On Board Battery Charger !

[RiceRocket]

Going to install an On Board Battery Charger on my Boat , has crank battery and two 12 volt battery in series for the 24 volt Minn Kota , do I need a two bank charger or a three bank charger ??

[Bombfixer]

A 3 bank charger is what you need if you want all batteries to feed off of the on board charger. even though your trolling batteries are wired in series they are each an independant battery when it comes to charging. A set of leads from each bank goes to each battery. Some of the newer on board chargers have a feature that sends the most current to the weakest battery and adjusts as the batteries come up to full charge. Make sure when you mount the charger that you have adequate ventilation around the charge as they can get real hot. When I mounted mine, I used blocks under each end to mount them on so that I could air flow on all side and underneath the unit. Saw a boat once where the charger was mounted right on top of carpet and it got hot enough to catch the carpet on fire, which in turn consumed a lot of the boat before being extinguished.

[brushnjigs]

One bank for each battery on the boat. Dont rely on the engines alternator to fully charge the starting battery unless you do alot of long runs during the day. Get the 10 amp PER bank for wet cells or the 15 per bank for the agms

[CatFan]

One bank for each battery on the boat. Dont rely on the engines alternator to fully charge the starting battery unless you do alot of long runs during the day. Get the 10 amp PER bank for wet cells or the 15 per bank for the agms

I'd do the opposite. AGMs charge much more efficiently and quickly than wet cells, so the larger charger would be more benefit with the wet cells.

[RiceRocket]

Would not a 5 amp charger create less heat and fire problems than a 10 or 15 amp charger ? I am a Wet Cell person . can't see paying 200 bucks for a battery.

[Bombfixer]

a 5 amp draw would take forever to charge a battery. After a day of fishing you would be looking at 18 to 20 hr of recharge time at 5 amps. 10 amps should be the minimum rate for an effective charger, 14 would be even better.

[Barnacle Bill]

I used a 5-5-5 for several years and never had a problem of fully charging my batteries over night. This included a week long trip every spring when we would fish hard every day. My batteries were a starting battery and 2 big Delco Voyagers. Keep in mind how the smart charger works. The starting battery rarely needs much charging. So after it is charged that 5 amps is applied to the other 2 so you now have 7.5 amps going to them. I never ran out of power and our daily trips averaged 8-9 hours. I'm sure the maximizer in the TM helped a lot in conserving power too.

[warbird]

i use the 3-5-5 from cabelas, 3 going to starter battery. i can use trolling motor 8 hours, plug it in that night and its ready in the morning. 150.00 [ dont know how long it will last] works for me

[RiceRocket]

Which chargers are the smart ones ??? I was looking at the minn kota but it doesn't state if they are or not ??

[Barnacle Bill]

I may be dating myself with that term. That's what they called them years ago when they started going all digital. I think they are all smart chargers nowaday, at least the name brand ones I'm familiar with.