
Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Almost-B-Good - Nailed it for you. Don't even waste your time trying 3 batteries.
If you do go for four(4) - hook them in parallel - and run them that way- you will get a lot more running time.
Re. charging for 12hrs @ 5-6A. You need to think about the battery as a fuel tank. If you average 4hrs of use over a 12 hr fishing day and your trolling motor was drawing 25A - you have removed 100 ampere hours (4hr x 25A = 100AH).
Now you have to refuel it/recharge the battery. If you have 5A charger it will take 20-24 hrs to get the bulk charge back into the battery, because there are also charging losses/heat in the battery while recharging it. If you have a 10A charger its going to take ~10-12 hrs to deliver the bulk charge (~95%). A 15A charger will get you there in ~7-8hrs. It actually takes much longer to get to 100%. If you're fishing back to back days- You should consider a 15A charger.
Have fun!
Al |