Dual purpose battery

[mszt69]

Using some knowledge gained from your fine forum, I just purchased a dual purpose battery for my Chris Craft 230 deckboat (5.7L V8). I have a single battery setup in my boat and the dual purpose battery seemed like the best option. I need to know the best way to maintain my new battery and prolong its life. <br /><br />To give you a little background, my boat stays in a slip year round on Norris Lake in Tennessee. I winterize it in October and start her up again in late March. I run a CD player, depth finder, deck lights, and navigation lights (no trolling motor or fish finder -- yet). I carry a portable starter as an emergency backup. <br /><br />I've read a few posts about chargers that you mount in the boat that continuously charge the battery. Do those work? If not, how often should I charge the battery in-season and at what AMP? Is there a battery tester you recommend? In the winter, I'll pull the battery out of the boat. Should I put it on a continuous 2 AMP charge? Am i missing something?<br /><br />I know I'm packing a lot of (potentitally) dumb questions into one topic. I appreciate your patience and help. This forum is a Godsend for the novice boater and you guys do a GREAT job.

 

[vipzach]

Re: Dual purpose battery

Is there shore power available at your marina? If not an onboard charger won't really help you. Yes they work great. You could get a solar charger if your boat has some sun exposure, if you do that make sure it is a smart charger, meaning it will cycle off and on according to what the battery needs. I charge both of my batteries with a smart charger and use the 2amp charge. BTW, welcome to iboats!

 

[mszt69]

Re: Dual purpose battery

Thanks much for the welcome.<br /><br />I do have shore power at my marina. I assume the reason you're asking about shore power is that you must keep the onboard charger plugged-in while docked at the slip. Correct?<br /><br />Concerning the solar charger, do you need to have sun exposure while the boat's in the slip OR will sun exposure during boat usage be enough to do the job? Where do you mount the solar panel for the charger? If the solar charger output is 2amp, do you keep the solar charger connected to the battery all the time? I did a little research and found one that has a 'cigarette lighter' plug. I would think you'd want one that wired directly. Do you have a make/model recommendation for either the onboard charger or the solar charger? At first glance it looks like the solar charger is much cheaper than the onboard charger.<br /><br />Thanks again for your help...

 

[mszt69]

Re: Dual purpose battery

I made a trip this weekend to my local Bass Pro Shop (Sevierville, TN) to perform a little research on the solar vs onboard charger debate. I really needed to catch up on the technical aspects of the issue before bothering anybody else in the forum. After a long discussion with a couple of very helpful and knowledgable salepeople (and some down and dirty reading at the store), I concluded that the onboard charger was the best option for me. As vipzach said, the fact that I have shore power at my slip is a very important factor in the battery charger decision. I think it's also important to note that the guys at BPS had very little good to say about the solar chargers and their ability to keep a large marine battery properly charged. According to them, for far less money than it would take to purchase enough solar panels to do me any good, I could purchase a single bank on-board 'smart' charger that would do a much better job. Consequently, I purchased a Bass Pro Shops branded on-board single bank (i.e. one battery) charger for $69. I will install it this week.<br /><br />For other boaters that might stumble across this post looking for information about onboard chargers, I plan to install the charger very close to my battery and keep it plugged-in to an extension cord at my slip whenever I'm not using the boat. Since it's a smart charger, it'll automatically shut itself off when the battery is fully charged. If you don't have access to shore power either at your slip or wherever you store your boat, a portable or (fairly powerful) solar charger would probably be a better option for you.<br /><br />I'd like to thank vipzach for his help. You pointed me in the right direction and took time to entertain a newbie's questions.