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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Garage Battery Charger Recommendation?

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JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/17/2011 : 15:05:57

I've pulled the battery from our boat since the boat is on the hard and have the battery sitting in my garage. I want to keep the battery properly conditioned and charged over the winter. Can anyone recommend a good (preferably inexpensive) charger for these purposes?

Would something like the [url="http://www.harborfreight.com/10-2-55-amp-6-12-volt-battery-charger-engine-starter-66783.html"] 6/12V charger from Harbor Freight[/URL] or [url="http://www.harborfreight.com/2-6-amp-6-12-volt-battery-charger-45005.html"] this other 6/12V charger[/URL] work?

I also need to see how the boat is outfitted for shore power and whether there's a charger onboard for next season, too...but I've already found recommendations for those chargers. I'm also considering installing [url="http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50033-15-Watt-Solar-Charging/dp/B001RJOP5Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321567071&sr=8-1"]a solar panel for the boat so I can be more independent[/url], but I'm not sure if I want to make that investment yet.

- Jim
Formerly of 1984 C25 named Dragon Wing

NOTE: In my case, PLEASE don't confuse stars/number of posts with actual knowledge. On any topic.

Edited by - on

Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2011 : 15:59:50

battery tender ftw

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2011 : 16:21:06

For a battery sitting in the garage this is all you need:
[url="http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive-motorcycle/battery/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html"]Automatic Battery Float Charger[/url]

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2269 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2011 : 17:13:37

Like most topics on Sailnet, there's a big debate on this subject. I am of the opinion that if the battery is already charged, all you need is a float charger. You should not get a "trickle" charger that charges continuously - it should have a sensor that shuts off when the battery is topped off, then comes on when the battery drops by a certain amount (which is what a "float" charger is, I think). The cheapo one at Harbor Freight shown above is what I have for this. There are those on Sailnet who will insist that the Harbor Freight one will ruin your battery, but I haven't seen it.

Be sure you don't have an AGM battery - those do need special equipment.

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2011 : 18:36:23

I use the Harbor Freight float chargers while the boat is in the water, too. They work fine.

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frog0911
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1349 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2011 : 18:48:39

Just make sure the battery is not sitting on the concrete floor. The HF float charger will work fine. Used mine for almost three years now with no problems.

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hewebb
Admiral

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USA
761 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 04:59:37

I use a Battery Tender (Brand Name) on several batteries that spend the summer in storage while we are traveling. The RV trailer battery spends the winter on a tender during the winter while we are at home. The vehicles that are in storage in the summer I leave the batteries in the vehicle. The RV trailer battery I set on wood . Been doing this for several years and it works well. Be sure to check the water level on any un-sealed batteries. I have been told that a charger will ruin a battery if left on for long periods of time.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2269 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 06:21:44

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by frog0911
 Just make sure the battery is not sitting on the concrete floor...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I assume the issue here is etching of the concrete from any acid that leaks. Right? If not, let us know.

I have my batteries sitting in plastic battery boxes, but the boxes are directly on concrete.

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Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 06:31:00

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by RhythmDoctor
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by frog0911
 Just make sure the battery is not sitting on the concrete floor...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I assume the issue here is etching of the concrete from any acid that leaks. Right? If not, let us know.

I have my batteries sitting in plastic battery boxes, but the boxes are directly on concrete.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

A mechanicfriend made the same comment to me about a battery sitting on concrete, and slipped a piece of plywood under it. Apparently sitting on concrete is hard on the battery, I don't know why.

Edited by - on

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 08:01:59

Thanks everyone! As luck would have it, Harbor Freight sent me a coupon for the charger Joe mentioned.

Edited by - on

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3474 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 08:15:14

SUNFORCE
1.8 Watt Solar Battery Maitainer

From West Marine.

I've used something similar for years. I think it is the same one.

Edited by - redeye on 11/18/2011 10:22:12

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 10:20:45

Placing a battery on concrete does absolutely nothing to the battery.

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Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 11:34:24

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dlucier
 Placing a battery on concrete does absolutely nothing to the battery.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Correct. That is an old wifes tale.

