SuperDave Posted February 4, 2015 Report Posted February 4, 2015 I want to purchase an on board battery charger. It will be for my Terrova 80lb. thrust 24V trolling motor. There seem to be many out there, with either 2 or 3 banks and also different Amps from 8 to 20. Could someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks, Dave
Tom McCutcheon Posted February 4, 2015 Report Posted February 4, 2015 Hey Dave....The Minn Kota 2 bank charger Mike has on his boat has worked well for the last 7 years. I can't tell you whether it's 8 or 20 amps or somewhere in between, but it will fully charge the two deep cycle batteries overnight. Now that I've said that, it will act up this season.....
Terry Posted February 4, 2015 Report Posted February 4, 2015 you need one bank per battery , so 24v system 2 banks you need to know if its 8 amps per bank or 20 amps per bank or total amps if total that would give you 4 amps or 10 amps the more amps the quicker they recharge
landry Posted February 4, 2015 Report Posted February 4, 2015 I did a lot of research. The Minn Kota get good stability and reliability reviews. That's what I went with a year ago. 2 bank.
porkpie Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 Good question, I've been trying to decide what kind of charger to put in your old boat lol.
sofabed Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I have a 2 bank Minkota on my boat. It stopped working with a couple of weeks left on warranty last summer. They replaced it without any questions asked. Great service.
Paudash Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 watch the warranties on these, I have found they last 2 years or 10 years not much in between lots of good information on this sight if you do a search I found an older model 3 bank charger at Canadian tire last year on clearance that came with a five year warranty, everything else I could find had 1 or 2 years
chimpboy_to Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I have the same trolling motor and picked up a Dual pro recreational 2 bank charger for it, never any problems, does a great job to charge and pretty reasonable.
fish_fishburn Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 Dual Pro 10 amp. mine is 19 yrs old and no issues
G.mech Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) You need one bank for each trolling battery plus one for the starting battery to charge and maintain it too....plug it in and forget it. You can purchase cable extension kits for the one at the stern depending on which unit you decide on. 5A per bank (15A total) will charge your batteries overnight especially with the higher end models that self regulate. Edited February 5, 2015 by G.mech
Lape0019 Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I have the mk330. It's gotta be close to 8 years old as I bought it used. It charges my deep cycles and cranking battery in less that 5 hours after a heavy day on the water. The cranking battery is usually charged within an hour but the deep cycles take a little longer because they don't get any charge from the main motor. All of the ones in the market today seem to be pretty smart and you don't have to play around with setting for wet or AGM batteries. You just have to make sure the charger you but is suitable for the battery you are using.
Terry Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I have never had the need to charge my starting battery. Unless close to the se price I would not spend the extra money on a third bank. Unless your charging system on your motor is crap But then I would spend the extra money on fixing it. Imo
BillM Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I run a Guest 2 bank on our Lund after multiple recommendations from a few guys on here. Great charger, no problems yet and it's plugged in all winter!
Pigeontroller Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I don't understand the need to have your cranking battery hooked to the onboard charger? Isn't that what your alternator does?
Terry Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I don't understand the need to have your cranking battery hooked to the onboard charger? Isn't that what your alternator does? my point exactly, seems like a waste of money to me
lew Posted February 5, 2015 Report Posted February 5, 2015 I'm another that's never seen a need for hooking a charger to the cranking battery.
G.mech Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) I don't understand the need to have your cranking battery hooked to the onboard charger? Isn't that what your alternator does? If you leave your boat parked for long periods or leave the batteries in during winter storage it's nice to know the cranking battery is being taken care of. It's the most important one on the boat in my mind. The added cost for the third bank isn't significant really but like you guys suggest, it's not a 'must have' I guess. Edited February 6, 2015 by G.mech
Terry Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 I take all my batteries out of my boat for the winter, my boat is stored for the winter and no electricity there. but I have always removed them
Lape0019 Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 It's not needed but if you use your electronics often and do not make long charges, your cranking battery may never get fully charged. I prefer to just be careful and charge all three. I got a great deal in mine so I couldn't resist.
workwear Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 make sure when installing it ...you install it in a dry place on yer boat....
Lape0019 Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 I've posted it before, but I have alligator clips installed on mine and leave it out of the boat (they are heavy!!!) It takes 10 seconds more to hook everything up and get back into the house!
Mister G Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 I have a Cabela's 2 bank charger.......the first one I had 4.5 years and it stopped working. Cabela's replaced it free of charge......the replacement is about 7-8 old now and it's the cats meow IMHO. And it's about half the price of some of these on-board chargers.
Mister G Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 I have never had the need to charge my starting battery. Unless close to the se price I would not spend the extra money on a third bank. Unless your charging system on your motor is crap But then I would spend the extra money on fixing it. Imo I would have to disagree with you because nowadays we have sooooo many things running off that starting battery.........HOWEVER, that's not the only reason. I keep my batteries hooked up ALL winter long because I have a on-board charger that maintains those batteries all winter. I believe all the newer on-board chargers are smart chargers and you want them hooked up whenever you are not fishing.
Terry Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 I have never needed to charge a starting battery on a boat with proper charging system and I don't think theres a toy that uses power that I don't have on my boat (LOL) including downriggers, with my kicker at the lowest speed I can go,it keeps it fully charged I don't have power hydraulic steering .....which can be a killer and I charge once them in the middle of the winter , only a battery that is put away not fully charged or one that is on it's way out will freeze
mike rousseau Posted February 6, 2015 Report Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) That reminds me... I should put the charger on my starter to top it up... Been sitting outside since Christmas... Edited February 6, 2015 by Mike Rousseau
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