Do any you know if it is ok to charge your batteries while they stay hooked up inside the boat? Will it damage any of my electrical?(stereo, amps and head unit) I have been wanting to buy 2 1.5 amp trickle chargers to keep the batteries charged while not use this summer (during the week). Every Friday when I rush to the lake after work to get a set in I always worry about the batteries being dead.

A low amp trickle charge is ok. But as long as everything is turned off in your boat you shouldn't have to trickle charge your batteries every week, especially if your using your boat once a week. The only time I will is after a long weekend of listening to the stereo parked.

your safest bet would be to have a cutoff on the batteries, that way theres no chance of anything past the battery being effected. but like adam said you shouldnt have to charge your battery if everything is off. i can go a few weeks without any charge and have no problems with either battery.

Lance. You wont have any problems. The trickle chargers should have a internal regulator that turns the charger to a float or dormat charging stage, so when your batterys get fully charged the trickle chargers sort of shut down and do a maintance charge. Charging your batterys on a trickle charger is a great way to keep them in good condition. Slowly bringing them back to life with a 1.5 charge gives a good charge it just takes a while. I charge my batterys the same way everytime I pull my boat out of the water. In fact I have 2 diffrent chargers to charge my 5 blue top batterys, I have one trickle chager for charging my boat all week at home while it sits in the garage. And on charger that I bring with me on long weekends that charges the batterys much faster (over night). Here is a photo of my home mead trickle charger with 4 individual trickle chargers in it that hangs in my garage just above my boat with a quick disconect plug. You can by somthing like this from the company Battery tender <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/207763.jpg" alt=""> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/207764.jpg" alt=""> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by whitechocolate on January 20, 2005)

Grant, <BR> <BR>How long can you run your system @ listening volume, w/ the motor off before your drain 5 batteries? how many amps do you think you pull at 1/2-3/4 volume? How many watts is your system now.

Adam: Come on ????? It depends on so many thing's <BR>like how much bass are you pushing that drains the batterys super quick, So if you listing to hip hop and your pumping it is going to go pretty quick. Theres alot of variables. I dont let my system run low on power so as soon as it hits 12.1 volts Ill fire it up or turn down the bass.

I know...bad question. I guess what I was trying to get out is how you decided to go w/ 5 batteries? I assuming 1 starting and 4 deep cycle? That's why I was curious as to how many watts your pushing?

Thanks for the info fellas. I was looking at something like this <a href="http://www.overtons.com/cgi-bin/overtons/detail/pdetail2.cgi?r=detail_view&amp;item_num=70855" target="_blank">http://www.overtons.com/cgi-bin/overtons/detail/pdetail2.cgi?r=detail_view&amp;item_num=70855</a>. Grant where did you get that charger?

for 10 more dollars you can get a fully automatic charger w/ a 2 amp trickle, 10 amp fast charge/ 50 amp fast start conventional/deepcylce charger from wal-mart. It won't be an onbaord charger though

I made my Charger, It has 4 Battery Tender (brand) battery chargers I got them at the local Cycyle shop they were like $40 each, Then I bought the Plastic box and fan and power stip and made a clear plastic window for the box so I could see when the chargers were done and mounted the quick disconects to the charger and the boat

I actually have the charger you talking about Adam. Mine is called a Ship Shore or something like that. Grant I figured you to did something custom with your charger. You always seem to amaze us.

I just keep it simple with a float charger ($15) <BR>plugged in when boat is not in use. never had a problem! I never run my system very long without starting up. I do bump the BASS!

Battery Tender has a charger best suited for what you need. I will be ording one very soon. THe one is Power Tender Plus.It retales for 119.95. I have found a place that has it cheper. I have the same brand but different model for both my motorcycles. They are always pluged in. The sefest way to keep your battery fresh and extend the life of the battery.

I use a solar charger. Cheap, works great, and doesn't require 110v. I don't know why more people don't use these. <BR>I also always connect one to one of my cig outlets in my tow vehicle, which I may use once a week, and it keeps the battery fresh! VW ships one with their overseas imports and you can find em on eBay for $15 or so! <BR>I have one like this for the boat < charger 1<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;category=41981&amp;item =5950888205&amp;rd=1" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;category=41981&amp;item =5950888205&amp;rd=1</a> <BR> <BR>and one like this for the truck <charger 2 <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;rd=1&amp;item=794818062 3&amp;category=63687" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&amp;rd=1&amp;item=794818062 3&amp;category=63687</a> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by NewTique on January 22, 2005)

I have a dual battery setup and use the Guest 2611A charger <a href="http://www.starmarinedepot.com/detail.asp?product_id=GU1001" target="_blank">http://www.starmarinedepot.com/detail.asp?product_id=GU1001</a> that I mounted in the left aft storage compartment. It works awesome, fully automatic 3 stage charge then goes to a maintenance mode.