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Posts: 14
| BNELSON sarted this in "Minn Kota question" and ended with- hence why next year we will probably take our own Honda generator....
Here is another option for keeping all of those batteries charged and or shorter AC charging times when needed, while fishing in those remote locations and or not having immediate access to AC, etc.
Try using a MINN KOTA on board DC Alternator charger, such as a MK3-DC in conjunction with any digital AC onboard charger. Drawing power from your boats main engines alternator, to charge all batteries and or from also using your kickers alternator to charge your batteries can make a huge difference .
STEALTH also manufactures digital onboard battery DC and or AC charging units, which units are used by some of the most notarized and accompliced BASS fisherman in the industry.
Check out either’s web site for further details.
Hope this helps. These units are much less costly, etc., then dragging around a portable generator and work awesome.
Nothing against HONDA, they are awesome.
T Olson |
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Posts: 256
Location: plant earth | or get a solar charger for about 40 bucks |
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | Tell me more about this solar charger - type/brand/model/size - and any tricks to setting them up. Where to buy also please. Thanks |
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Posts: 180
Location: Elgin, IL | Yes. Are Solar Chargers worth getting? Always look at them and wonder if they are worthwhile and dependable. Dont want to buy something that tends to crap out after a short time of use. |
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Posts: 437
| Dont waste your time with Solar panels. Surely one that is $40. Nowhere near enough amperage to effectively maintain much less charge trolling batteries. It would need to be about the size of your boat in order to produce enough amps to charge the batteries in a few hours. They are fine for charging if the boat sits on a lift, but if you are using it daily they will be of little benefit.
I will be looking at the MinnKota (other other) DC Alternator chargers. Not too spendy and would seem to be perfect.
All in all though an inverter generator would still probably be the best route overall because you are probably not going to run the big motor long enough to put back what you take out. |
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Posts: 256
Location: plant earth | Depending on the amp hr. my small one does pretty well. If its light out its charging. It's about the size of an iPad and it does just about a tenth of an amp per hour. It has gator clips on it so it can be swapped around no problem. But it's constantly charging while say eating a shore lunch in the middle of nowhere. In a good day of fishing it keeps the batteries going an extra 2 hrs longer than before I had it. It all about personal preference. |
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Posts: 437
| Right, it will charge some, but .1 amp per hour doesnt do a whole lot when your trolling motor pulls down between 20 and 40 amps per hour. its going to slow the drain of the batteries, but never keep up.
I looked into getting a panel(s) for my LOW trip this year, so I did a fair amount of research and determined to be effective it wasnt real feasible. You do want to either get one that has a built in controller or a separate one, or you could overcharge the batteries and cause damage. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I've had the Minn Kota dc 3 charger in my boat 2 years and after getting it a buddy put it in his 692 and he ran it on LOTW last week...he consistently would get back to the dock w 3 bars after a 13 hour day on the water... making long runs like we do up there it helped a ton... our boat didn't have it and needless to say it will be in my buds boat next year
Edited by BNelson 8/12/2013 10:55 AM
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Posts: 1901
Location: MN | Brad, are you saying the Minn Kota dc 3 charger will be sufficient, or are you still planning to bring a generator as you stated in the other thread? Wasn't sure which way you are leaning. Thanks |
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Location: Contrarian Island | bringing generator as well but having the on board we won't ever have to worry or not fish a spot like we want to just to save battery power |
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Posts: 14
| I didn’t want to get into a debate about Solar chargers and DC chargers, etc. The two are very different.
However the two, now seem to have been intermixed in this post by some and some with a little humor. Thanks. I'm picking up what your dropping...
With that said, please check out the MINN KOTA web site for specs, etc, and or the STEATH site for specs and you be the judge. Their maybe others out there that also produce a DC charging unit. I don’t know.
I’ve used such DC technology myself since 2006. I wouldn’t have a boat today with out a DC charging unit on board; period.
DC units can also charge the batteries from your vehicles alternator to the boat, while towing on the trailer???
There are so many applications for its use, under many different and creative scenarios beyond our control if applied and used just like any other tool.
These units will charge at a rate up to 30 amps output on a 24 /36 system.
An Alternator on your big motor is pushing well above the 30 amps to operate these DC units to their fully designed charging capacity. A 9.9- kicker, depending upon manufacture can range anywhere from 6-12 amps of output also for these units to help.
Units, such as the MINN KOTA, can be obtained for as little as $175.00. Have seen the MK 3-DC for as little as $150.00.
The cost of the unit over the long run, verses AC charging might be a cost saver also, depending upon it’s application, etc. It will save time charging, and money on the AC charging bill's also at home.
A selling point to your significant other for a new tool for the boat.
A Solar unit, kicking out only 15 w is about $160.00 last time I checked and a Controller unit is required, at an additional cost. However Solar is another viable option to utilize. Out posts do and will turn the camps generators off at specific times, etc cutting off all power to charge via AC.
A portable generator is also a plus, such as the HONDA. We all work very hard to go on these trips and anything that can help to make our trips near home or away the best, is always great; these products do just that. Help us spend more time on the water doing what we enjoy.
This is just another tool to use that I don't hear to much about.
I hope this helps to explain a little further my initial post, with more information on DC charging units. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | mk-3 is 142 bux on ebay |
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Posts: 437
| I will probably go with the 3 bank as well. 2 banks for 24 volt trolling motor battery, 3rd bank for a battery (yet to be added) that will power my electronics to remove them from my starter battery.
