Onboard Charger

Lots of good threads on here about onboard chargers over the past couple of years, do a quick search under the boat topics and you should find all you need to read.

First thing's first, what kind of boat and how many total batteries on board?

It is a 1850D Skeeter and two batteries on the boat.

Cabela's or Bass Pro sell all kinds of different onboard chargers.  Get a two bank 10/10 charger.  They're all basically good units.  don't think you can go wrong with any of them. 

anyone got any preferances on a three bank?  sorry not tryin to hijack your thread HJChamp, i'm in the same "boat" haha.  just bought a boat and it's got 4 batteries, 3 for the troller.  i've looked at all the ones on cabelas and read through pages and pages of reviews, all have pluses and all have minuses.  anyone got any personal experience?

Never had a problem with this one in a 3 bank, and half the money.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Bargain-Cave/Boating/Boat-Accessories%7C/pc/105591780/c/105767280/sc/105769980/Cabelas-Advanced-Anglers-ProSport-II-On-Board-Marine-Battery-Chargers/734150.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fbargain-cave-boating-boat-accessories%2F_%2FN-1102809%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105769980%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat105591780%253Bcat105767280&WTz_l=SBC%3Bcat105591780%3Bcat105767280%3Bcat105769980

Personally, I would match the charger to the batteries. If you have one troller and one starter, a two bank would be fine but i would expect that you'll be looking a bigger trolling motor eventually for that 18 ft glass boat and you'll need at least a 24V system for the troller at that time. If I were you, I would by a three bank now and add a second trolling battery. You can wire them in parellel for your current 12V trolling motor and when you upgrade, then all you have to do is change the wiring to be in series and your all set.

Morpheus, If I were you I'd be looking at a 4 bank instead of a three bank.

As far as the different brands go, there is non better than Dual Pro when it comes to the product or customer service. You'll pay the price up front but it won't let you down.

My train of thought when i bought was 2 bank for the 2 batteries that run the trolling motor.  The charger is up front ----long way back to get to the starter battery if i was to get a 3 bank.   I know that my cranking battery is critical to my motor, however i replace often and it charged on the way back to the dock and dock and when in doubt i hook it up time to time with one i carry in my truck.   

oops this was my question -- where are you guys putting your chargers 3bank and more and how long are the wires (mine is a minkota  -- 6ft wires)

i was just planning on buying a 3 bank for the 3 trolling motor batteries, those three batteries are up in the front of the boat, i was fixin to just mount the charger up in the rod storage locker up front,  i have a 2000 fisher fx18dv  i wasn't really lookin forward to running wires to the back of the boat for the startin motor because it is a 200 horse merc and my pops told me they have a pretty good charging system...  what i had planned on doing tho was just buying a cheaper charger from walmart or sumthing and mounting it in a "dry" place for if i need to charge that starting battery 

Short, I mounted my Dual Pro in the rear compartement right next to my starting battery and oil tank. For my setup I had to order two extention kits for the cables, which are avalable from Dual Pro, to reach the trolling batteries which are forward of the counsole on my Yarcraft. I mounted mine at the rear of the boat inorder to keep as much weight as possible towards the back for performance reasons. This did cause a bit of concern twice last summer when I took on water.

The first outing last year out of the pick city marina I managed to fill the bottom of the boat full of water! No, I rememberd the plug but I had a hose from a livewell pump come appart which resulted in water pouring into the boat at an unbelievable rate. Of course the bilge pump wouldn't work because the electrical quick connects were both in the water and shorted out, mother !#$!234#%$%! Pulled it up on the trailer and only pulled it out of the water far enough to get at the screw in plug. What I didn't think about was the fact that when I pulled it up on the trailer, the angle of the boat ramp sent all of the water to the back of the boat completely submerging my BRAND NEW on board charger along with the oil tank and came within about 1inch of touching both terminals on the starting battery, yikes. Figured it was a fluke, fixed things up and thankfully I didn't wreck anything inculding the charger. Well, low and behold it happend again in august when I had pulled the boat up on shore causeing the splash well to hold water and of course I didn't realize that the access hatch located in the center of the splash well leaked pretty bad due to bad oring. Walked down after lunch to find a similar senario with the bottom of the boat full of water. I knew exactly the cause was and gave it a push out into the water, started the engine and figured no biggy, I rewired the bilge so I should be good to go, flipped the bilge on and nothing comes out yet I could hear it running. Back to the boat ramp with the exact same results, submerged the charger, the oil tank,  but I thought about the battery and pulled it before I pulled the boat up on the ramp. Go figure, but the bilge pump sucked up a small nut and blew out the plastic housing on the bottom of the pump, hence why it would run but not pump water. Again, I didn't wreck anything other than a lost afternoon of fishing because I had to install a new bilge, it all turned out fine. 

