My daughter and her husband are giving me a battery charger/tender for a christmas present. I have to pick from a couple of models and need some advice.

Right now everything on my boat, including downriggers ( cannon) and electronics, runs on a single 12 volt battery.

According to my son in law the charger/tender would keep the battery cycled and peaked and ready for use and extend the life of the battery. In the summer months it could be plugged into the battery ( I don't know how), so that the battery would always be ready to go fishing. He also raised some other issues like whether i ran batteries in parallel or had or would have a 24 volt application. He mentioned that some models have the ability to charge or tend two bateries at once, etc.

Any advice? Should i be running some of my stuff off a separate battery? Cranking or deep cycle? What type of charger should i get?

P.S. I do have a charger which i hook up to my batteries (one at a time) now and then, throughout the year, to recharge. I don't think it can be used as a "tender" .

If you can install and have the room for dual batterys its the way to go if you run tons of electronics. You should also install a battery switch as well. Battery tender makes quite a few models so I would look into their product on line first. I have battery tender juniors hooked up to all my batterys for the winter they run at 30 bucks each. They monitor the battery on the off season. if the battery falls below 12.6 volts it charges 1.75 amps to 14.4 than goes into float mode and watchs the volts if it drops below 13.6 charging will start agian at a low range and keeps an eye at all times on the battery this keeps the life of the battery healthy and ready for spring time. My tenders each came with a harness to wire directly to the battery so you can plug and unplug when needed or go with the aligater clips to the terminals. This is a great product. I got mine thru shadetree products.

Charlie

I think what you are saying is that they are giving you a charger and a trickle charger all in one.What it does is charges your battery up using(lets say its a 10 amp charger)10 amps once your battery is charged it will atuomaticly drop the charging current down to 1 to 2 amps so it will keep a small charge on your battery(so it won't boil all the water out of the batterys) at all time so when your ready to go fishing you just up plug it from the wall and go.Some of these units you have to unhook from the batterys and some you leave hooked up.I'm not sure what type you have.As far as how many batterys to use.That all depends on what you use for electronics,# riggers if they are electrics,fishfinders.VHF Etc.I run two deep cycle batterys in parallel when I'm only trolling for salmon.That is when you hook up 2 batterys by hooking up the + to the + lead and the - to the - lead of the 2 battereys you keep the voltage at 12V but you double you current so you have alot of power to use for all you electronics I also have a battery for the main motor only that runs every thing else.There are also switchs you can buy that you can switch from battery to battery.If you have room for 2 batterys that's the way I would go.They also have what they call on board chargers I have a dual bank one that charges both my battery at the same time. You wire it up and plug it in.The charger stays on the boat hooked up to the batterys.When your ready to fish just unplug the charger and go.I love mine, this is the first boat I have owend that had one. There nice if you have the room.Here are a couple of links on the switchs and the onboard charger.I have the 100 model on my boat just to give you and idea.Sorry for the LOOOONNNGG reply.I hope I said it right I don't want to screw you up(LOL)Hope this helps.

Erin
dual switch .
On board charger .

many boat mfg. and people recommend they battery charger by dual pro. They can charge and maintain up to 4 batteries at once. You leave them connected and just plug them in. I put the dual pro SE on my boat.

thanks for the feedback.

Erbyjoe, if i read you right you have 3 batteries on board.
And instead of running everything off your main battery you run some things off of a set of deep cycle batteries ( eg., you run your downriggers off the deep cycle batteries when you are trolling salmon). Is that right? Can I ask you why you use this setup? Because there would be too much drain on the main battery? Is this a pretty typical setup?

When you talk about using switches, are you talking about possibly alternating between two regular batteries ( that is, switching to a backup battery when necessary)? Or going between the regular and the deepcycle batteries?

Finally, with your dual bank charger, how do you have that set up? I mean to which of the several batteries you have on board ? To the two deep cycles?


