I was wondering if anyone uses an on board battery charger. I have 3 optima yellow top batteries dedicated to running my stereo system. The alternators do not fully charge them after a day at the bay playing the stereo. I do not have shore power on the boat, I was thinking of perminantly installing a charger so when I get back to the house I can just plug in the charger for the night and be ready to go in the morning.

any thoughts?!?!?!?!

I have often thought the same thing, but haven't installed one yet. I only have one blue optima running my stereo system, however, it never charges fully and I always replace mine under warranty every year.

That was the system I had on my last boat and I miss it. Just plug it in at night and is ready to go the next day.

I installed a Guest 2 bank fully automatic charger last yr. from WM. I also installed shorepower then, so I bought the model that gets hardwired in, but they also sell models with a cord to be plugged in as you want. Best to get a fully automatic 3 stage charger: fast charge--->trickle charge----> maintain charge. Something along this line http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...0001/683/544/9

That is what came in my Hustler .it has shore power but I bet ya could wire it up some some kind of plug . The c Charles are expensive though

I even put one in the car trailer

I installed a hardwired dual bank charger last year. It will throw more volts to the battery that needs it most and will not overcharge either battery. I also wired in a ground falt outlet in the cabin. I put the recepticle to plug it in up under the shifter not seen unless your looking for it. It was easy to do and you dont have to drill any holes in the hull. Good Luck.

Unless you have extreme duty high amp alternators you're asking for trouble trying to re-charge seriously drained, high amp batteries with just the alternator on a regular basis. A high quality, intelligent, feedback type battery charger is worth it's weight in gold. It will extend the useful life of your batteries and also keep them regulated for top performance.

You only need an L5-30 marine inlet, 12/3 marine romex type cable, a 30 amp circuit breaker with mount plate, 25-50ft. yellow 10/3 shorepower cable, a good crimping tool and crimps, the charger and some elbow grease. You'll never regret installing shorepower.

Look on EBAY for some nice deals on chargers. I bought a brand new charger for $250.00 that supplies 60 amps on 3 banks. Price that at West Marine or Boaters World.

Thanks for the replys....do you guys have model numbers of the chargers you installed? Do I need any special type of charger for gel cell batterys?

Most of the new chargers have switches that enable you to charge any type battery.