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Battery charger

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theshepirate
Deckhand

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USA
19 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/16/2012 : 20:42:44

Can anyone give me some advice on what type of battery charger to buy for deep cycle batteries on out boat? We have two, hooked up in parallel. they are both dead, I do not have a battery charger for them, we rely on the motor to top them off, but have not been out much only once this season, and I left the battery switch on and master switch on for 16 hours=DEAD BATTERIES!

TheShePirate

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3441 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2012 : 03:45:05

I bought a Guest 5+5 charger a few years back and it has separate leads to charge both batteries independently. I rarely use it...only when I am staying overnight in a marina. My daily charging is via my solar panel. But when visiting a marina overnight, I wind up using the cabin lights, etc a lot. My Guest battery charger is hard wired to the back of one of my AC outlets and so it automatically charges when shore power is hooked up. It seems to work fine but I use it infrequently. I did notice in West Marine that the Guest charger 5+5 (that's 5 amps for each battery) seems to now be sold for plugging into the AC outlet. Maybe that was always an option. Anyway, it is a convenience for those that do not want to mess with hard wiring it into the circuit. The Guest Charger is on the inexpensive side compared to a Charles, etc chargers. I believe Charles is one of the most highly respected battery charger makers.

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CarbonSink62
Navigator

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USA
208 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2012 : 06:27:59

Almost any decent charger will have a selection for flooded/sealed batteries. $50-60 bucks should get you a nice one. Cruisers that have thousands of dollars worth of batteries get super-duper chargers that cost hundreds and analyze the charge state of the batteries and yada yada yada...

You don't need that. You do want to steer clear of the el-cheapo units; they can fry a battery by putting out too much voltage or not shutting down the charge when it's topped off.

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Joe Diver
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1218 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2012 : 07:39:31

I have the [url="http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=431374&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50523&subdeptNum=50529&classNum=50536"]Guest Charge Pro[/url] like Larry is talking about...I have the 10 amp one...got it on sale at Academy....I have power at my slip, so my boat stays plugged in when I'm not there.

Whatever solution you choose....you need to keep the batteries charged up. If you leave them in a discharged state, they'll be ruined.

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sethp001
Mainsheet C-25 Tech Editor

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814 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2012 : 07:50:10

My boat came with a Guest charger installed by a PO. I can't remember which model, but we've been very happy with it. It does a great job charging batteries when we're plugged into shore power, which is almost always when we're at the boat.

The amp on our outboard couldn't otherwise keep our batteries charged, but then, there's 7 of us and I've only switched two of our cabin lights to LEDs, and we run a box fan bungee'd down onto the forward hatch when we're at dock during the dog days of summer.

The PO mounted the charger on the outside of the starboard settee, on the other side of the battery box. Then he just plugged the charger into an A/C outlet at the head of the aft quarter berth. I don't like that it's plugged in that way, but it doesn't look bad. Sometime, I'll get around to wiring it properly.

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2012 : 08:51:56

I have a Pro Mariner single bank 6A that works fine for my needs. It was cheapest at the time, but Guest is a little cheaper now. I connect through a 1/All/2/Off switch to charge either battery. You only need a single bank charger of 6 - 10 A with your batteries in parallel. Any of the big brands - Guest, Professional Mariner, Mastervolt, Xantrex - have similar protective circutry and will fit your needs. Cheapos from the Big Box store will be ferro-magnetic, electrically noisy, and likely shorten you battery life.

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redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 07/17/2012 : 09:09:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by CarbonSink62
 Almost any decent charger will have a selection for flooded/sealed batteries. $50-60 bucks should get you a nice one. Cruisers that have thousands of dollars worth of batteries get super-duper chargers that cost hundreds and analyze the charge state of the batteries and yada yada yada...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I resemble that cruiser! I started to have trouble with my Zantrex super duper charger and got s 10 amp digital display one at the autoparts store for 50-60 bucks...

sten

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.