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| Wife bought me a Vector battery charger for Christmas. It seems like it was meant for cars. It does not have a 3 step charging system like a Minnkota that I was shown at Dunham's. I CAN set for a 2 amp charge. Salesman says without a 3 step charger i will not get the full life expectancy out of the battery. I need to buy a battery too and am looking at a Trojan/Minnkota. I have a small Minnkota transom mount electric, doesn't draw much but I'd like to get 6 hours out of a battery. Not looking to hook up two batteries together at this time. What can you teach me about chargers and batteries? Thanks.  | |
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| Forget one other thing. Two places I have looked in town at Trojans. The larger 71? series lokked like a maintenance free, while the two smaller deep cycle had removable caps. Advantages to either? | |
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Posts: 5874
| Is the charger fully automatic? Meaning, does it charge and then sense when it is done, top off at higher voltage, and then shut off to avoid overcharging, and cooking the batteries? If not, get a fully automatic marine battery charger. Gander, Fleet Farm, Cabela's, Sportsman's warehouse all sell them.
I think the differnece in the Trojan's is the one has the new AGM technology, totally maintenace free, and is more expensive. The others are lead/acid batteries, and you need to periodically check the level of the electrolite. I believe the reserve is greater, and they are less expensive. I use the Lead/acid style, and have had great experience with them. I usually get 4 years of hard use out of my batteries. | |
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| It is a automatic charger. Charges at 2, 6 and 12 amps. I did a google search and found out that a 10 amp charge is best, for 20 hours or so. Don't take the battery down too low. Guess that is why many have 2 or 3 tied in together. Now I just need to decide if i want a maint. free or one where i can check the water level. Haven't used one like that in years. | |
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Posts: 5874
| Lots of auto chargers "SAY" they are fully automatic, but aren't. I'd be careful, especialloy since it appears this charger has a switch to select the charge current? Does this charger automatically switch from 12 to 6 to 2 AMPS? The biggest reason they say charge at 10 AMPs is heat. 12 would be fine. | |
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| Have not read or seen the charger step down. Had it on 2 amps for a bit yesterday and heard it shut off for a few seconds, then fire back up. I was trying to resurrect the ond Wally World Everstart, but I think it has gone to that great Led Haven in the sky. I am going to try to find their site and email them. Thanks for the help. | |
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battery chargers