Battery Charging Question

[cully]

Im charging my marine minn-kota battery for the first time. I was advised that I should use the 2 amp setting, which equals trickle I believe. I was also told that this charging could take 24-48 hours, I need to leave to go camping/boating and that will leave the charging at a little less then 24 hours. Could someone let me know if ill reach a full charge at 2 amp in that amount of time? Or could I bump it up to 10 amp, and charge? Any other recommendations? Thanks in advance!

[Fish mojo]

Best thing is an automatic on-board charger. Stays hooked up to your battery(s) all the time and you plug into a 110 outlet anytime. You can start out at full 10 amp charging to about 80% then switch over to 2 amp for the rest. Should get you ready overnight. If you do alot of 10amp charging, keep an eye on the water level. Get an onboard charger- you won't regret it.

[Point-of-Sale Clerk]

If the battery is charged now and all you are doing is topping it off 2 amps are fine.
If the battery is flat (no charge at all) you could be in trouble. At 2 amps it will take way too long. An example would be if it is a 140 amp/hour battery (reserve capacity minutes for you tech guys) that needs complete charging and you have a 10 amp charger it will take at least 14 hours to charge. At 2 amps it would take 70 hours to charge. If it is a Minnkota brand it may only have 105 amp/hour reserve capacity. The rule of thumb from the manufactures of batteries is try to recharge deep/cycle batteries at roughly the same rate you discharge them to get the maximum life out of the battery. Trickle chargers are good for long-term storage and maintaining a good charge but try to recharge at 10 amps when the battery has been used.

Good luck

[cully]

charged, packed and ready to go. Thanks for the info. I switched to 10amp to charge and woke up to the green light and HOwwwwwwww many fish will follow. :cheers:

[Pilar]

Hey Cully, *** clerk is right. Plan on adding water to your maintenance free battery if you run a charge at 10 amps very often.

The number one thing to do is buy a hydrometer for $5 at the auto parts store. I have several as I cannot live without them. You might as well get a jug of distilled water and a waterin bulb too.

The Hydrometer completely eliminates the guesswork about the battery's state of charge.

Nothing will kill a deep cycle quicker than allowing it to sit partially charged for any length of time. Plan on an overnight trickle charge at 2 amps on a monthly basis even if it gets no use. Also recharge as soon as practical after discharge. Start at a high rate and go to 2 amps when the battery begins to gas and hiss.

If a fully charged battery has a low level then add a small amount of water to bring it up to the ring in the hole.

DO NOT ADD WATER TO A DISCHARGED OR PARTIALLY CHARGED BATTERY

Only add water to cover the plates if it has exposed plates and don't fill it full untill the battery is gassing at the end of the charge. If you add water to a discharged battery, you will overfill it and dilute the acid or even cause it to overflow when you do charge it as the level will rise on a charge.

Good luck.

[HawgJaw]

Do you always need to remove the filler covers when charging? I have been told you don't on maintenance frees, but I don't trust my sources (gas station guys).

[Pilar]

No, but ........

I use the hydrometer to test the acid and to figure out when it is fully charged. So the caps come loose. Just set them back on the holes but not tight.

PS: if you mess with battery acid and a hydrometer wear old clothes and safety glasses. Also no smoking as Hydrogen gas is very explosive ... reference Led Zeppelin III album cover for a view of the burning Hindenburg.

[GoFish]

I just finished rigging a second battery for those times when I want to use the electric troller (Shh! Trask tidewater maybe) and got one of those on-board chargers that Fish Mojo is talking about. Its all solid state and the manufacturer claims it will trickle down to nothing when the battery is full, so I leave it connected all the time.

I believe that even 2 amps is too much to keep applying to the battery when its fully charged, and definately get the hydrometer to check the battery's specific gravity.