On board chargers

[Ness]

I'm a little confused about on board chargers. A friend at work was saying today that his buddy had one that charged while they were out on the lake fishing? Is this the way all of them work? I thought it was something you hooked up after you came back in??? Any info would be greatly appreciated because the Mister is saying that they sound like a nice thing to have, and we've been married too long for me to miss a hint like that.
:-) Thanks.

[Mr.Pike]

Ness, YOU are right on the part about plugging in when you get home.The battery(s) are wired to the charger at all times, then when you get somewhere that you can plug in, you're all set.
However I do remember seeing somewhere a odd charger that was SOLAR powered and was supposed to charge when you were out on the water or wherever! I do wonder how well that thing would work? I think you got the go ahead on the charger though. GO FOR IT!! It is a nice feature not to have to lug the charger around. Also with the new units, they monitor the amount of charge needed and adjust accordingly. Better battery life and piece of mind when going out.Good luck.
<;{{{{{<<( Mr.Pike

[TBO/MN]

Ness,

I have my starting battery hooked up so I can switch it over to the trolling batteries, so when I am using the big motor I can switch it over to charge the trolling batteries. Really easy to do, email me and I will tell you how to do it.

The Big One

[Den]

Ness, there is a solunar charger too, i have a set of them on my musky boat, one for each battery. They are not a high voltage charger, they are more of a trickle charger, and they do work, just not as fast as an electric charger. i do a lot of night fishing and these will keep a battery at a decent charge if the boat sets during the day, or a battery is not being used in daylight under a lot of drainage. the on board charger is a very convenient set up, you are not lugging a battery charger all over the place, you just hook up the extension cord and forget about it. good luck and good fishin.
Den

[Mike B. (OK)]

On board chargers are really nice, especially if you have multiple batteries, as most of us do. It is much easier to just plug them in when you get home, especially if your batteries are hard to get to. They do help extend battery life too, as some other posts have suggested. Guest Co. has a very good line of chargers, and great customer service.

[John N]

I wonder if you're asking about outboard engine chargers that can extend trolling motor running time by using your outboard engine's alternator output to charge the troller batteries. These chargers use the surplus charging power of engines that need less that their full alternator output to keep the cranking battery charged. CSI's Pro Extra II is one model, with the company estimating that the unit provides up to 20% more troller running time on a typical day. Retails for around $155. Another is the Navigator. These and other types of chargers were discussed in an article in the March 2000 issue of Bass & Walleye Boats, which might be of interest. Good luck. John.

[mkebenn]

I'm also confused, I thought my outboard(60hp Johnson) would recharge it's self. I have a gas kicker so no need there, what am I missing?
Mike

[Anglin Andy]

Ness, the Guest line of battery chargers are a great line to look at. I would suggest either a 2 bank with 10 amps each or the 3 bank system depending on the number of batteries that you have in your boat. It is nice at the end of the day to simply hook up your extension cord to your onboard charger and not worry about hauling around a portable charger each trip. Both of you will enjoy it. Good fishing, AA

[John N]

It dawned on me that what you might be looking for was a regular on-board charger, rather than the kind that supplements a charge as you go. As I wrote my first post I assumed that you already had an on-board charger, and were looking for a way to extend troller battery life by charging as you go on the water. Ergo, my post above. However, re-reading your post, seemed you might be looking for a regular on-board charger, and not the supplemental charger. If that's the case, you might still enjoy looking over the article on chargers in the March 2000 Bass & Walleye Boat mag, as it analyzes and compares a number of different types of chargers based on different needs, and so on. Good luck, John.

[Bob hetrick]

Ness; I have been using an onboard charger for years and the kind I have beenusing is a Guest type. I have twin outboards and three batterys.One motor will keep all the batts.charged while trolling.They only charge the lowest Batt.and they have no back flow.What I mean is they will not let a fulley charged Batt. flo into a low Batt. And these can be bought thru Cabeles. I hpope this helped you out. good luck Redeye

[Mike_Jensen]

Ness
Most chargers only charge when they are plugged in, however there is (Maybe was) a charger that I believe was made by either Minkota or Golden Eye that took the extra power from your outboards alternater and chargered you trollong motor batteries. There were 2 different models one would just use the alternater power and an other that also had a AC charger in it too. The problem with these chargers is that they only put out 10 Amps of charge when pulled in. That is 10 Amps total charge to all batteries, which was not enough to fully charge fully drained batteries.
I had one of these units on a boat in the early 90's and it worked pretty well, however if I used all of my trolling motor batteries I would have to hook up another charger to help it out over night.
Mike

[dave]

Just installed a Guest on board charger.I have 2 deep cycle batteries hooked up.You can go forever,if 1 battery gets low just click over to battery #2.If both get low you can switch to BOTH then it will use the left over power from both batteries.

