Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Another question:

I don't want to pull my batteries. They are hard to get to, and I plan on moving the boat around Thanksgiving anyhow, which means I will have to have power to lift the drives.

I don't want to leave the on board charging system on. It puts too much juice into the batteries, and I have heard/seen the charger fire stories.

Can I SAFELY turn the power switches for the batteries to the off positions, and attach aligator clip trickle chargers to them while they are in the boat? I will leave the compartment open for them to breath. I just don't want to risk any damage with current through the electrical system of the boat.

Thanks in advance.

stecz20

the safest thing to do is trickle charge the batts before you know you will use them. you cannot charge for a very long time, and you should not charge with the hatch down and the cover on for anything over night. second you should always have the power switches off when charging, why would you have them on. your asking a lot of questions these days, i thought you have been around the block a few times.......

OldSchool

Brian,
I never take my batteries out of the boat. I usually charge the batteries once in the middle of the winter and then again in the spring and I've never had a problem. If we lived in Minnesota, or someplace that it gets really cold, a different strategy might be required!!

C

ofshore

I use one of these http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls.htm their made to be left on all of the time just make sure you use their IQ4 smart controller which monitors the batteries.

Lmarth

I store my boat indoors and never remove the batteries. While there is an on board charger, I never use it to top off the batteries indoors. I attach your typical 10 amp charger to a battery ( the way they are wired, you charge both at the same time ) and run the cord out one of the engine compartment vents. During the winter, I stop by once a month and let the batteries top off while I'm putzing around. These are 'starting' batteries. They usually won't take the abuse that a deep cycle battery would take. With starting batteries, the only thing worse than letting them go dead is to leave them dead for an extended period of time. Overcharging is just as bad. I've run gel and conventional wet cells. My on board charger is from Charles. In my conversations with them, mine is calibrated to charge gel batteries properly yet can be used with conventional batteries. The last time I looked at their literature, they had two numbers for the same charger (gel vs wet). They didn't recommend charging gel batteries with a charger calibrated for conventional batteries but said it was not a concern to doing it the other way around. I've got some literature somewhere on this, but am trying to keep this brief. I gave up on the gels and just change the conventional batteries every couple of years. The short boating season here is tough on any battery. Just one persons opinion.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

I've been around the block several times and then some. I just am trying to take care a few things differently than in the past, and am bouncing them off of my OSO friends.

Of course I would have the battery switches off with the chargers attached. I did not explain that I did not want to remove the battery terminal wires either. I have to go to Europe for a couple weeks on business. As soon as I return, I am taking the boat to Florida for the winter, which is why I don't want to do a full winterization if I don't have to. I already have a pair of trickle chargers for pulling batteries and putting them in the basement for the winter. In the past, I have pulled my drive (used to have a single) for the winter, and also stored that indoors. This year, everything is staying intact.

Anyway, we may end up pulling all the batteries anyhow, and upgrading to 4 Optimas for more stereo juice.

docmanrich37

Sydways rule of thumb but don't tell my interstate battery rep but turn them off and charge them at thanksgiving and valentines day and they'll last a lot longer.

Reed Jensen

I used a "battery tender".. it is only 1.5 amps at the max... and when the batteries are fully charged... it turns itself off and only sends just a fraction of an amp to keep them fully charged... I used them on customers cars when they are here for a while... that way the battery doesn't sulfate and go bad from being left dead.

Roger 1

I do the same thing. I leave it hooked up all the time except for when I am using the boat.

mopower

I've been leaving mine in for 4 years now. I use the on board charger one day a month. Usually the first Saturday reminds me...so far , so good