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3993 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 15:34:12

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Just make sure the battery is not sitting on the concrete floor<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
That's an old myth.

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frog0911
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1349 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 16:45:02

I don't know about wife's tail, but when I was young working on cars with my uncle, he told me if I put the battery on concrete that the lime in the concrete would eat the bottom out of the battery. Now I don't know if it did this because there was more lime in concrete back then or the battery container was made of different materials. So to this day I will not charge a battery or even put one directly on concrete. If you leave it in the battery box you should be okay.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2011 : 16:48:49

Well, it's not exactly a myth, it used to be that batteries were made of wood panels. Over time, the battery acid would leach through the joint and form a puddle under the battery. If it were on concrete it wouldn't drain away or dry up like it would if it were on wood or earth, so a weak connection was made between the anode & cathode, which would drain the battery over time. With modern batteries, there's no such effect and it doesn't matter if you set them on concrete or not.
[url="http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm"]
Here's good article on it[/url].

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GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4275 Posts

Response Posted - 11/20/2011 : 07:27:07

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by delliottg
 Well, it's not exactly a myth, it used to be that batteries were made of wood panels. Over time, the battery acid would leach through the joint and form a puddle under the battery. If it were on concrete it wouldn't drain away or dry up like it would if it were on wood or earth, so a weak connection was made between the anode & cathode, which would drain the battery over time. With modern batteries, there's no such effect and it doesn't matter if you set them on concrete or not.
[url="http://www.thebatteryterminal.com/TechTalk_Batteries_on_Concrete.htm"]
Here's good article on it[/url].
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

If you click on the back button at the bottom of the article it has another good article on charging a battery on concrete vs charging on a block of wood. It apparently can or does make a difference.

Edited by - on

At Ease
Admiral

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672 Posts

Response Posted - 11/23/2011 : 16:39:27

If you have a good battery charger, you do not need a float charger because the charger will sense when the batteries are fully charged and either stop charging or go to a trickle charge. Since the OP's boat is on the hard, I can understand a trickle charger, but for those kept on shore power all year, a good charger is the way to go.

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5232 Posts

Response Posted - 11/23/2011 : 23:37:48

As I've opined several times, I leave my battery in Passage all winter long where it remains fully charged-up using an 18W solar panel with a solar regulator.

When I visit the boat to check it or work on some component, I usually run my FM radio and the interior lights for several hours. This may use 5 to 6 amp-hours (A-H), which will slightly discharge the battery.

My solar panel will produce approximately 1/2 Amp for about 4 to 6 hours on sunny winter days (2 to 3 A-H per day), so in two to three days, the battery will be recharged fully.

This particular battery is on year three, going on four. So far it is still holding up well, so my approach seems to be working.

If I were to bring the battery home for the season, I'd probably keep it in my basement and float it using my three-stage charger.

If I didn't have a three-stage charger, I'd probably keep it on a float charger as described above.

If I had only a two-stage charger, I'd recharge the battery overnight about once each month, as a rule of thumb. For a conventional lead-acid battery, I'd check the voltage every two weeks, and if it went below 12.5 volts, I'd put it on the charger for 8 to 12 hours. Then I'd disconnect the charger, wait for about an hour and check to see that the battery voltage was reading approximately 12.7 volts. If it was still substantially below this level, I'd continue charging for another 8-12 hours. To obtain a correct voltage reading, disconnect the battery from the charger for at least an hour.

Don't leave the battery connected to a two-stage or one-stage charger for any longer than 18-24 hours, as you risk boiling off the acid electrolyte. If you hear the battery fluid bubbling or smell a sulfurous or "rotten eggs" while charging, the battery is being overcharged.

Marine batteries will self-discharge over the course of a month or two during the off-season, and you don't want your battery to remain even partially discharged for any length of time, as it will cause "sulfation" - coating the lead plates, that reduces the battery capacity.

Vigilance is important to battery life. Even with a three-stage or float charger, it is not a bad idea to check the voltage from time to time.

Edited by - on

aaron
Deckhand

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USA
23 Posts

Response Posted - 11/24/2011 : 05:10:52

Bruce, that's superb advice.

