When leaving my boat after a weekend of sailing, is it better to leave the battery charger switched to both or one battery. I have 2 deep cycle size 27 batteries both of which serve dual purposes (starting and running). My bateries are left on to power the fridge.
charging batteries over several days
- Thread starter Burt22937
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Burt, An inboard battery charger usually is
set up to charge both batteries independently of what the battery switch may be on. The battery switch usually just governs the output with the exception of charging batteries with the alternator when running the engine. Being the fact that you are at the dock and you just want to run refrigeration I would say to leave them both on. It is not like you would depend on a back up battery at the dock.
set up to charge both batteries independently of what the battery switch may be on. The battery switch usually just governs the output with the exception of charging batteries with the alternator when running the engine. Being the fact that you are at the dock and you just want to run refrigeration I would say to leave them both on. It is not like you would depend on a back up battery at the dock.
A high quality charger wired properly.
Burt: The first thing is to have a high quality charger. Some of the chargers that have been supplied with the boats from the factory have been of questionable quality and have fried more batteries than they have charged. I have always wanted my charger wired directly to the batteries so regardless of the switch setting, the batteries are alway chargering when the AC charger breaker is on and I am plugged into the dock. I have heard about boats that have the charger running thru the A/B switch and have never figured out if why they do this. The good chargers will keep your batteries topped off from week to week and run them thru the proper cycles periodically depending on the chemistry of the batteries. Some of the new chargers will also allow you to have different battery chemistries in the different banks too. This allows you to have something like an Optima battery for starting and 6V batteries for your housekeeping.
Burt: The first thing is to have a high quality charger. Some of the chargers that have been supplied with the boats from the factory have been of questionable quality and have fried more batteries than they have charged. I have always wanted my charger wired directly to the batteries so regardless of the switch setting, the batteries are alway chargering when the AC charger breaker is on and I am plugged into the dock. I have heard about boats that have the charger running thru the A/B switch and have never figured out if why they do this. The good chargers will keep your batteries topped off from week to week and run them thru the proper cycles periodically depending on the chemistry of the batteries. Some of the new chargers will also allow you to have different battery chemistries in the different banks too. This allows you to have something like an Optima battery for starting and 6V batteries for your housekeeping.
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