Onboard battery charger question

[FLTENNHUNTER1]

My G3 has a 120 male receptacle mounted near the stern of the boat. Really convenient when I get home; just pop the rubber cover and plug it in.

Here is my question. Do you guys that have the onboard chargers leave them plugged in continuously like a trickle charger or unplug it once all 3 batteries are charged?

 

[WTM]

if you dont want your lead acid battery to fail in a year and a half leave it plugged in and make damn sure the fuse is not cut out and the outlet is gfi/afci protected.

a decent charger not only has bulk, absorption and float but they also do equalization in a period of time. this is very important for lead acid.

lithiums, charge up before you use them and store at 50-70% capacity. never charge at freezing.

one of these cheap analyzers is the best tool you can buy.

12V Digital Battery and System Tester

Amazing deals on this 12V Digital Battery And System Tester at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[WTM]

if you have a lithium bank and they dont have bluetooth, these are very handy for monitoring the bank(s).

Amazon product ASIN B07RTYGMBD

 

[waterman]

just replaced another in my boat. will definetly be leaving my new dual bank charger plugged in

 

[agelessssone]

My G3 has a 120 male receptacle mounted near the stern of the boat. Really convenient when I get home; just pop the rubber cover and plug it in.

Here is my question. Do you guys that have the onboard chargers leave them plugged in continuously like a trickle charger or unplug it once all 3 batteries are charged?

Mine (I have 2 boats, 5 chargers) stay plugged in 24/7. Been doing it for years.

 

[Pilchard]

if you dont want your lead acid battery to fail in a year and a half leave it plugged in and make damn sure the fuse is not cut out and the outlet is gfi/afci protected.

a decent charger not only has bulk, absorption and float but they also do equalization in a period of time. this is very important for lead acid.

lithiums, charge up before you use them and store at 50-70% capacity. never charge at freezing.

one of these cheap analyzers is the best tool you can buy.

12V Digital Battery and System Tester

Amazing deals on this 12V Digital Battery And System Tester at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

What he said

 

[bluball]

I never leaved my plugged up over a week or so.Just the way i have always done it,but theres nothing wrong with leaving it plugged up though.The main thing is use distilled water in regular wet cell batteries and they will usually last longer.

 

[Gravey]

Mine stays plugged up all winter long while she's hibernating. The way it was explained to me was it will charge when needed and not constantly.

 

[TITANSFAN2104]

I Leave mine plugged in all the time. Going to install a run n gun charger for my 16 v powerhouse lithium. It is a 12v to 16 v converter and charges frolm the onboard thats already installed as well as the alternator when its running!!

 

[BuckWild]

Just learned an expensive lesson about onboard chargers. Replaced both trolling motor batteries last spring as they were 6 years old and their capacity had diminished quite a bit. I would connect the charger up after using and sometimes leave it connected a week or so. Over the winter I kept it on when it got real cold and just left it on a couple of months.

Went fishing this past Monday and the trolling motor lasted 15 minutes. Came back to the house and pulled the boat out, pulled it up to my shed and pulled the batteries out.

Both were bone dry, all the water had cooked out of both batteries. Apparently the charger had never floated after charging the batteries. I added distilled water and put them on an external Battery Tender charger and they charged 24 hours and neither battery would read over 9 volts.

Two new batteries went in yesterday and a new onboard charger to be added. The old one is a Noco. Probably not going back with that brand.

Just throwing it out there...

 

[agelessssone]

I have three 3 banks Minnkota 330's, leave them run 24/7/365. Haven't had any problems yet.
Have one ProSport 2 bank charger, had a problem with it the other day, quit charging.
Called ProSport and had tech walk me through troubleshooting, got it fixed.
All my chargers are three years old ( two boats w/36V Ulterras) and three graphs each boat, lots of batteries.

 

[BuckWild]

Mine overcharged so bad that the heat disintegrated the plastic locking clips on the battery hold down straps.

That was the first thing I noticed when I opened the battery compartment.

 

[bluball]

Just learned an expensive lesson about onboard chargers. Replaced both trolling motor batteries last spring as they were 6 years old and their capacity had diminished quite a bit. I would connect the charger up after using and sometimes leave it connected a week or so. Over the winter I kept it on when it got real cold and just left it on a couple of months.

Went fishing this past Monday and the trolling motor lasted 15 minutes. Came back to the house and pulled the boat out, pulled it up to my shed and pulled the batteries out.

Both were bone dry, all the water had cooked out of both batteries. Apparently the charger had never floated after charging the batteries. I added distilled water and put them on an external Battery Tender charger and they charged 24 hours and neither battery would read over 9 volts.

Two new batteries went in yesterday and a new onboard charger to be added. The old one is a Noco. Probably not going back with that brand.

Just throwing it out there...

We should have a minnkota instock if interested.

 

[BuckWild]

We should have a minnkota instock if interested.

Thanks but a friend had one that he had pulled out when he upgraded.