Onboard charger to starting battery?

[saumon]

Setup: 1993 Tracker (aluminum) Pro Deep-V 17 with Mercury 60hp 2-stroke. A gr.24 cranking battery in the bilge area for starting and running accessories (GPS, depthfinder) and a gr. 31 battery in front for the Minnkota 55 lbs Powerdrive.

Being tired of removing and hauling the big battery for charging, i bought an onboard charger (3 bank, 15 amps). I installed it under the side console and hooked one of the output to the trolling battery. My main concern is for the starting battery: being like 15 feet from the charger, can i hook the second output onto the bus bar (always hot) that was under the console (that's what i plan to do)? Or do i have to extend the output wires to reach the battery?

Thanks.
Steve

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Onboard charger to starting battery?

Some charger manufacturers indicate their output leads are not to be extended. Others offer extension kits. Whether or not your charger allows extending the leads is usually indicated in the instructions. Connecting the output to the +12 volt buss is the same as extending the leads and since some upscale chargers include temperature measurement devices in them means the charger may not operate properly. I suggest you check with the manufacturer before making this connection.

 

[saumon]

Re: Onboard charger to starting battery?

Yeah, they state you can extend them and, if so, using 14 AWG. Being that's the wire size that feed the bus, i'll go this way.
That's the model i have: http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductName=94026916
Thanks.