Electric Question on 36 volts

If I put a battery tender on battery one of a 36 volt system is that okay? I know nothing about electricity so no telling

You will need to charge each battery in the series.The way you describe will only charge one.

fishspike wrote:

If I put a battery tender on battery one of a 36 volt system is that okay? I know nothing about electricity so no telling

Yes, it is OK, but it will only maintain that 1 battery. Are you planning on moving it from battery to battery over time?

HRG

I will now thanks. I have an onboard charger but heard horror stories about leaving it on all the time

There is no need to use any type of charger while your boat is in storage if you do it right.
1. Check the water level and top off if needed.
2. Fully charge the batteries.
3. Disconnect the negative terminals and tie-wrap the wires so they don’t accidentally contact the battery posts. (I also disconnect the positives so I’m sure to clean all the terminals next spring before I reconnect them.)

There’s no need to charge your batteries over the winter, especially in cold climates. Batteries operate on a chemical reaction and chemical reactions slow down as temperature drops. Attached is a chart of my battery voltages before storage and after for the last few years.

Attachments:

1. 

   Batt-voltage.jpg
   

Thanks

What about using your on-board charger, for a couple of hours every week? the usual 24-hour lamp timers are also available in 1-week versions, you could set it for once every week.

https://www.amazon.com/FosPower-Electrical-Outlets-Programmable-Capacity/dp/B07959GDW2/ref=pd_cp_60_4/133-5080723-8418036?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07959GDW2&pd_rd_r=59611aa1-5938-4b58-a8cb-7d2a68da152c&pd_rd_w=GnTfT&pd_rd_wg=5MTss&pf_rd_p=0e5324e1-c848-4872-bbd5-5be6baedf80e&pf_rd_r=NBNG1PXAJN632PGV8Z71&psc=1&refRID=NBNG1PXAJN632PGV8Z71

HRG

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

What about using your on-board charger, for a couple of hours every week? the usual 24-hour lamp timers are also available in 1-week versions, you could set it for once every week.

HRG

Why? It’s just busy work. You don’t need to if you properly prepare your batteries for storage.

Ron wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Hot Runr Guy wrote:</div>
What about using your on-board charger, for a couple of hours every week? the usual 24-hour lamp timers are also available in 1-week versions, you could set it for once every week.

HRG

Why? It’s just busy work. You don’t need to if you properly prepare your batteries for storage.

Ron,
just wondering if you pull your batteries and bring them indoors or have a heated garage. I’ve always thought that batteries freezing was a bad thing. I have an insulated garage with a heater, but I don’t run the heater all winter and thought it was just good insurance to pull them for the winter.

I leave the batteries in the boat, properly prepared per steps 1, 2 and 3 as described in my previous post. My boat is stored in an unheated building. Batteries will not freeze if they are good batteries, fully charged. Bad or dead batteries will freeze.

Here are two handy charts.

Attachments:

1. 

   Voltage-Chart-1.jpg
   

2. 

   electrolyte-freeze-point.jpg
   

3. 

   Voltage-Chart.jpg
   

Sorry, the charts aren’t loading right and I don’t know why.