Alternator Charger

[Jeff Wingo]

I bought my first boat over the weekend and during the walk through, the guys were telling me about a charger, so that I could charge my trolling motor battery while running my motor. They mentioned a dual bank or more.



So yesterday since pouring rain made our trip to the lake short lived....I started looking. Is what I am looking for called an Aleternator Charger? I saw a couple of those. I also saw several bank chargers, from reading those it looked like if it said dual bank - I could charge two batteries at once, but that was being done once I plugged the unit in.



So I found this site to find out the opinions of others. I know when I was growing up, my dad just had a regular charger and he would have to remember to plug it in every night.



Thanks for your assistance.

 

[John Jobe]

According to some avid fisher buddies of mine, they'd go with a three battery charger system. One cord to plug in but three (3) different batteries being monitored and charged. Mine only has a dual charger for the trollers 24v batteries. I use a "waterproof" trickle charger for the 12v cranking battery as is the dual charger "waterproof". I can not stress waterproof enough here after having 2 new chargers fry on me. Both Black&Decker, the second one I had on top of battery with the rear deck lid closed. It rained some but not a down-pour, I just so happened that the compartment lid (though I know is not suppose to be water tight) just happened to drip right where I placed this tiny 1-2amp charger. FRIED!***********WaterProof, Waterproof, Waterproof. By the way, humidity killed the first "brand new" one.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

First, there is a company called Stay-n-Charge that makes a system to charge your batteries from the big motor. They also make a system to charge them from your trucks alternator while you are towing. NEVER mount a charger in your boat that is not marine rated. Most on this site will tell you the GUEST makes the best mountable charger.



TOXIC

 

[Randy Janousek]

At BPS we sell a "Phase Charger" that will charge a (1) trolling motor battery as well as your cranking battery from your alternator. It costs just over $100, and the people I know that have one seem satisfied. It is part # 38-533-810-00.

 

[George Arbuckle]

Minn Kota makes some very nice "DC Alternator Chargers". Pricing is good for the real good quality of these units. I just installed a single bank version to charge my troll battery. It's basically a voltage sensing relay that diverts power from your start battery to the troll battery once the start battery is fully charged. Mine works perfect and make a noticeable difference when on the water. My decision was made to get one after killing my troll battery during a windy tournament a few weeks ago.

 

[bob pattison]

i had a phase charger on my older nitro worked well if you ran the lake for a long period of time. the on board ac need to plug into 110/120 volt outlet and come in many configurations dependind on your batterys on boat. on board makes so much easier and safly charges and maintains them.