Bassin101 Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 How many amps is your charger? I have a 12/24 volt trolling motor, two deep cycle batteries. I almost always run 24 volt. My charger is a 2/6 amp when I put it on six, it still takes 12 hrs to charge a battery. I am looking to shorten the charge time as much as possible. What type/amperage of chargers should I look at? ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamblerOH Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Get a dual pro three bank charger.It will charge 10 amps PER battery, my batteries usually recover in 6-8 hrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassin101 Posted June 9, 2005 Author Share Posted June 9, 2005 Gambler, I googled that charger its cool but a little out of my range now. I like the two bank 10 amp also. I have not been able to find a portable 2 or 3 bank, are they all on-boards now? My concern is charging in my garage with the door closed...boom lol ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamblerOH Posted June 9, 2005 Share Posted June 9, 2005 thats the only place my boat has been charged(except motels!!) since I brought it home. I have never heard of anyone having that problem anyway. Another good charger for a lot less is the minnkota on board. I would get an on board for sure just because all you have to do is plug it in, and when youre traveling all you need to bring is a good heavy extension cord. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hydrillagorilla Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I thought I would chime in here with another question. I have my 2 trolling batteries hooked up in a 24v configuration. I have a dual pro 2 bank charger. If I hook up one side to my first trolling battery - the one with the wires to it from the front trolling motor will it charge both batteries? or do I need to hook up the other 'bank' to the second trolling battery for it to charge? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddpuppy Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 This is probably anouther one of my your not qualified to respond repleys, but here goes any way. Bassin can you leave the door open just a little at the bottom, if I remember the gasses produced are heavier than air. I don't really think there are that many produce durring maintaing anyway. Now if you have a gas dryer or water heater I wouldn't advise it on a full charge/ door down. I have seen a battery blow while jumping it. I think I would hook up each battery seperatly. We used to cross charge with an old battery to go from 12 to six volts so I think I will leave it at that, instead of telling you something wrong. I don't have a 24volt system any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamblerOH Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Hydragorilla, you will want to charge your 24 volt system as a 24 volt system. You have to buy a charger that is designed for 24 volts systems, if you get a regular 12 volt then you will have to disconnect each time you recharge >. For example my dual pro has 3 banks 2 of which charge the 24 volt trolling system and the other one keeps my cranking battery fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hydrillagorilla Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 I get the picture Gambler, thanks. I want exactly what you have! Model #? Remember price? If nothing else Gambler boats look cool! Never ridden in one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamblerOH Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Mine is a 3 bank pro se it is a total 30 amp(10 per bank)tha part # in Bass pro is 28-580-080-00. The cost is $269.00. The pro version is about $75 more dollars and the only reason you would need it would be if you only had a few hours to recharge. As long as you have 6-8 hours the pro SE will be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamblerOH Posted June 11, 2005 Share Posted June 11, 2005 Hydragorrilla, Gambler boats do ride good but are not the best riding out there. They are fast though ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Doesn't matter to a 12V charger if the batteries are hooked up in 12V, 24V, or 36 as long as it is only connected to one battery. If you have two batteries and ony one charger, buy you another $30 charger. Hook one charger to each battery. You don't have to disconnect or switch anything. The chargers are only going to see the voltage of the one battery they are connected. Two 12V batteries in series make 24V but each battery is still only 12V. Three bank onboard chargers are basically nothing but three 12 volt chargers in one case that share some of the same parts. As for a charger, a 10amp will charge almost twice as fast as your 6 amp. Don't use anything larger than 15 amps on a deep cycle TM battery. You can use bigger chargers but they have to be turned back to less than 15 amps once the battery reaches 80% charge or you will damage the battery. I would also suggest charging the cranking battery everytime also. I most cases after running the electronics and pumps all day, the cranking battery is only at approx 80% when you load the boat. The charging system isn't usually run long to keep it fully charged. Three bank onboards are the way to go (for two TM and one cranking battery), I do though prefer the ProMariner, but when you don't want to spend you next six months fishing budget on one, the drop cord with three recepticals and a couple of cheap chargers work. Just don't leave them connected for long periods after the charger has cut off. Some can still have enough charge current to overheat a battery. Oh, and for charging in a closed garage, no problem. They will not vent enough gas to cause any problem. You should leave the deck lid open over the batteries. With it closed there might be the possibility of enough build up to cause a problem by the spark you get when you disconnect the chargers if they are still charging or just finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassin101 Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Thanks for the info guys ...more questions though. I have a TM that is 12/24volt ( I can switch back and forth). 1. Can I leave the motor hooked up (all wires) when I charge? 2. With a 2 or 3 bank, would each battery stay hooked to the charger while running? 3. About how long are the wires that go from the charger to the battery? 4. Do you guys use maintenance free or refillable batteries? 5. When charging my engine starting battery, is it necessary to disconnect all the wires? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamblerOH Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Ben, when you connect a 24v system you are making it truly 24 volts, it is no longer just a 12 volt battery. You connect the pos of one to the neg of the other with a jumper wire. The only way to charge them like youre saying is to unhook the batterys. Bassin101, you should be able to leave everything hooked up all of the time. Just plug in the unit and thats it. I use Interstate batteries so they are refillable, but i've never had to add anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassin101 Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Thanks GamblerOH, on the dual pro se how long are the wires that attach to the batteries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I have a degree and approx 40 years in electronics. I also deal with industrial batteries on a daily bases so I do have a little background in what I'm talking about. You can have 10, 12V batteries hooked in series so you have 120VDC, but you still only have 12 volt batteries and each or anyone of the 10 can be charged with a 12 volt charger without disconnecting anything, as long as you hook the charger in the proper polarity to the post of only one battery. Your onboard charger is not a 12V and a 24V charger, it is three 12V chargers. That's why you hook a pair cables to each batteries negative and positive post. OK, I'm making an assumption here since I've never used a Dual Pro because their technology is to out of date, but I have used others and I've never known of one that used a 24V charger to charge the TM batteries. Bassin101, depends on the year model of the motor as to the recommend method of charing the cranking battery. The newer motors with solid state regulators can be damaged by the arc created connecting a disconnecting a battery charger, for those it is recommended to disconnect one of the cables before connecting the charger. With an onboard charger you don't have to worry about that, it stays connected so there is no arc. Now I know a dozen people will say they do it all the time. Before I started using onboard chargers I did too, bunches of times, until I finally popped a $140 regulator one time. As for connecting and disconnecting, you don't have to do any of that. If your bow has the switch marked "run", "charge", and you use that socket to connect the charger, that switch connects the batteries in parallel so you will be charging both batteries at the same time. If that is the case, I would recommend you get at least a 15 - 20 amp charger for that. Forgot the batteries. Sealed batteries are a little cleaner to mess with, but don't normally have the amp capacity of the unsealed batteries. I prefer the unsealed but I maintain may batteries properly and get three - four years use from them. Proper maintenance is the life of a battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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