For those of you with, or conisidering, HF chargers, let me share a personal anecdote. I purchased a new HF charger, a model still for sale, and brought it home and threw it on a battery in the shop. I then proceeded to fiddle around out there doing something or another when about half an hour later I smelled smoke. Lo and behold, my new (inexpensive) charger was smoking from inside the case. Naturally, I immediately disconnected it, and HF exchanged it with no hassle. However, the incident certainly left me with a great deal of suspicion about the quality and safety of that model, and HF chargers in general. I still dislike thinking of what the outcome may have been had I not been in the immediate vicinity, and I now only use the charger outdoors in a clear area.

I suspect any such qa issue could happen with any brand, but this happened to me with a HF brand. YMMV. I'm only sharing to share and not recommending against the chargers, and I've had no issues with my replacement unit.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2011 : 13:53:13

I decided to pick up one of the Harbor Freight float chargers last week. My solar charger couldn't seem to keep up with my two battery bank like it did with a single. It kept the batteries minimally charged, but with the very cloudy/rainy summer, fall and probably winter, I was never seeing a charge much above 12 volts unless we came down and ran the engine or put the full sized battery charger on it for a while.

I plugged it into my shore power and just let it run for a week. When we stopped by the boat yesterday, Rita read 13 VDC off of the cheapo Walmart gauge I'd bought. Assuming that it works like it's supposed to, it should keep the float voltage right at or around that level throughout the winter without us having to worry about it.

Pretty good for a $10 purchase (which I could have gotten for half that if I'd have waited for the sale the following day, oh well).

I brought the solar panel home for some maintenance, I thought that maybe the connection to the panel on the back side was corroded, but that's not the case. That makes me wonder about the charge controller I bought from WM a while back. I noticed there were no lights on it when I installed the other charger last week, and it was a bright, sunny day with the panel facing right at the sun. Theoretically a perfect situation, and still no lights on the charge controller. Maybe it's failed?

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5232 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2011 : 17:59:36

David
If it was a Sunforce 7A charge controller, there should be either a green light or yellow light on the box when the battery is connected and the panel is connected and generating. I use a quick connect two prong automotive connector between the controller and the panel, so it's easy to see when I'm connected.

If the controller is not connected to the Solar Panel on both positive and negative sides, or if not connected to the battery's negative and positive terminals, or if an inline fuse is blown, you will not see any lights on the controller. If all connections are good and solid - even under cloudy conditions - you'll see one of these two indicator lights illuminated unless in direct sunlight as the LED will be washed out by the sunlight.

To my knowledge, there is no "straight through" connection, like the ground wire, that you can use a continuity tester on. You can check the connectors and fuse easily enough, and you can check your solar panel using a voltmeter and an amp-meter.

A 20W solar panel should produce about 18 volts "open circuit" into the red and black voltmeter leads (set your voltmeter to 20-50 VDC), and should produce between 500 mA and 1A short-circuit current in full sun. Set your ammeter for > 1000 mA or 10A setting, or you risk blowing the meter's internal fuse.

If the panel does not produce both current and voltage, check the cable for breaks, open the panel and check the blocking diode using the diode or 1 Ohm setting, and check the internal electrical connections between the glass panel's electrical leads and the cables. I had a panel where the internal connector broke off inside, and became unusable.

I've got two 20W panels wired in parallel to quickly recharge the battery if needed, but generally only use one under normal usage.

Good luck on the charger and panel.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2011 : 18:49:44

It was a Sunforce, I paid somewhere around $40 for it on sale as I remember. I checked the voltage coming out of the solar panel at right about 18 VDC, so that sounds about right. You're correct, it should be working even in cloudy conditions. Next time I'm down at the boat I'll take a look at the charge controller. It's inside the battery compartment, so it's a bit of a pain to get to. I should have the documentation that came with it, we're pretty good about keeping everything in our giant book of manuals, etc.

I don't seem to remember that there were lights that came on when it was just connected to the battery, but it's been several years since I installed it.

Edited by - on

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