runs long enough to completely recharge the starting battery. So for hat reason I use a 3 bank charger. Just something to consider.

 

[grego]

imho

imho

do th

 

[grego]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

Do the 3 bank charger. The last thing you want, is to run short on power. Buy a rechargable jump starter. or called a start stick for aircraft. $ 44.00 at sears. Oh yea! PLUG IT IN!

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

gt; we use a three bank 40 amp charles charger maintainer.these can be had in 24 volts but not sure how you would mix 12 and 24. maybe run the 3 banks at 12 volts for each battery. ours will run all the 12 volt functions on the boat as a power supply when plugged into 110 volt shore power and will work as a battery charger, maintainer to keep the batterys topped off when not in use
we chose 40 amp because thats about as many amps you will want to throw a low battery without heating it up. it is set up to pick, split and use the 40 amps for the battery-batterys that need the charged.
40 for one if its the only one low, 20 to two, or 13 to all three.
it is made to work only when charge is needed. unlike some trickle chargers that can boil and over heat batterys.
this way it can be left on 24-7 and keep batterys in a ready state.
i just use 2 banks. bank 1 is 1 group 27 deep cycle for starting and the motor battery. bank 2 is 2 group 27 deep cycles for house batterys

 

[Navy Jr.]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

New boat on order, 20' fish/ski (mostly fish if I have my way..)
3 batteries, 1 starting, 2 for 24v trolling motor.

Is there a need to charge the starting battery on a regular basis? Average day of fishing for me, is several hours of trolling motor usage, probably 1/2 hour of main motor usage.

What do you guys do...

Thanks, Gary

Gary, we have the same setup as your new boat will have and fish the same way, i.e. mainly use the trolling motor during the day. We actually run the motor just a few minutes to get to our spot and recharge the main battery. When fishing we also have the GPS/sonar on, and it runs off the main battery. If we get concerned about the battery, we just fire up the motor and let it charge for a few minutes, but we don't even think about it for the first two hours of fishing. -Ken

 

[T Wardy]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

Just get the 3 bank as the cost diff is not that much. Your batteries will last longer as a result too.....

 

[gt]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

Thanks guys. I think I'll go with the 3 bank, to be safe.

1 more question.
2 batteries up front, 1 in the rear. I plan on mounting the charger under the console, right next to the 2 front batteries. Is there usually a main power lead under the console that you could hook the charger leads to, or should they go straight back to the rear battery.

Thanks again,
Gary

 

[FuriousMob]

Re: Onboard charger, 2 bank or 3.

Depending on where you live and where you store your boat, the 3 bank will also let you leave it in trickle during cold months without having to remove it. To extend the charger cables you will want to read the instructions with the charger, as some have sensors you may choose to extend as well.