Thanks guys for the head's up on this product. I knew they were out there, but in all honesty didnt research them much because I thought they would be too spendy. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | I put in the MK 2, that one kicks in once the starting battery is up to charge, then it starts charging the TM batteries,.. MK 2 are about 110-115 on ebay to your door
that is the unit a friend had in his ranger 2 wks ago on LOTW and it did a great job keeping his TM probably 25% more charged than if he didn't have it on board
Edited by BNelson 8/13/2013 9:04 AM
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Posts: 437
| BNelson - 8/13/2013 8:51 AM
I put in the MK 2, that one kicks in once the starting battery is up to charge, then it starts charging the TM batteries,.. MK 2 are about 110-115 on ebay to your door
that is the unit a friend had in his ranger 2 wks ago on LOTW and it did a great job keeping his TM probably 25% more charged than if he didn't have it on board Good to know real world experience. My trouble is that my electronics drain down my starter battery causing them to turn off when I start the motor, so Im afraid it will take the alternator some time to reach 13 volts before the DC charger will kick in to charge my trolling motor batteries. I figured I could kill a couple birds with one charger in this case. Granted its more money and I have to purchase another battery, but in the long run I believe I will have much better results and not potentially blow up my electronics by having them shut down like that all the time.
I am a little worried about the 6 foot cable length though. I am going to have to get the extension. |
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Posts: 5874
| Captain, replace that Cranking battery with as large a dual purpose battery that you can fit. If you can fit a Group 29, that would really help on keeping your electronics running longer, and not shutting off when you start the big motor. |
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Location: Contrarian Island | i was thinking the same thing...his battery must not be very big, i can run 4 lowrances, 4 speaker stereo and my livewell on a 10 minute recirc all day with no issues... get a 29 or even 31 size battery and you shouldn't have issues |
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Posts: 437
| Yeah, I know its a "starting" battery so going to a dual purpose battery would probably be a good idea. I just thought even at doing that I might keep chasing that gopher down the hole and felt another battery would be a better idea. It is the 4th year for that battery so maybe I will just opt for trying a single dual purpose replacement at first to see how that goes.
I can buy a wire harness that plugs right into the alternator for my outboard and it would charge both batteries, so that would be nice too, but that is like $130 alone. Hmmm.
I do have plenty of room for a bigger battery, or multiple batteries. I will just take your guys' advice and get a dual purpose (big one) and start with that.
In reality, if even at a later time I needed to add a second battery I wouldnt have to charge that with the DC charger really. So I guess I can opt just for the 2 bank charger.
Its good to vet these things out first.  |
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Location: 31 | Captain - 8/13/2013 3:39 PM
Yeah, I know its a "starting" battery so going to a dual purpose battery would probably be a good idea. I just thought even at doing that I might keep chasing that gopher down the hole and felt another battery would be a better idea. It is the 4th year for that battery so maybe I will just opt for trying a single dual purpose replacement at first to see how that goes.
I can buy a wire harness that plugs right into the alternator for my outboard and it would charge both batteries, so that would be nice too, but that is like $130 alone. Hmmm.
I do have plenty of room for a bigger battery, or multiple batteries. I will just take your guys' advice and get a dual purpose (big one) and start with that.
In reality, if even at a later time I needed to add a second battery I wouldnt have to charge that with the DC charger really. So I guess I can opt just for the 2 bank charger.
Its good to vet these things out first. :-)
I recommend you try a group 31 also. When I run 2 Lowrance 10s, the group 31 handles it no problem. However, if I leave on 3 10s (1 bow 2 dash), one of them always shuts off when I start my big motor.
I'm sure that it matters what size the big motor is ect., and would guess the 250 just needs those AMPs. I've gotten use to it though and anymore make sure to only have 2 units on at a time, all I really anyway.
Edited by Jerry Newman 8/13/2013 9:13 PM
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Location: 31 | Re the main topic:
My boat originally came with two crank batteries, 1 for the big motor and 1 for the kicker. I decided to go with just 1 group 31 dual-purpose for both motors, mainly for cost and weight, but also because I run the same type of on the water charger. The one I'm using is called a Stealth 1... same concept though.
To fully explain; the way it works is after the crank battery is fully charged the Stealth 1 redirects the boats alternator charge to the trolling motor batteries (24 or 36) to help recharge and maintain them. Even if you always have A/C power available at night to re-charge the electric motor batteries, they will not get as worn down if you do a fair amount of running, and theoretically the batteries will last longer... 25% less discharge sounds about right for a full day of casting on LOTW.
If you have ever run out of battery power toward the end of the day, one of these type of chargers will probably solve the problem. I've used this same Stealth 1 charger on my last two boats (maybe 8-9 years?), and it has worked flawlessly for me both on and off the water… I would never own a fishing boat without one now.
Another plus with this system is that when you get home from a typical weekend trip you can just plug in any charger at the 12 V crank battery and know that all batteries will be fully charged for next weekend.
I currently run a 6 amp on-board AC charger and simply it plug-in between trips to recharge all batteries, the Steath 1 redirected the AC charge same as the boats alternator charge. The puny little 6 AMP charger I use basically trickle charges the 36 V batteries once the crank battery is charged.
I also have a separate on board 15 AMP AC 36 V charger I can plug in to quickly recharge the electric motor batteries when needed. |
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AC / DC battery charging options for onboard charging