Battery Charger

[lgsailor52]

Does anybody have experience with a 10amp. battery charger that can be plugged into a 110V outlet and mounted in the cabin near the battery bank?

I am looking for one that is not hard wired into the 110v , but can be wired into the battery terminal. I have a Catalina 30, with 2 battery system.

Thanks.

[mikehoyt]

Guest makes a three stage portable charger called the Charge-Pro (I believe that is its name). It plugs into normal 115v receptacle and has alligator clips to attach to battery.

It is only 6 amps.

Mike

[Sfilson]

Look in automotive store. Some of them carry heavy duty chargers. You want to make sure there is plenty of air space around your batteries and the charger with out the charger having the abiliy to get wet. We have a smaller charger that we just plug in. But we leave the battery box open when charging. Lead Acid Batteries create hydrogen when they are being charged and 10 amp charger creates heat.

Scott

[windancer1]

1gsailor56, do not usea automotive battery charger. They generally are a ferro-resonant type and will cook a deepcycle battery. They will work on starting batteries. Why not hardwire a Sta-power 10 amp two stage that will charge two batteries at the same time at different rates then keep them on float charge.

You need to use either a two stage or (more expensive three stage). This type will keep your batteries happy and ready to use.

It is real important that deep cycles are charged at a certain voltage then kept at float for a certain voltage. And if you use gel or glasmatt batteries, charging is even more critical.

hope this helps.

Dave R.

[Pangaea]

Yes, Dave is right on the money.
I have a turbine and that does most of my charging but when at a dock I use a charger that I bought at a hardware store that is meant for deep cycle marine batts. and it anly cost me forty dollars.
It works fine but I would only use it on flooded batts.

Dennis

[dlahlers]

I have been very impressed with my Statpower 20. I plug it in my 110 shorepower outlet, hardwire it to my batteries (2 deep cycle, 2 starting). Using the auto style chargers, battery state of charge would never exceed 70-80%. Now they''re 100%. I take the charger home during the winter, where it maintains the batteries over the winter. There IS a big difference with a 3 stage charger. Only you can decide if the extra life and performance is worth the $$$.

[windship]

dlahlers,
Sounds to me like there was somthing wrong with your other charger. Or it wasn''t meant for deep cycle batts.
I bought my currant boat in ''95. The batts. that were in the boat were from ''91 + ''92. I was at a slip then and didn''t want to spend the kind of money you did on a charger but wanted a correct charge. I bought the charger in ''96. I just replaced my house batts. last year. Hows that for extra life? And my batts were always at one hundred percent.
The main thing here is that the charger has to be meant for a deep cycle batt., not just the run-o-the-mill auto batt. charger.

Dennis

[MaryBeth]

Guest makes a 10 amp 2 bank battery charger that you plug into your 110 when you are connected to shore power. Costs less than 200.00 and would be perfect, it seems for your needs.

Anyway, explore the Guest products. They are sturdy marine chargers and there are many choices.

Mary

[Shaman]

WE had a auto type battery charger that the previous owner installed for a two bank set of batteries. It cooked the $400. battery but the other two series 27 batteries are still in good shape. In short, don''t use auto charger in a marine environment. That said, we installed a marine 20A smart charger {they can be had from $100 up} and all the batteries stay charged, stay cool and aren''t cooking. Nuf-said.

Good luck --
Shaman

[windship]

Shamen,
Some automotive chargers don''t have even a tapered charge. They put out a curtain amount of amps all the time no matter what state of charge the batteries are in. That is why the charger has to be meant for "deep cycle" wet cell batts. Some things we can cut corners on, some things we can''t. Through experience I have found that with the proper charger this is a corner that can be safely cut.

Dennis