Quote:
Originally Posted by netscheid
I have another question, are there any small and possibly cheap meters or gauges that I could hook up to the battery to tell me how much power is left in it?
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It's really hard to test a battery and tell how much charge it has in it. A hydrometer helps some, but it's messy (battery acid is nasty stuff) and as mentioned above, not useful with a sealed battery. Looking at resting voltage is also of limited use. The only way to have a good estimate of the charge state of a battery is, is to track how much charge you put into the battery and how much you take out. There are meter systems that do this quite nicely. Do a search for "Xantrex Link 10 Battery Bank Monitor". You don't usually see them 15 foot boats, but on the other hand I would think the installation would very simple. You would know your battery condition and exactly when it's time to recharge.