On Board Charger Question

I am hoping someone can give me a good guess as to how this is wired without me chasing the wires.

O.K., so I purchased a 1999 Lund Pro Sport with a 115 Johnson, the boat has a 2-bank on board charger. However, there are 3 batteries on the boat. Is it possible that this charger is wired to charge all 3 batteries? Of course everything is crammed into tight spaces and hard for me to see but it appeared on my limited examination that there were wires from the charger going to all 3 batteries.

Please let me know your best guess as to how this might be wired.

Thanks

I added a new battery to my boat to make a 24 volt system and one for the engine. I called the company and ask the same question. They did not recomend that I do it. They said the one bank would be hard on the batteries and could damage a battery or the unit. You will just have to charge your batteries with one bank on just one battery and charge your engine battery with a small charger. The other option is to buy a 3 bank charger. My charger stop working and Iam going down to buy a 3 bank today.

most engines of that size have an alternator on them that charges the cranking battery. assuming the cranking battery is still able to hold a charge and your motor doesn’t have an issue (e.g voltage regulator), then it shouldn’t need to have a charger hooked up.

two bank charger = 2 batteries, no more.

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most engines of that size have an alternator on them that charges the cranking battery. assuming the cranking battery is still able to hold a charge and your motor doesn’t have an issue (e.g voltage regulator), then it shouldn’t need to have a charger hooked up.

two bank charger = 2 batteries, no more.

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I agree: 2 banks – 2 batteries.

However if you use your livewell and electronics, I would highly recommend getting a charger for your cranking battery. Unless you’re running long distances your alternator will not charge your cranking battery full. This will decrease the overalll life of your battery as well as potentially strand you on a fishing trip.

Last piece of advice: always carry jumper cables IN the boat.

If you have 3 batteries in the boat its recommended to have a 3 bank charger, or you can use a 2 bank for the 24V system and allow the big motor to charge the 3rd battery while moving around the lake.

I have a ’96 Lund Pro V with a 115 Johnson. It also came with a Guest 2 bank charger. It only fed the 24 volt system. Nothing went to the starting battery. The Charger quit working a couple years ago. I replaced it with a Minnekota 3 bank charger. Mine was mounted in the front part of the side storage compartment. Fitting the bigger 3 bank charger in the same spot was very challenging for my sausage fingers. If your worried about draining your starting battery, keep a set of jumper cables in your boat.

I’d wait until your current charger craps out, then replace it with a 3 bank charger.

It appears to me that this charger has already been split somehow to charge all three batteries. From what I gather here that is probably not a good idea.

Sounds like I’m just going to have to dig in there and see what is going to what. I figured that was going to be necessary but was hoping for an easier answer.

Sounds like the purchase of a 3-bank charger is in my future.

Thanks to all for the input.

I have that same boat. If your going to use the bow mount much then just hook up one bank to each trolling battery. Its rare to run down the starter battery. If you ever do all it takes is moving one of the trollers to get it running. Then you would know if a 3-output is right for you.