Anyway, moral of the story is two fold. First, if you can mount your charger up and away from anyplace it could get submergered, it would be recommended! Second, if you cann't or don't want to do this buy a DUAL PRO on board charger as they are 100% waterproof and sealed. They say this on the box however I made sure to test there claims and can say without a doubt they do what they claim. I had told this story before and someone chimed in and said that years ago dual pro had a display of their charger sitting a fish tank full of water charging a battery on a stand. You'll pay for the quality but you won't regret it!

HJchamp

I am not overly familiar with the Skeeter boats, I have a Lund fisherman with a 24V trolling motor and a starting battery that I like to top off before I hit the water. 

So here is my setup.

The trolling motor batteries are in a compartment about mid-ship between the driver and passenger seats in the floor.  The starting battery is in the stern of the boat, so about 8 ft away from the trolling batteries.

What I did was to put a dual bank charger in the dry storage locker for the trolling batteries, this way I only had to run the cables about 3 ft to the batteries, but I am still able to keep the charger out of the same compartment as the batteries (no need to produce Hydrogen gas in a closed compartment with something that could get as warm as a charger!!!).  So that takes care of the trolling batteries.  Then, I mounted a single bank charger in the aft of the boat to charge the main motor starting battery (it really sucks to pull up to a ramp only to discover something had been left on and your main battery is now dead).  I really didn't like the idea of having a single three bank charger for this setup, probably not a real concern but I figured if I didn't have to, then I wouldn't do it.

Next I ran a quality extension cord from the single bank charger under the floor and up into the dry storage compartment in the front of the boat that holds the dual bank charger.  Then I bought a short extension cord with dual plug-ins to plug both onboard chargers into on a permanent basis.

Now when I charge my batteries I simply run an extension cord from the garage to the one that connects both my chargers together.

This way I am certain every single time I leave the house that all three batteries are good to go.

I have no real preference to the make and model of onboard chargers, one of mine is a Minnkota brand and the other is a Guest.  Neither have had problems.

Dang Yarcraft, I  hate to admit it but I laughed out loud at your story.  The simplest dang things can really be a headache at times. 

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=1089217&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FparentCategoryId%3D104794380%26categoryId%3D104698080%26subCategoryId%3D104465880%26productId%3D701736%26type%3Dproduct%26destination%3D%252Fcatalog%252Fbrowse%252Fboating-auto-boat-batteries-chargers-on-board-chargers-inverters%252F_%252FN-1100565%252FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104465880%253FWTz_l%253DSBC%25253Bcat104794380%25253Bcat104698080%26WTz_l%3DSBC%253Bcat104794380%253Bcat104698080%253Bcat104465880&WTz_l=YMAL%3BIK-020933

This looks like it  would be the Cadillac of chargers. You want to go with 10 AMP per bank for good recovery time on your batteries.

As far as the cranking battery goes, what I do is carry a power pack with me.  I do this all the time anyways so I don't have to worry about finding someone to jump me if I have a dead battery.  That thing has saved me countless times.   Just plugged it in a bit ago since I ran the aerator all weekend at Devils Lake while ice fishing.  Great back seat passenger!

I have the guest dual bank, and couln't be happier.  I don't use a charger on my starting battery, figure the main motor should keep it up.