[Gunga Din]

I've heard of a charger that will charge your boat's batteries from your car's alternator while trailering. I think that's what Ness's friend's buddy is referring to. I don't know any specifics on that type of charger, however.

[Mike_Jensen]

Gunga Din
Actually that is a heavy duty cable that you can plug into the bow power plug and hook the other end to your tpw vehicles battery. This will charge you trolling motor batteries as you drive.
Mike

[Jim/UT]

I have the Navigator unit that charges main and trolling motor batteries from your main motor as you run up and down the lake. It is a great thing for multi day trips where you don't have access to power, but otherwise it probably isn't necessary. If you come home every night, a Guest charger would probably be an adequate setup.

[Ness]

Mike, I'm pretty sure that's the system Paul was talking about. After reading all the posts, I'm leaning toward a three bank charger... one you plug in when you get home :-) I think it'll more than meet our needs. Thanks for helping to clear my befuddled brain.

[REW]

Everybody is talking about three different thing in this post.

1. A typical electrical start outboard has a built in alternator. The size of the alternator may be any where from 5-75 amps. Less for older outboards, and more for newer higher horsepower outboards.
2. Any of these outboards will supply enough current, while running to maintain their electrical powerw for running as well as keeping the starting battery recharged -- if there aren't a lot of accessories, and if you aren't just running at idle. If you do have a lot of accessories and do hours and hours of trolling -- the outboard motor is likely not able to keep the starting battery charged.

3. The 2nd thing that some of the folks are talking about is -- a system -- to tap into the excess alternator output of some of the larger outboards / larger alternators -- and charge not only the outboard starting battery but one or more trolling motor batteries -- either directly or through some sort of switch.

4. The 3rd thing that the folks were talking about is a charging system to top off all of the batteried -- starting as well as any and all of the trolling motor batteries. Some of the larger trolling motors are 36 volt motors and take three trolling motor batteries. Some folks are also paranoid about being stuck on the lake and have two starting batteries for a total of 5 on board batteries.

The systems that may of the posts refer to is a 110 volt battery charger that is installed on board the boat and is permenantely wired into one or all of the batteries. The advantage of this system is that the boat owner simply pulls up to a 110 volt plug -- whether in his or her garage, or the resort or cabin dock -- and plugs in a single 110 volt cord to the receptcale that is installed on the boat. Then without further attention all of the boat batteries (if all connected) are topped off. When the batteries are fully charged -- the charger shuts itself off. If the batteries become partially discharged due to long term storage -- the battery charger turns itself back on and recharges the batteries (all without owner intervention).

5. Then of course the last method to replensih used electrical energy is to use 'standard" remote battery chargers. Either a single, or multiple chargers are connected at the boats location -- the charger or chargers are plugged into the 110 volt supply and the batteries recharged. When complete -- the boat owner unplugs the charger or chargers, and stores the charger or chargers.

I hope that this cleared up any misunderstanding.

Take care

REW

[Mike_Jensen]

Ness
I think thats the best system for you. The one I was talking about that did both pull in charge and charge as you are running is a "Dual Phase" Charger. On page 169 of the 1999 Cabela's Master Catalog there is on for $199.99. I have had one of them before and they did not charge enough to recharge DEAD batteries over night.
Mike

[The Terminator]

Sounds like an awesome idea. Could you e-mail me the details of how to do this.

Thanks...Tony

[dahopping]

Ness,
Just ordered a Guest 3 bank charger (2631) today. Called up Reeds in Walker MN 1-800-346-0019 directly and got it for $30 less than Bass Pro Shops or Cabela's.

Hop