On Board Charger Mounting Question

[mgros483]

I bought a Cabela's ProMariner charger, it just came in the mail yesterday. I was reading the instructions and it says that they don't recommend mounting it directly on aluminum.

Anyone know if this really matters? I want to just mount it to the side of my rear bench under my deck. I could make a mounting board to attach it to, but I don't really want to mess around with it, I'd rather just screw it right on and be done.


Untitled by Photo 144, on Flickr

 

[kofkorn]

Mine is an older model from Cabellas, and it's mounted directly to the aluminum. It's been that way for 4 or 5 years no with no issue.

If possible, I would place it somewhere that it's not likely to get wet, to prevent any trapped moisture. if it's really a concern, you could take one of those thin plastic cutting boards and trim it to shape and place it between the charger and your aluminum when you mount it.

Good luck!

 

[RiverBottomOutdoors]

I have a Minn Kota 330D and it is mounted directly to the aluminum. Mine is bolted though..not screwed. Maybe they are concerned with mechanical failure of the fastener - stripped holes...vibrating loose...something like that.

 

[duckfish]

Interesting. I have an older version of pretty much the same charger and I don't recall anything about mounting right on aluminum. Mine has been for about 6 years.

Well, actually, I'm on my second one. The first one died but the company that truly makes them for Cabela's pretty well stood behind it even tho it was out of warranty. Their customer service was great. Called, real person answered the phone immediately, guy that answered actually knew how to have me trouble-shoot it with a multi-meter. Right away told me that the :?: flux capacitor :?: (OK, I made that up. Don't remember) was bad and offered to sell me a replacement at less than 50% cost of new, even tho mine was way beyond warranty period.

If you're concerned, the cutting board plastic sounds like a great idea.

 

[mgros483]

Thanks guys, I'll just go ahead with my original plan then. Doesn't seem to be an issue. It was just a one sentence thing in the manual.

@duckfish... hope the new one produces the full 1.1 gigawatts...

 

[DrNip]

I too had worries of mounting directly to aluminum and didn't want to mess with a cutting board. Check out my this page of my build of how I mounted mine. Was really simple and cheap. It mounted the charger off the aluminum and isolated the mounting screws so that they weren't touching the aluminum either. Gave me peace of mind.

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=32289&start=75

 

[Gagoosebuster]

The reason they recommend not mounting it directly to aluminum is because of the potential for electrolysis. If you're only using it while your boat is in the garage or out of the water it's not a problem. If you're charging your batteries at the dock while your boat is in the water then you need to separate the charger from the aluminum.

 

[mook1754]

Use some rubber or plastic washers between the boat and he charger as well as between the screw head and the charger and you will be just fine.