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| I have to put an onboard charger on the boat I just bought. Just graduating from school in about a week.... with that in mind I want to get a charger that I'm going to be happy with without spending a huge amount of money. My trolling motor is a Powerdrive v2 70 lb. I'm looking at either the Minn Kota Digital Linear or one of the Cabelas ones. Any preference? Also how many amps out of each bank is a good number to have? Like I said, I want to get a charger that I'm happy with but without spending a ton of cash |
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| Minn Kota Digital Linear 330D - 3 banks, 10 amps each. Had the 220D (2 banks, 10 amps each) and returned it for the 330. Both are fast, but it's nice having the cranking battery charged at the same time. There were rebates on them recently. I'm not sure if they still are. |
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Posts: 582
| Look at Dual Pro, or Guest. IMO they are better, smaller and don't weigh as much as the Minn Kota chargers. When i was in the market, i looked at the MK charger and it was the size of a 12" brick. It took up my whole storage compartment. I went with a Guest charger at about 1/3 the size and the same price. |
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| Yes, the Minn Kota chargers are big and heavy. No doubt about that. It takes up the whole storage compartment and then some. |
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Posts: 373
Location: Maine Township, MN | I have the 220D and am pleased with the 10 amp performance. Yes, they are heavy and bulky, but they don't get hot and I haven't heard anyone compaining about any problems like I've heard about the Cabelas and other ones... |
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| I bought a Bass Pro 3 bank last year for I think 150-160. It has worked well since I go it. It is pretty big but I mounted it on the wall in my compartment. It doesnt take up as much space as my 3 trolling motor batteries do. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | I've used the minn Kota 2 bank 10 amp for lots of years. Had one go bad after about five or six years, replaced that one, sold that boat in 2008 and the replacement is still going strong. I had them especially put in the same unit in my "new" boat in 2008, no problems.
One thing to think about is the Minn Kota motors have or did have something in the instructions where you need to disconnect the motor while charging to protect it, unless you have a charger that limits the voltage to an acceptable level, something the Minn Kota chargers do, and probably some of the other "smart" chargers also, I have no handle on what the specs are for charging voltages. |
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Posts: 73
| I was the one that posted above from my phone.... what about the amount of amps coming from each bank? If i understand it, the more amps the faster it will charge? Is there anything negative about having higer amps...... besides that the cost obviously goes up? |
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| Always unplug motor when charging. We had a lightning strike overnight near or camp and we had two trolling motors fry and three chargers fry. Two of three boats had their trolling motors still plugged in. With the motor unplugged it saved it and we could still use it on the trip. My guess is that none of the electronics were affected since our boats have a master power switch. Cabelas chargers are decent buy. |
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Posts: 1270
| I know money might be tight but this is not something that you want to save a couple bucks on IMHO. Get a good one and it will last you a long time. I would also suggest getting a three bank charger as I assume your trolling motor is a 24 volt system. Then when you plug it in you are charging all your batteries and not just your trolling motor batteries.
I have a Minn Kota 3 bank and have it kind of hid up under console so it's out of the way. With all the batteries on the charger I no longer have to take my batteries out in winter either which is a very nice feature to have. |
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Posts: 5874
| The new Minn Kota chargers are smaller than they used to be. The MK330D is 16 X 7 X 4, which isn't too bad. Not like the block they used to be. Great charger with great features.
Guest 2623A is the perfect 3 bank charger if you have a 24V TM and a cranking battery. It's a 10/10/5 Amp charger. The 5A section is just right for your cranking battery. Had this on a previous boat for 4 years, and the cranking battery was always fully charged overnight.
For the guys with 36V systems, I'd recommend the MK330D, and a separate MK106D for the cranking battery. Or a Guest 2631A and a separate 2608A for the cranking battery. Both the single chargers are 6A.
Deep Cycle batteries should not be charged at a rate much higher than 10A. Cetainly not 20A. Anything higher will build up heat at the posts, and heat is not good for batteries. Deep Cycles are built for slow discharge rate, and slow charge rate. 10A has never been an issue for me.
Edited by Shep 5/15/2012 8:10 AM
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