battery maint.

[brianlt21]

I am now to boating have had plenty pf jet skis but never a boat.. Just got a new battery and had my boat out today unhooked everything but need to charge the battery. first how do I know if the battery is fully charged? second I have one of hose big battery chargers that has a 35 amp quick charge, 200 amp motor start, and a 2 am trickle charge. Which one will work the best for me and the quickest for me to use almost on a daily basis?

 

[Waterwings]

Are you running two batteries or just one? I'm biased towards onboard chargers made by Guest. Cabela's still have their Guest 2611 (2-bank 12Vcharger) on sale for $79.99. When you say

...the quickest for me to use almost on a daily basis?

, do you mean you will be charging the batts each day after returning from fishing, or just leaving the batteries plugged-in 24/7 ?

Go to https://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/...parentType=index&indexId=cat600056&hasJS=true, and scroll down the page and look at the applications. The 2611 is a good 2-bank charger.

 

[fowlmood77]

If we are talking deep cycles I agree with Waterwings on the onboard charger if you have more than one. If you are like me and only run one, then an automatic marine charger will do the trick. I plug it in at night and let it do its thing, come morning she is ready to go. When the battery is fully charged the charger stops charging so no need to worry about overcharging. Got mine at Wally World I believe. Whatever you choose, it is best to keep the battery charged (i.e. don't come home like I do and forget for a day or to to recharge it).

Here is some more info that may be to your benefit
https://www.interstatebatteries.com/www/faqs/tech_talk/maintenance/charging.htm

 

[fowlmood77]

And keep the water level up.

 

[ben2go]

I'm fond of those automatic chargers with the auto trickle charge.Set it and forget it.Works good if you have only 1 battery.For 2 batteries in a 12 volt arrangement, I have used those big chargers with the auto float charge.One option I have used on flooded lead acid batteries,in a 24volt,36volt,48volt arrangement, is electric equipment chargers.The kind used for golf carts and floor cleaning equipment.I used to be able to get those free to cheap,so I used them.I have built some of those into vehicles,never a boat tho.I have an electric outlet close to my boat so all I do is,hook up the charger,plug it in and turn it on.If you will be charging frequently,I would suggest an on board charger.It's a pain in the back if you have to lug batteries around to charge them.

 

[brianlt21]

I went and purchased something like a battery tender so when I come home take the battery out of my boat and plug in the battery tender that charges at 1.5 amps and will shut off when battery is fully charged my battery is at 12.5 volts when fully charged what should my battery volts be? I just check with a multimeter.

 

[ben2go]

I went and purchased something like a battery tender so when I come home take the battery out of my boat and plug in the battery tender that charges at 1.5 amps and will shut off when battery is fully charged my battery is at 12.5 volts when fully charged what should my battery volts be? I just check with a multimeter.

I got one of those and I have a car battery,motorcycle battery,and a lawn mower battery on it.Mine is one of the bigger units.