onboard battery charger
 

contemplating to put 2 onboard battery charges (Schumacher SE-1-12S Fully Automatic Onboard Battery Charger - only $25 at Amazon) into my boat and link the 110V power cables up(batteries are separated on either side of the back of the transom.

What is the experience with those - compared to just charging the batteries the old fashioned way?

are you looking to maintain the batteries while you winterize? I've got a Prosport 20plus and looking at the Shumacher, it's only 1.5amp compared to Prosport 20 plus 20amps. May take a bit to get a full charge.

From what I remember it takes a constant 5+ amps to keep them maintained and desulfated. I too run a Prosport 20 and have had no issues. If it doesn't desulfate them then they won't last as long.

@matt - yes that's the intention but also at times when the boat sits in the driveway for a week I would prolly hook it up - so not looking to charge them - just to keep them maintained

@Razzman - 5+ amps just for maintenance even when battery switch is off so no draw (or minimal) on it?

A small trickle/minder/maintenance/tender charger is perfect for a motorcycle, third car, tractor, ATV, etc. where the battery is placed into storage fully charged to begin with. You want a 3-stage dual-bank AC charger with decent current capacity if you are seriously depleting a stereo deep cycle battery. A charger with 6+6 (10 or 12 total) amps is good for a couple of group 24s. If you have a larger stereo battery its a good idea to go with the 20 amp total charger. We are talking about smart multi-stage chargers rather than low/high/boost emergency garage chargers (which you should avoid and never turn your back on) so no more current will be applied to the battery than required.

David
Earmark Marine

Anybody now how the ProMariner ProSport 20 compares with the Xantrex Truecharge 20?

Nicolas the small chargers keep the charge up and that's it. A maintain charger rapidly charges a depleted battery then drops the charge to maintain it and keep it desulfated. If the battery sulfates it reduces your capacity and eventually causes failure. You'll spend more in batteries than if you'd bought a good onboard charger. As an example my start batt was installed March '08 and still is good, they stay on the charger all the time when not on the water. Battery drain or switching has nothing to do with it.

Ok charger is in and works like a charm ... Now I just need to figure out why epic requires me to turn the ignition to stage 2 to get sound :-( don't want the hours to rack up when just listening ...