Sorry to ask so many questions. And i don't mind the long replies! Thanks.

Floydo,
I run a 24V trolling motor that is mounted on the front of the boat so I have 2 12V deep cycle batterys hooked up in series(+ to - then postive lead of trolling motor goes to the other pos.post and the Neg. lead goes to the Other neg.Post on the battery so you are adding the 2 12V batterys together = 24V)But when I'm going to use the Downriggers alot I switch the batterys to a Parallel system so I double my current I can run my riggers for days with out a problem.but for the most part my 2 riggers run off of one of the trolling motor batery when I hooked up for a 24V system.I also tapped off one of the other battery to run my fish finder and temp probe.So my main battery only has the Vhf and Gps running off of it so I never have a problem with a dead battery.I'm not sure what you have for a boat but 2 batterys are a must if you have all types of electronics and electric riggers.AS far as mine being a typical set up,probly not.I have run my setup like this for over 20 years so I stick with it could I do it better yeah I could but why fix something that works for me.There is a compartment that is in the front of the boat that holds the 2 12V batterys That is where is mounted the battery charger It's a dual bank so I put the charger on these 2 batterys.I have a 100 foot electrical cord that I keep it pluged into so I can run it to any plug with in that 100 foot of my boat I realy don't worry about the main motor battery it's alway charging when I'm running the big motor.The trolling motor does a job on draining the batterys so that's why I did it that way.You would have to see my boat and then you would understand my reasoning.

As far as the switchs go I don't run them So maybe someone can post an answer for you.I came across them so I posted them for you to read.

I hope I didn't screw you up if I did I'm sorry.It's easyer to show you.Hope this helps.

Erin

thanks erbyjoe. i'm going to read it slowly and see if it sinks in !

When it does e mail me and explain it to me. I have one battery and bring a fully battery pack along just in case. So far I've only used thje battery pack to help others in need.

John S.
PS: I do put a new battery in every year regardless, I have this awfull fear of getting all set to go out at 4:00 am and having a dead battery, hasn't happened yet. I did have a blown main fuse once however ????

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Replying to:

thanks erbyjoe. i'm going to read it slowly and see if it sinks in !

i've got the two electric dowriggers. In addition, i've got a fishfinder,GPS and VHF . That's about it except for the livewell, AM/FM and other usual stuff.

Would you, in such a case as mine, put the downriggers ( and anything else?) on a separate battery or batteries? If so, is deep cycle the way to go when you are running something off a battery disconnected from the engine?

P.S. When do you use the electric trolling motor?

Thanks again

Floydo

what outboards are you running?
i see that the 4-stroke yamahas ( which i have) have a high output alternator built in which capable of handling electronics with no problem at trolling speed. i assume that includes riggers. i know they had it as of 2004. not sure about my 2003 but i'm going to find out. Do you know if this ( that is, "high output" ) is typical or really a newer feature in outboards.

I have 9.9 4 stroke merc.With a tiller handle it doesn't have any charging abilty.I got the motor for a VERY VERY great price I couldn't pass it up.But if you have the Yamaha T8 that is a great Motor.That will be good for charging your batterys but It still might be to your benafit to get a secound battery and hook it up to a switch like the one I posted for you.You asked me about the trolling motor I LOVE to fish for what ever wants to Play so I enjoy bass fishing for smallies with fly rods and ultra light gear when I'm not trolling.I don't eat fish I'm just like alot of you guys I love to be on the water playing with what ever what to bite.

Erin

just saw a chart showing high output alternator standard on the F20 and F15C 4-stroke yamahas. optional on the 6 and 8hp. Nothing indicated for the 9.9hp or 4hp. don't know why.

thanks again.

Floydo

no alternator??

Floydo,
Yamaha makes a high Thrust 4 Stroke motor called a T8 One of the best motors for kickers out there.Here is the specs.They do have an alternater.Hope this helps.

Erin

High Thrust T8