On board Battery Chargers

[Fishn Technishn]

I am fed up with hooking up/unhooking portable battery chargers! I currently have 1 battery for trolling motor & 1 battery to start big motor etc.

Anyone have anything good/bad to say about the different brands? Is it best to get a multi battery one to also charge the starting battery or is it a waste of time/money? Any particular places best/worst location to mount?

Anything to stay away from? Is the "transfer on demand" stuff all it is cracked up to be?

 

Thanks in advance for any help,

 

FT

[lew]

I'd say Guest is one of the best names in On-Board chargers.

 

I've been using a model 2611 for the past 8 years and so far it's been flawless. I've got 2 deep cycles so use a dual bank, but I'm sure you can purchase a single bank for your boat.

 

As long as you've got an alternator on your main angine, you shouldn't need to use a charger to maintain your cranking battery.

[Tacklebuster]

I have to agree, Guest is one of the top brand names for on-board chargers. Why do you charge your starter battery, it shouldn't really need charging, except in the spring before your first outing of the year, or unless there are long stretches between outings. If you find that your starter battery needs charging, you either need a new one or you might have a problem with your alternator.

[Fishn Technishn]

Thanks Great advice so far.

Just put in the question re: the starting battery 'cuz some chargers split the amps but others will send all or most to whichever needs it. That way if you have say a 5+5 you could in theory get 10 amps going to recharge the trolling battery +faster? Supposedly it will also prolong/condition the battery. Lots of hype & advertising out there & I would much rather rely on most peoples experience.

 

Keep'em coming!

 

FT

[Tacklebuster]

I have a Guest 3 bank charger, 2 for trolling motor deep cycle batteries, and one for the starter. I never connected the starter bank. When one of my deep cycle banks gave up on me, I used the free bank on the deep cycle. It took longer to charge the battery but it worked. In the future I would only buy a 2 bank charger for 2 deep cycle batteries.

[silveradosheriff]

I too have a three bank charger and really only use two banks for the trolling motor batteries.

The alternator keeps the cranking battery quite randy.

So - if you can save some dough, I would take the two bank.

[Fishn Technishn]

Well I finally got my on board charger. Had to drop my oldest daughter off at Pearson Airport on Friday so we made a side trip to BPS. I used some gift cards I got for Christmas and even better....it was ON SALE!! Originally $140 but on sale for $80. I got the Guest 2611., 2 outputs..if it's good enough for Lew for 8 years, it should last me at least 5.

Thanks to all those whose helped with their input.

 

Now I have really dumb question. Can I hook up both outputs to the same battery to charge faster? If not,WHY? Or should I just use one side of the charger and wait until it pukes & then use the 2nd output. Any do or don't suggestions as to where/how to hook it up?

I don't know where these ideas come from...must be the shift work.LOL

It was so mild here in London, I was out in the garage messing around with the boat...come on spring!!!!

 

Thanks

FT

[Fisherman]

Now I have really dumb question. Can I hook up both outputs to the same battery to charge faster? If not,WHY? Or should I just use one side of the charger and wait until it pukes & then use the 2nd output. Any do or don't suggestions as to where/how to hook it up?

I don't know where these ideas come from...must be the shift work.LOL

It was so mild here in London, I was out in the garage messing around with the boat...come on spring!!!!

 

Thanks

FT

Putting part of the blame on shiftwork I can understand, but, did this thing come in a package? Were there any instructions on what NOT to do and what is supposed to be done? RT*I. Then there won't be a ball of smoke and the "oh sonofabirchtree".

[irishfield]

You know why it's called magic smoke eh?

[lew]

Originally $140 but on sale for $80. I got the Guest 2611., 2 outputs..if it's good enough for Lew for 8 years, it should last me at least 5.

 

Congrats on your purchase and I hope it serves you as well as mine has for me !!

 

Just remember to use it often and keep the batteries fully charged ALL the time and hopefully they'll last as long as the charger. My batteries & charger were all bought together on the same day 8 years ago and are all still working flawlessly.

 

Boy, they've sure come down alot in price over the years too, I payed close to $200 for mine back in '99, but I spose their like any other electronic gizmo when it comes to pricing.

[Fishn Technishn]

Here is a link to the manual on the Guest site. http://www.marinco.com/docs/inst/727852.pdf Mine is #2611A At the bottom of page #7 is the phrase mentioning "in series or parallel". Just wanted to see what others thought,

sounded kind of "hinky " to me. But what do I know, I work shiftwork!

Thanks for the replies....I will wait until i have a definitive answer. Maybe I will contact Guest, they have a Tech Support #

 

FT

[Terry]

I would have to say that you can not hook up both outputs to the same battery

you can do parallel for two batteries in series or series for 24v but not to the same battery

[aplumma]

If you have a 2 bank charger and you have two batteries why not hook the charger to both batteries. Anytime a battery is not at full charge it is creating sulfites that are killing the batteries. The battery manufactures all recomend that you charge the batteries as soon as you get off the water and not to let them sit around. A battery that sits for even as little as a week has lost some of it charge or becomes unbalanced. Saving one incase the other charger burns out does not make sense because it is the same charger only a few circuits and the leads are different. I also run the guest chargers one is a two battery unit and the other is a 3 battery 12/24 volt set up both have been flawless in their operation.

 

Art

[corvette1]

i have a pro-mariner 4 bank charger works great i had a 3 band pro-mariner before that over 10years old no troubles

[charlesn]

I would hook up the starting battery if you have an extra set of leads. Today's starting batteries have a lot more load on them than in the past, for example 2 GPSes and 2 livewells can really put a drain on the starting battery. It takes a decent run on the big motor even with the alternator working fine to get the battery back up to full. It doesn't hurt the battery at all to be hooked up to the charger, and when you need it, you will be thankful!!!

 

Guest is a very reliable brand I would trust.

 

Charles