On-board battery chargers

[Ray]

I am looking to invest in one, however, I am not sure in which direction to head. My setup is two batteries. At this point, I am considering...

Protournament 200 (by promariner) - 20 Amps (2 banks at 10A)

or

Guest 2620A - 20 Amp Battery Charger at 20 Amps (2 banks at 10A)

Anythoughts on these two models or others will be appreciated.

Thanks for your time, Ray

[Tim Bromund]

Ray,

I have a 2 battery setup on my boat and I have the Guest 2611A installed, 10 Amp 5/5 two banks and it works great. I have it plugged in all the time when it's sitting in the slip (don't want the battery to go dead and not operate the bilge pump).

Even when the boat is sitting on the trailer in my yard, I plug it in overnight and the batteries are always fully charged the next morning.

the 20 amp charger may be overkill and an un-needed expense. You won't go wrong with it, but that level may not be necessary or worth the added expense.

Tim

[Ray]

Tim,

Thanks for the reply...it is really appreciated. I am going to take your advice and go with the same model you have.

Have a great one.

Ray

[Yankee Troller]

One thing I might suggest is a on board charger that will charge while your trolling. If you have all the electronics hooked up to one batery and the big motor hooked up to the other that onboard charger will charge the "accessory" battery while your trolling and the big motor will charge the main battery.

[Fishtails]

What do you guys think about solar chargers like these....

www.stores.ebay.com/LA-Liquidators2-INC_Solar

Products_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ3QQftidZ2QQsclZ1QQtZkm

Anyone have experience with them? Short of having a solar panel mounted on the boat, they sound interesting to me. What would the downside of these chargers be? They go up to 85 watts...What wattage would be good for a 3 battery system? Would you use a battery charger type(higher wattage)...or the trickle charge type just to maintain (lower wattage)??

[borderline 350]

Dear Battery Charger Friends etc.,

The use of battery chargers seems very simple until you try living off battery systems/ boat engines, RV's etc. If you are seeking reliability in your batteries, read up @ your battery mfgs. website.

In general, wet 12V acid type marine/RV batteries need to have 14 to 14.2 volts during the charging cycle. 20 amp chargers are suitable for two batteries, but a 30 amp charger will give you great starting ability, when you have a battery down. Also remember that your std. marine alternator puts out 35 amps or more (@ 14.2 volts) at approx. 2000 engine RPM.

NOW if your using AGM or gel batteries, the max.voltage should be around 13.2 VOLTS!. If you do not have the correct charger, battery life is shortened to one season! And YES, the alternator has to be redone to limit the voltage to around 13.2 volts. Several mfg's are making chargers with a switch operation to accomplish the correct charging voltage.

My own experience with 4 wet cell group 27's(with a 30 amp charger) was to check the water level every two weeks and add some to keep the level correct. Checking water level is very important in getting max. life out of the batteries.

AGM batteries are wonderfull batts when you treat them properly 13.2 volts MAX with the corrected alternator output!

Respectfully submitted,

Jet Boat Bill

[muskybob]

Very good info on batteries: http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm