Onboard Battery Chargers

[Seaweed]

Does anyone really understand this whole onboard Battery Charger issue.

 

I thought I did.

 

Recently I have just somehow managed to mess up my second battery charger in 5 years.

 

I had a ProMariner12 for three years. Worked great. No hassles. Then one day the charging LED light refused to come on anymore. Long story short I was never really confident that my batteries were getting fully charged anymore so... out it came and I installed another unit this year to replace this old one. I did keep the old one though... why I don't know I hang on to old stuff.

 

Long story short... this past weekend after a run to Belleville and back where I had the unit plugged in at my Son's place and I verified by checking the lights .... out we went fishing...no problem. I trailer the boat home. Go to plug it in.... no lights...nothing not a Power light and no Charging light either. I checked all the connections and fuses. Everything looks good. Checked the power cord and it ran a fan fine.

 

So my question to you folks is.... what the heck am I doing to these charges or are they just a prone to problems?

 

I run two Deka Marine batteries in a 24v series to a Motorguide 67 Brute Electric motor. This is all that is connected to my chargers. Any help or info would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have contacted the maker of the chargers and will post any reply I get from them.

[Billy Bob]

Sorry to hear you are having problems with the onboard charging systems. I have had this one for 4-5 years now without a problem and it has definitely extended both my batteries. When the boat is in the garage I have a extension cord hanging from the ceiling and it will automatically disconnect when I forget to disconnect manually (MANY TIMES) in the morning since I will have the boat hooked up to the truck the night before.

 

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/template...&hasJS=true

[Fisherman]

I wonder if it's only the LED indicator lights that quit, if you use it for 24 hours a day for 180 days x 3 years would be just over 12K hours, some LEDs are rated for l;onger than that, but who knows. If you charge the battery(s) for 24 hours, then unhook them from the chargers and let them sit for 12 hours, not hooked up to anything, a fully charged battery should still read 12.65 volts with a good digital meter.

[Tacklebuster]

My charger gave up on me last year, it was good while it lasted. I spoke with the marina, and he told me that they really only last around 3 yrs. I had mine for about 4 years so I guess it did its job. I don't know why they don't last longer, I think they should. Perhaps the pounding they get is too much, and over time they can't handle it. Its not as convenient, but I just decided to replace it with a portable charger. I figured I need one anyhow for storing the batteries over the winter, and for the price those on board ones need to last longer than 3 years.

[Terry]

my on board charger lasted 9 years and it was still working when I sold the boat....

mine was called something like guest pro 2 or along that line

[lew]

I purchased my boat new in 1999 and installed a Guest 2611, dual bank charger for my 2 deep cycles and it's still working flawlessly to this day and I charge my batteries constantly.

 

I'm still on the original bateries too.

[John Bacon]

My charger gave up on me last year, it was good while it lasted. I spoke with the marina, and he told me that they really only last around 3 yrs. I had mine for about 4 years so I guess it did its job. I don't know why they don't last longer, I think they should. Perhaps the pounding they get is too much, and over time they can't handle it. Its not as convenient, but I just decided to replace it with a portable charger. I figured I need one anyhow for storing the batteries over the winter, and for the price those on board ones need to last longer than 3 years.

 

The pounding has hurt my 15+ year old portable charger that is stored in the front of my boat. I had to put a new plug on it this year, but it still keeps my batteries charge. I have seen some of those on board charges selling for $500+ ... I would be pretty upset if it only lasted three years.