How successful have you all been with charging from an outboard motor? I just bought a 9.8 tohatsu. Hoping that if I run it a bit I can keep a good charge.
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It's Not Only What You Put In....
...but what you take out of your batteries that will gauge the success of your system You'll only get a few amps out of your motor. Need to do an energy budget to find out how long you'll have to run your engine to make up for how much you use in lights, radio, etc. Many have done it, and supplanted the engine with a small solar panel. Lots of input from C25 Assoc. and C22 websites, too. Good idea for starters. Stu
...but what you take out of your batteries that will gauge the success of your system You'll only get a few amps out of your motor. Need to do an energy budget to find out how long you'll have to run your engine to make up for how much you use in lights, radio, etc. Many have done it, and supplanted the engine with a small solar panel. Lots of input from C25 Assoc. and C22 websites, too. Good idea for starters. Stu
I had an 8 hp OB with a 4 amp alternator on a boat I owned some time ago. Boat only had one battery. Since I liked to sail, and only motored to get out of, and into, the slip, my motor was only charging the battery for about 30 min every time I took the boat out. Since I didn't think that was going to be enough to maintain the battery, I supplemented it with a trickle charger (Guest Battery Pal) when the boat was at the dock. A small solar panel would do just as well if you don't have shore power. As Stu notes, the real key to determine your charging needs is finding out how much you are taking out of the battery. Only then can you accurately figure how much charging time you need, and at what amperage, to replace it.
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