Trickle Chargers...
 

I went to Wal-Mart and picked up their last two Marine Use battry chargers, 12 Volt, 10 Amp. They were $30 each. I bring them home and one isn't working right; so I take it back. Now I cannot find another that matches what I have at ANY Wal-Mart.

What do you all have for Trickle Chargers? Where did you get them, and what did they cost? I have not even looked at any of the Marine places, because I know they will be expensive. I want two matching units, so I do not have to rotate them, or worry. Is that too much to ask? I do not want to spend more than $80 for both. I think that is reasonable.

Brian

Brian, I got mine from Advance auto for $39 bucks I think... it has a gauge and also the 2amp trickle setting.
Bryan

Sears has got 'em too. 50/10/2 amp - forget price. Most all decent chargers automatically adjust the current as the battery charges up, so as not to over-charge - if it says "automatic", it probably has this feature. The days of the "manual" chargers are numbered.

got mine a Sears also. Totaly automatic!! I think I bought mine for 45 on sale. Has a switch for deep cell batteries too!

Use one charger then get two battery cables from pep boys (about 5 bucks each and have one charger do both batteries. If you are just keeping them charged on trickle you do not need more then one amp to keep them fully charged. So your one charger is enough. It is not engough to charge a dead deep cycle but that is another thread :D :D

Jon

I recommend the Guest chargers. They offer a twin output 5 or 10 amp unit capable of charging and maintainting either battery independantly. The chargers are completely sealed and are designed to be mounted in the boat and left hardwired to the batteries. When you are done boating, you plug er in and the Guest takes care of the rest till the nest time you go boating. The independant circuits feed power to the battery that need a charge only as needed and by keeping them independant, if you have a bad cell or had left something on...... You get the picture.

The guest chargers are nice in idea, but after owning seventeen of them in the last 3 years i can tell you they are hard on batteries. I had them installed in some electric carts that we use on a daily basis, and ran into trouble with them cooking batteries--even marine gel cells. Now maybe as a trickle they will be alright, we used them to bring low batteries to 90%+. I just found when they were hooked to 2 batteries 1 would get overcharged and the other would be alright. I'm now using a compact single battery charger that i get from a local supplier, it's got a microprocessor in it and will detect the state and charge that the battery is in- great units-not a fried battery since.

I have the Guest dual battery charger. It works well but I wouldn't recommend leaving it on all the time. They always keep a small current going, if the battery is fully charged, it is too much. Only the best chargers drop to 0 when the battery doesnt need to charge. I plug the shore power in once a month while the boat is stored for the winter. Seems to work well that way.

I went to Sears today. I bought two permanent install automatic chargers for $29 bucks each. I will cycle them on and off once in a while. Nice units; and thanks for everyone's inputs.

Brian

I got a 2amp trickle charger w/full charge shutoff. Even with that, I've noticed that you have to watch the water level in the batteries.

Sears. About $50.00. Works great. Has all the features you want. Even good for a lawn mower battery.

Sean
:)

Sulfation is the #1 killer of batteries!
Scientific basis for de-sulphation process/circuitry
Every element known to man has a magnetic moment at a resonant frequency ie. a point at which the chemical bonds that hold the molecules together to form a crystal can be broken. Sulphation, the number one cause of early battery failure, is simply crystals of lead sulphate (PbS04) which have formed on the lead storage plates in a lead-acid type battery.

When a battery is improperly charged (over/under) or allowed to self discharge as occurs during storage/non-use, these crystals build up on the battery's storage plates preventing the battery from ever being fully charged and therefore able to deliver their full power/capacity.

http://www.jfj.com/

I had a ProMariner transformer-type multi-bank charger in my Formula when new. It would boil down the batteries if left on for long periods of time. It went feet-up on me, and I replaced it with a ProMariner Flyback (electronic three-stage) charger on ProMar's advice. Have been able to leave it on and unattended for weeks at a time without boiling down the batteries.

On my cruiser (diesels) I had a large ProMar charger. It was also the big ferric core unit. I was adding water every two weeks (we're talking a half-gallon or so at a time on the 7 batteries). Finally got serious about finding a superior charger for it. Goal was to find a charger that would monitor and charge the batts in the three known stages, but would also function to supply 12v current to the boat up to max capacity AND STILL keep the charging stage it was already into. Looked at TrueCharge by Statpower, but after buying one, found that it would not function as a power supply, but would simply work towards bulk, then drop to float until ther batt voltage dropped below 12.7v, then swap back to bulk. The Flyback ProMar would act as I wished, but I found a Newmar unit that while expensive, would do what I wished, PLUS had a temperature sensor to stick on the case of the house batteries to adjust the float voltage targets to match the battery temp (which drops with increased heat - the engine compartment of my boat gets dang hot and stays hot, aggravating the problem).

End result, bought the Newmar ($100 more than anything else) and a whole set of new batteries (AutoZone Gold 3-yr free replacement - they are all going in my collection of trucks, of course for the warranty which is voided if they go into a boat). I am now 2 months shy of the two-year anniversary of this swapout. Two weeks ago or so, I was at the boat and was dewinterizing the toilet system and checked the water in the batteries. The batteries have used NO water in two years. I do not really know how to get you guys to believe this, but I am Not pulling anybody's legs. Last May when I checked them it had been a whole year (figuring I would be using the warranty to replace the Sahara batteries), and a few of the cells that I had accidentally overfilled a tad when I installed the set, were still overfilled. I guess there are no longer any OVERfilled cells, but there are no cells below the plastic water ring and certainly nowhere near any cells with plates in the dry.

I have had such a remarkable experience with this combo I felt I would let you in on it - Oh, yes, the charger has been on for two years nonstop.