Battery charging

[rverano]

I finally went and bought an onboard charger for my two batteries. I had the charger on the batteries through late spring out of the boat. The lights on the charger indicated the batteries were charged. When I put them in the boat and connected the electronics, the charger always seems to be be indicating that it is still charging the batteries. One battery is for my trolling motor, the other for everything else. This is a small fishing boat with few electronic equip. One battery is brand new the other a few years old. Is this normal, Should there be a disconnect for the electronics to avoid any drain on the battery? Thanks for any help.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Battery charging

The 'charge complete indicator' circuit in chargers is extremely sensitive. Perhaps just noise being picked up by the long wires on your boat is triggering it. Try connecting each wire to the battery by itself. If the light comes on only if both wires are connected then maybe there is something draining.

 

[kdmiller8251]

Re: Battery charging

Try putting a switch on the batteries and see what happens when the switch is off.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Battery charging

A slight amount of drain on the battery could cause the charger to go out of float mode.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Battery charging

If the boat has a radio, the station memory will cause a battery draw. So will a clock. So will a bad diode in the engines rectifier. So will other electronic equipment that is left on -- such as a bilge pump (automatic or manual).