Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | whit65 - 12/24/2008 10:02 AM
Hey Al,
Merry Christmas and thanks large for the battery class, it's slowly sinking in to my brain which resists charging normally.
So I am going to parallel my new Optima and my older big ol' Trojan battery and charge them separately, so I assume that I'd better unhook the batteries from one another before I hook up separate chargers, right?
W
When paralleling battery's, if the battery is the same type but different size it's Ok to use a single charger- but you need to consider the combined AH rating when selecting the charger size. F. ex. If paralleling a 100AH with an 80AH the combined AH rating is 180AH. Ideally you would want a 18A-36A charger. I would never go lower than 10% of the AH rating. Some onboard dual or triple bank chargers permit paralleling of the output to achieve higher output ratings, i.e. a triple bank 10A charger may allow the three (3) 10A outputs to be paralleled for 30A total. Check with the manufacturer before purchase.
If the batteries are different type - AGM & wet cell you don't need to charge them separately all the time. But the wet-cell may need a periodic equalize charge. Get a marine dual battery paralleling switch - A-B-Both-Off. Set it to "Off" and turn on your charger(s). That way you don't have to disconnect any cabling. You can also do the same thing with a couple of marine grade 50A 12VDC single pole switches.
Here's some charging configurations for those interested.
Happy New Year!
Al
(12-24V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif)
(24V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif)
(36V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif)
(12V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif)
(12V Trolling Motor Battery Charging w-AB SW.gif)
Attachments ---------------- 12-24V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif (6KB - 1224 downloads) 24V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif (5KB - 1613 downloads) 36V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif (7KB - 716 downloads) 12V Trolling Motor Battery Charging.gif (4KB - 221 downloads) 12V Trolling Motor Battery Charging w-AB SW.gif (6KB - 681 downloads)
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