When to charge battery?

[davepring]

Following recent advice from this forum (thanks everyone it was appreciated) I have now fitted a VHF set on my AVON. This along with my fishfinder is being powered by a motorcycle battery. This is not being charged by the engine (no facility for it) Should I let the battery run flat then charge or regularly put it on a charger?

 

[buttonhook]

Re: When to charge battery?

if it was mine I wouldn't I would recharge everytime I used it.

 

[Big Al1]

Re: When to charge battery?

If its like a car or boat battery then it will last much longer the longer it stays fully charged. I keep a battery maintainer or float charger on my battery at all times when not in use. Most batteries self discharge on their own over time.

 

[JB]

Re: When to charge battery?

Keep it on an automatic charger anytime it is not in use.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[ndemge]

Re: When to charge battery?

motercyle battery is the same a regular car battery... lead acid battery...<br /><br />you don't want to fully discharge them, as the plates will for sulfation on them and quickly kill your battery. You want to charge it back up as soon as you can after a discharge, usually only taking the battery to 50% discharge for longest life....<br /><br />The rule of completely discharging before recharing is important for NICD batteries, like you would have in your cordless phone at home. They have a "memory" affect..... this is 100% opposite for flooded lead acid batteries.

 

[davepring]

Re: When to charge battery?

Thanks guys, I will keep it topped up. This leads to another question. I have fitted the battery into a sealed box on the 'A' frame, this is really awkward to open, I was thinking it would be a while between charges. I propose to charge the battery through the power leads to the VHF, by undoing the bullet connectors. My thinking is if the power can feed out thro' these it must be possible to charge thro' them. Will this be OK?

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: When to charge battery?

should be fine - if you mean you are disconnecting all 'fed' circuits from the battery, and basically using wires directly tied to the posts of the battery to charge it. it would then be as simple as connecting to the battery posts, thru 'extension wires'...<br /><br />HTH (hope that helps) <br /><br />PS- for a small 12v battery (like most bikes use) i would recommend not charging more than 3A. ie: use a trickle charger...

 

[bigjohnson774]

Re: When to charge battery?

I have a normal marine battery in the front of my fishing boat for my trolling motor. I've installed it underneath the floor. I have a storage area right next to it that has a lid on it. What I did was drilled two holes in the side wall that goes to the other compartment where the battery is and installed two bolts about two inchs long. In the compartment where I have the battery i've connected wires from the battery to the bolts. This helps when I want to charge the battery. All I have to do is open the lid in the other compartment and hook my charger up to the bolts.