Only charge it out of the boat when it is stored over the winter. I have never needed to and usually my batteries last quite a long time. I think it has a lot to do with the quality of the battery you are using.
Bucky what brand powerpack do you use? I’m hearing that I am fine using my onboard charger, I use it right after I get back-top off the water in the fall charge it up. Did recently have to replace my starting battery, this is the start of year 4 for that one, so a bit early. Trollers are fine bought them at the same time.
Thanks
I have two 2 bank onboard chargers on my boat with three deep cycles for my electric trolling motor and a starting battery. I’ve never had any low voltage issues with my starting battery but as long as I had enough banks to include the starting battery, I top it and my deep cycle batteries off every time I’ve been on the water for a day.
It certainly doesn’t hurt to top off the starting battery and gives me confidence that I won’t have battery issues of any kind next time out.
These on board chargers are they a pain to hook up sounds like al ot of routing wire from the rear battery and front battery? would it be cheaper to just by another charger to charge both at the same time?
I have separate chargers for mine as the chargers are on opposite sides of the boat and the original 3 bank charger got converted to an all trolling motor battery charger and then another separate charger was purchased and dedicated to the house battery.
These on board chargers are they a pain to hook up sounds like al ot of routing wire from the rear battery and front battery? would it be cheaper to just by another charger to charge both at the same time?
They are simple to hook up. I added a 3 bank in my boat in about 30 minutes
These on board chargers are they a pain to hook up sounds like al ot of routing wire from the rear battery and front battery? would it be cheaper to just by another charger to charge both at the same time?
They’re really easy to hook up. All you have to do is hook up a positive and negative wire/bank to each battery. They come with rings to slip them right on to your battery posts. If making a long run, you may need extension cables which you can either make or they sell them for most brands of chargers also.
Mount the charger, hook it up to your battery and plug it in is all there is to it. If using a 2 bank or 3 bank charger it does charge them all at the same time.
If running wires is an issue, maybe separate chargers would work better for you. There are many different options on the market.
These on board chargers are they a pain to hook up sounds like al ot of routing wire from the rear battery and front battery? would it be cheaper to just by another charger to charge both at the same time?
I have a 2 bank charger on my trolling batteries and a single bank charger on the 2 batteries hooked in parallel for my motor and accessories. Trollers are under the passenger counsel and the motor batteries are under the driver counsel so they are easy to connect to one extension cord.
How often do I charge my starting battery? Never… other than when my motor is running. Definitely not a best practice, but I get 4-5 years out of the battery and have not had an issue. None of my buddies hook up their starting battery to a charger, but maybe we are overdue for an issue.
I have 2 dual purpose batteries wired in parallel for starting and house use (sonars, pumps, radios, lights etc).
One lead of my 3 bank on board charger services these.
They get charged every time I plug in the boat, usually after a day of fishing.
Also usually plugged in while storing in the the garage.
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