Battery Charger Question

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Originally Posted by hdhntr

Now how about the best bang for buck charger? so many out there with different reviews. thoughts?

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They are constantly changing technology and build design on chargers. This years model in a brand may be different next year. You may have trouble with one brand one year and the same brand a year or two later may be okay.

I have been through a lot of them over the years.

The one brand I trust above all others is Dual pro...buy the best level you can afford. This is there mid level charger.

Sportsman Series - Pro Charging Systems

I just changed out one of my trolling batteries in my bassboat...it was a Sears Die-Hard 29 class. It was 9 years old. But its twin bought at the same time is still going. I think that's a record for me. It has been on a Dual Pro professional series the entire time. The charger now is I think around 15 years old...also a record. I think it's time to for a new one though...it still works...but wants to shutoff a little below where I want them charged...and does not have an equalization mode. I do that every so often with a portable.

I would like to offer a couple of points to the battery charger discussion that might be important in one's decision of upgrading or adding an on board battery charger ...

Point 1: It has been proven that some boat setups using a "common on board charger" connected to TM batteries and connected to any other battery that supplies Sonar electronics can induce RFI back feed (thru the charger) that shows on Sonar unit display as interference ... The only remedy for this scenario (of possible back feed RFI) is disconnecting the charger leads to the Sonar electronics every time on the water ... or separate chargers for TM batteries vs electronics batteries ...

Point 2: There is advantage in having separate battery chargers = in the scenario that when 1 charger goes bad and has to be repaired/replaced - there is still a working charger in the boat that can be used (by temporary rewiring) to charge all batteries - while the non-working charger is being repaired/replaced ...

Rickie

again my problem is NO POWER on the dock. will have to take them in and out physically and looking for stand alone, not on board charger. thinking I will get another main battery as don't use trolling motor much and just haul them back and forth to keep them at optimum.

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Originally Posted by hdhntr

again my problem is NO POWER on the dock. will have to take them in and out physically and looking for stand alone, not on board charger. thinking I will get another main battery as don't use trolling motor much and just haul them back and forth to keep them at optimum.

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I feel for ya, buddy ... like I said, that's how I have to do it when I bring the boat back home.

But, even if you do have to take the batteries out and haul them inside to charge them ... it's a lot less hassle to hook them up to a onboard digital charger and forget about them until your next trip, even if the "onboard" charger isn't "on board". Then you can hook up both batteries at the same time, which you can't do with a "regular" charger with one set of leads. Yes, they are a bit more expensive, but if you do travel & stay somewhere with electric at the boat slip, then you won't have to load/unload the batteries every day or have to go out late and switch the leads to the second battery. (been there, done that)

I'm only familiar with Schumacher manual battery chargers & Minn Kota onboard chargers ... and both brands have served me well, even though neither one of them are digital.

when I got back to condo, main battery was fully charged and good and boat showed charging fine on trial run, so don't have to buy another. think I am going to keep TM battery on maintenance charger at condo as we don't use it that often and BAA's it is better to keep it on and charged as I don't think it has been fully charged since I bought toon back in march. New to owning a boat so figuring this all out on the fly. Thanks so much for the tips from the CDC members!

Will look for a good digital multiple charger so when I do take it somewhere will be able to do both at once.

have been on battery plus blogs and don't see any reports of fires or issues like that so should be good to keep it on maintenance as it is 1.25 amps.

If you don't mind rotating the leads between batteries than a single charger will work. Two years ago I had 4 batteries (two group 31 deep cycle, group 24 starting, and 12v riding mower battery) in my garage that I kept charged all winter with a single charger. Every Tuesday and Friday I rotated the leads to another battery, worked down the line and started over. Never a problem. I still use the Schumacher Ship to Shore charger for my main battery, in fact it is hooked up right now keeping the charge on my motor battery. My Minnkota on-board 10amp dual bank (5 amps per bank) charger is hooked up to both my group 31 trolling motor batteries and is also plugged in right now. No issues there either.

I am debating about pulling the on-board charger and the batteries when I put the boat up for winter and charge them in the garage again. Or leave the batteries in and run an extension cord out to the boat for the winter. Might sell the dual bank charger and buy a three bank charger for next season. Or maybe buy a separate single bank charger for the motor and not worry about RF interference.

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Originally Posted by hdhntr

Now how about the best bang for buck charger? so many out there with different reviews. thoughts?

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I have the same question.
What brand charger for 2 bank chargers, but now that I have read Rickies post, I may stick with my current rotation method, which Hanr3 suggests, and I use now. I have 2 batteries on fishing boat, plus battery off of pontoon is now in garage. I just rotate the charger every other day between the (3) batteries.
Would still like a good suggestion on (2) bank charger, I'll have both boats in water in spring, and will need to keep batteries on fishing boat charged. Pontoon stays charged with normal use.

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Originally Posted by Lane47

I have the same question.
What brand charger for 2 bank chargers, but now that I have read Rickies post, I may stick with my current rotation method, which Hanr3 suggests, and I use now. I have 2 batteries on fishing boat, plus battery off of pontoon is now in garage. I just rotate the charger every other day between the (3) batteries.
Would still like a good suggestion on (2) bank charger, I'll have both boats in water in spring, and will need to keep batteries on fishing boat charged. Pontoon stays charged with normal use.

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NOCO Genius. Go through Walmart web site. Best price out there. Dang good chargers for the money.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lane47

I have the same question.
What brand charger for 2 bank chargers, but now that I have read Rickies post, I may stick with my current rotation method, which Hanr3 suggests, and I use now. I have 2 batteries on fishing boat, plus battery off of pontoon is now in garage. I just rotate the charger every other day between the (3) batteries.
Would still like a good suggestion on (2) bank charger, I'll have both boats in water in spring, and will need to keep batteries on fishing boat charged. Pontoon stays charged with normal use.

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I have a MinnKota and used the warranty once. During a trip to Canada the charger acted up and failed. I used my Schumacker to keep the batteries charged for the remainder of the week. When I got home I called MinnKota, they asked for the model and serial number. Told them the problem, they said it needs to be replaced. Emailed me a RMA through UPS and told me they would ship a new charger once they had confirmation my current charger was in the mail. I emailed them with the tracking number and they shipped the new charger the same day. 2 days later I was back up and running. Whole thing took less than a week and I was back on the water by the first weekend after I returned. They stand behind their product. This new version has not given me any issues.