On-board charger, what do you guys think.

  • les_welch
    Posts: 1007
    #1307352

    I have a Pro-V with a two bank, charger taking care of a 24 Volt Terrova. I run 2 Optima 31’s in front, and one on the big motor. Doesn’t seem like the factory lund charger works very well. I am thinking of switching to a 3 bank charger. Could I extend the third lead back to the starting battery and charge all three with the new 3 bank? Whad brand do you guys recommend? I was going to get a cabela’s brand, but the reviews don’t sound so great. Thanks

    Mike Klein
    Hastings, MN
    Posts: 1026
    #851295

    the cabelas is made by promariner. had one worked good for 2 years. then died. went to a minn kota 3 bank love it. plus there is a rebate on it. The cost more but extra year on warranty. th ecabelas 3 bank was on sale for 79 not a bad buy though. you may get a few year out of it and save a bunch. you can extend th elead back but only to certain specs in book or voids warranty. there needs to be a fuse with in a few inches of the battery. th ebook does expalin how to do it.

    bzzsaw
    Hudson, Wi
    Posts: 3484
    #851297

    I put a 3 bank Minnekota in my older Pro V. I had to get a cable extension about $20.00 (Fleet Farm) to reach the starting battery. My old charger was a Guest 2 bank. It had a much smaller foot print that the Minnekota. I was still able to fit it in the side storage compartment, but it was a challenge to get it secured with my fat sausage fingers. I might have even swore a couple times. So far, it has worked great. I bought the charger from Jolly Ann.

    wade_kuehl
    Northwest Iowa
    Posts: 6167
    #851298

    Quote:


    I have a Pro-V with a two bank, charger taking care of a 24 Volt Terrova. I run 2 Optima 31’s in front, and one on the big motor. Doesn’t seem like the factory lund charger works very well. I am thinking of switching to a 3 bank charger. Could I extend the third lead back to the starting battery and charge all three with the new 3 bank? Whad brand do you guys recommend? I was going to get a cabela’s brand, but the reviews don’t sound so great. Thanks


    Sure you can. Just make sure you use the recommended size of wire for the distance that you run the wire from the charger to the battery. The longer the distance the thicker the wire needs to be. Minn Kota offers suggestions on their website and in the manual. I recommend the Minn Kota chargers. They work great, are priced right, have a 3 year warranty, and they currently have a rebate as well.

    Calvin Svihel
    Moderator
    Northwest Metro, MN
    Posts: 3862
    #851300

    While working at Cabelas in the marine dept we couldn’t keep these onboard chargers stocked. They litterly flew off the shelf….People very rarely purchased the minn kota brand because of cost, but I really believe you get what you pay for….I personally would recommend the Minn Kota on-board charging system vs pro mariner….my personal opinion. You should have no problem to extend a lead back to your cranking batttery from where ever you mount your on board charger.

    85lund
    Menomonie, WI
    Posts: 2317
    #851311

    Quote:


    the cabelas is made by promariner. had one worked good for 2 years. then died. went to a minn kota 3 bank love it. plus there is a rebate on it. The cost more but extra year on warranty. th ecabelas 3 bank was on sale for 79 not a bad buy though. you may get a few year out of it and save a bunch. you can extend th elead back but only to certain specs in book or voids warranty. there needs to be a fuse with in a few inches of the battery. th ebook does expalin how to do it.


    You’re scarin me guys! I’m just starting the 3rd season with my Cabelas/Pro Mariner 3 bank charger. Cross yous toes and fingers! My wife is gonna kill me if I need another new … for the boat this year.

    smackem
    Iowa Marshall Co
    Posts: 956
    #851320

    Quote:


    Quote:


    the cabelas is made by promariner. had one worked good for 2 years. then died. went to a minn kota 3 bank love it. plus there is a rebate on it. The cost more but extra year on warranty. th ecabelas 3 bank was on sale for 79 not a bad buy though. you may get a few year out of it and save a bunch. you can extend th elead back but only to certain specs in book or voids warranty. there needs to be a fuse with in a few inches of the battery. th ebook does expalin how to do it.


    You’re scarin me guys! I’m just starting the 3rd season with my Cabelas/Pro Mariner 3 bank charger. Cross yous toes and fingers! My wife is gonna kill me if I need another new … for the boat this year.


    No worries, my Cabelas 3 bank is going on it’s 5th or 6th year and I extended one lead to the cranking battery no problem.

    Denny O
    Central IOWA
    Posts: 5827
    #851612

    My 3 bank Pro-Mariner is 7 years old now if not 8 years. Not the Cabelas branded one. It’s the real deal! Don’t know that it maters either way.

    les_welch
    Posts: 1007
    #851738

    Thanks guys!

    I was just reading reviews on the Cabelas/Pro Mariner ones, and they were BAD. I’ll probably go with Minn-Kota.

    walleye1274
    Chippewa Falls, WI
    Posts: 515
    #852901

    Get the 3 bank MinnKota. It is so nice to to back int the garage plug it in and not worry about anything else. I am sure you can even talk someone into giving you a hand running the wire.

    StonyEye
    Posts: 31
    #856825

    I had two 3 bank chargers, both of which failed, I won’t go into that, but because it was only one bank at a time that failed, it sucked to go to the expense of replacing the whole charger. What I did was purchase a high performance two bank charger for my trolling motors and a small single bank charger for my starting battery. I spliced the two power inputs of the chargers together, so that I still have only one extension chord to plug in ( good splice, with wire nuts, plenty of electrical tape, and wire tied this up under the gunnel so it would stay dry and free from getting pulled on). This also allowed me to mount the starting battery charger near the starting battery and the trolling motor battery charger near the trolling motor batteries.

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