On Board Chargers

[Eyeshavit]

I'm having difficulty deciding on what I actually need. I fish 1-2 times a week, walleye and musky, so I use my trolling motor battery a lot. I have a regular car battery charger that I use to keep my trolling battery up. I'm looking for a lower maintainence system. Will an on board charger only charge when I'm running my big motor? Can someone explain this or an alternate system for my need?
Should I go to a 24 volt setup? Or just buy a better battery charger. Thanks for the advice.

[Drift'r]

Howdy,
A good place to start would be www.chargepro.com/ There you can see what is offered & what will suit your needs. Guest Charge Pro are among the finest made. I had the #2631 on my old boat & when I came home all I did was plug her in.
Come to the Chatroom on Walleyecentral Wednesday evening at 7 central time. Sue D. from Guest Charge Pro will be hosting an on-line chat. She will be happy to answer any questions.
Good fishin.....Drift'r

[arrowhead]

A on board battery charger that runs of your gas motor is rarely a good idea, the gas motor charger is designed to recharge the starting battery at high amperage for a short time. The way most on board chargers work is they run off A.C., like your present set-up but installed in the boat. Units may be had to also top off your starting battery in addition to your trolling batteries. The better units like Guest may be left on charge when not fishing, without them damaging the batteries. If you which to get a more powerful trolling motor 24V is the way to go or if you just what more run time on your present trolling motor just add a matching battery in parallel with your presnt battery. Your present charger will take twice as long to recharge this set-up.

[Sue D.]

Thank you Drift'r.
Sue D.

[Sue D.]

I would look at the Guest model 2613 charger. You can charge up to three batteries, two trolling at 5 amps each and one cranking at 3 amps, plus it will maintain your batteries at full charge in between fishing trips. Or you can combine the trolling outputs for 10 amps to one battery for a faster recharge.

As Drift'r mentioned above, I am looking forward to hosting my first on-line chat this Wednesday here on Walleye Central and I am hoping to have a few questions regarding our battery chargers. In any case I do expect to have a good time chatting with all the great people here.

Have a great day!
Sue D.

[Gunga Din]

Hi Sue,

I've never needed to charge my cranking battery--it seems to get enough from running around the lake. Is it really beneficial to recharge the cranking battery? What Guest charger is best for a 24V setup? Thanks!

[Eyeshavit]

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear, I never charge my starter battery (during the season). I am only looking for a way to keep my trolling battery at max charge on and off the water, and of course at the minimum expense. Thanks

[Sue D.]

Hi Gunga Din,
It depends on how often you fish and how fast you want your batteries charged back up. Either model 2611 (10 amp total) or 2620 (20 amps total) will work for either a 12 volt or a 24 volt system.

Sue D.

[Sue D.]

Look at model 2608. It is a single output 8 amp onboard charger that will charge and maintain a single battery. Or model 2611 will do the same as 2613, but without the additional 3 amp charge for the start battery.

[TerryMac]

Take a look @ Charge Systems International
"Dual Pro- Charger"
On-board..2 bank (2 independent chargers, actually) unit.
These are waterproof, don't build noticeable heat, and go into a "float" mode when battery is charged. Put out 10 amps to each battery at max...so they are pretty fast.
Just plug your boat in when you get home...she'll be ready to go when you are.

[John N]

Hi Sue. What special knowledge or equipment would I need to install a 2623 on my 17' Lund ProSport (two trolling thunders under the port console, cranking battery in the back)? Is this a do-it-yourself project for a guy that doesn't have any experience in this sort of thing, or should the boat dealer do it? Where would you suggest the charger be placed? Thanks for your thoughts. John.

[Jokim]

Maybe someone can answer my question. I have a 12-volt trolling motor with 2 deep cycle batteries connected in parallel and want to use a 2 bank - 20 amp (10 per bank) onboard charger. One battery is in the front of the boat and the other is in the rear. The best place to install the charger would be in the front battery compartment.

Do I need to run a separate lead to the rear battery or can I just use the existing wire? In other words can I connect both leads from the charger directly to the front battery since the 2 batteries are already connected in parallel?? Or do I need to disconnect the 2 batteries and run separate leads to each battery to get the full effect of the 2 bank charger? It would be a hassle to run the second lead to the rear battery because the existing one runs through the floor. Especially if it is not needed. I was hoping I could just plug the charger in without having to disconnect anything. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Sue D.]

Hi John,
You do not need any special equiptment to install a Guest charger, with the exception of maybe some patience in routing the wires :)
As for the location, I don't know enough about all the different layouts of all the different boats out there. I would suggest though that you put it in a convenient location where you can easily check the led lights on occasion.

[Sue D.]

John,
You should be able to hook both outputs from the charger to your battery up front as the charge will flow over to the second battery that you have in parallel. I would check with the charger manufacturer to be certain you can.

[Jeff_IN]

I can second the 2611. I installed one a couple of months ago and really like it. Good price too.

[Ram Man]

SUE!!! Where's my charger????????? I need it BADLY!!!(pleez)

[ibfishn]

Sue, if you have two batteries hookedup in parrallel how do I hookup the leads from a two bank charger? If I only hookup one lead how will it know if both batteries are fully charged? Do I need to disconnect the jumper cables between the batteries to hookup both banks and charge properly?

[Sue D.]

When the second battery is hooked up in parallel it creates one large battery. Hook both outputs to your single battery and you will increase the charge going to your batteries.