I have a battery charger in the engine compartment of my Top Gun. I have never used it until today. How many amps does this unit put out? And is it common to leave the batt charger on while connected to shore power with the boat unattended?

I went out to the boat tonight and turned the charger on. Is it safe to leave it on overnight????

Kurt.

The amps of output should be written on the unit. They ussually are not more then 20 amps and will regulate themselves down to a trickle. You should be ok with just leaving it on and certainly over night. I do not like the idea of them being plugged in for long periods of time as it can cause corrosion in the boat. I think they call it Galvanic corrosion but I am not sure. Anyhow to be safe I would unplug it in the am and only plug it in when you think it needs it.

Jon

The Dual Pro Charger monitors the battery/s and will charge at a max of 15 amps. It will return to trickle when needed. It also shuts off completely until the voltage drops enough to return to trickle. These chargers are the only ones I have seen that are really designed for long term storage and built to be plugged in all the time. It has a built in microprocessor monitoring the battey/s.

Here's a link with more info~ http://www.batterystuff.com/battery/...o/dual-pro.htm

You have to have the shore power on or it won't work. Also you may need to have the switch on the panel "on" for the system to work. I have seen boats burn from these and frigs left on keep an eye on it for the first couple of times.

There is actually a "battery charger" switch on the panel inside the cabin on the Top Gun. Just attach the shore power and turn on the switch.

I was wondering about using this as a battery tender while in storage. I used to hook up tenders on my other boat, but it would be alot easier to just plug in the shore power. Does anybody no for certain that it won't cook the batteries?

"Float chargers" as apposed to "trickle" chargers automatically detect battery levels and add charge when needed. These are the types to use for long periods of storage. They won't boil or over-charge batteries like a trickle charger might

I leave mine on all the time (along with the refrigerator) and haven't had any problems.

Over the years I've "cooked " alot more batteries than I've saved. If you can turn the main switches off an truly isolate them you'll be much better off. The new "wet matt" batteries really hate trickle charging, and don't need it anyway, without a drain they seem to hold forever.

JD

Ferroresonant chargers will cook the batteries if left on all the time. Period.

Three-stage full-electronic chargers "can" be left on indefinitely. Some still do a better job than others.

By experience, I know that Pro-Mariner "FLYBACK" chargers will maintain batteries with no electrolyte loss over a few months as long as the battery temperatures are between 60 and 80 degrees.

In my cruiser, after trying a FLYBACK ProMariner and still having electrolyte loss, I went to a Newmar 3 stage electronic with battery temperature sensing probes and have never had to add electrolyte in three years THREE YEARS and the charger stays on ALL THE TIME in my cruiser. The main difference here is that the engine room temps on the diesel cruiser run as high as 120 when at fast cruise and go as high as 135 for a few hours after shutdown. It was at these elevated temperatures that the float voltage on the flyback unit was overcooking the batts. I ended up putting the flyback on the Formula where it has proven to work nicely.

HEY BIGGUS...I tried to P.M. you but your box is full...I saw on KN's thread that you had a twin turbo in your SUPERBOAT...Just cuz I'm nozee...Did you buy from/sell that boat to a guy named BARRY??? Was it a blue & white boat with USA1 on the side??? I knew a guy on LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE with the same set-up & that's NOT a common combo!!! I rode in BARRY's boat many times & it was deceptively fast & was a handful if you didn't know what you were doing!!! Unfortunately BARRY is now dead but his boat is now for sale by someone in N.H...BTW...It's in VERY good shape for it's age & if I remember correctly the price$$$$ was right!!!(As a matter of fact it was advertised here on OSO for $23,500 by a guy named SCOTT WALLACE in DANVILLE N.H....It may even still be listed under the SUPERBOAT header...) BIGGUS...Let me know if I got the history right!!! THANX>>>>>>