If you have a trickle charger that shuts off when the battery is full, is that efficient enough to prolong the life of the battery over an onboard charger? I’ll be parking in my garage about 10 feet from an outlet so convenience is not a factor. I’d just like to have the trolling motor charged and ready to go, and also not have to buy a new battery every year. How about the solar chargers? Any reviews there?
a deep cell battery needs at least 10 amps to effectively charge in a over night situation. trickel chargers will maintain a fully charged battery, say while in storage for the winter. i would not count on it to charge my battery after a full day of use. solar chargers might be ok to charge a cell phone battery, but not a deep cell trolling motor battery that is at 25% charge
Thanks. So should I be focusing on 10 amp chargers? The one bank onboards ive been looking at are 6 or 8 amp….
For example, Cabelas has the Minnkota MK-210D for $150 with a $30 gift card. It says 5 amps per bank. Should I just get this sucker and call it a day?
How do you fish?
How long do you fish?
What is your current battery set up?
What are you running on your batteries?
5A most likely will be underpowered, unless you only fish one day a week and don’t use a trolling motor much and have small graphs.
Minn Kota has a selection system on their website. Check it out.
http://www.minnkotamotors.com/Battery-Chargers/On-Board-Chargers/Digital-Chargers/?wizard=1
If you don’t normally fish back-to-back days, you’d be fine with a 5-amp charger. If you heavily drain your batteries and fish consecutive days, a 10-amp charger would work out better for you.
The onboard charger will extended the charge of the “deep cell Battery”, but shouldn’t be used as your primary charger. Depending on the load used it may be sufficient for the next days fishing.
You want a charger that can quick charge your battery(s) at say 10 amps when 1st hooked up to the charger and then continue to trickle charge the “deep cell battery(s)” after they have been charged to 12 plus Vdc, until your next outing.
The onboard charger will extended the charge of the “deep cell Battery”, but shouldn’t be used as your primary charger. Depending on the load used it may be sufficient for the next days fishing.
You want a charger that can quick charge your battery at say 10 amps when 1st hooked up to the charger and then continue to trickle charge the “deep cell battery” after they have been charged to 12 plus Vdc, until your next outing. The trickle charging should not stop (shut off) until you plug it (refering to your earlier statement).
Also remember in the early Spring (when it’s colder outside) the battery will not hold quite as much charge (reason for cold cranking amps vs. cranking amps) and the trolling motor will draw slightly more current for the same pound trust.
On board chargers are designed to be the primary charger. They use a 3 stage charging system as you talk about.My Dual Pro does this so does Minkota.
Thanks for all the advice. Since my trolling motor runs a 12v I went with the Minnkota 106D single bank (6amp) from ebay for $77. When we head out for multiple day trips (couple times a year) i’ll throw a 10 amp on after the day is over.
Thanks for all the advice. Since my trolling motor runs a 12v I went with the Minnkota 106D single bank (6amp) from ebay for $77. When we head out for multiple day trips (couple times a year) i’ll throw a 10 amp on after the day is over.
I have the same charger and have never not had my battery be 100% the next day. This includes a 14hr day on leech last year
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