Battery charging query

Pilot

Pilot

Active Member
May 7, 2009
296
Chesapeake Bay
Boat Info
2009 370 Searay DA
V Drives
Engines
Twin 8.1's
I've been told its better to not keep your charger turned on when not using your boat and it sits in your slip. A mechanic told me for our size boat (370 DA) that our battery bank would more than keep a charge and to only turn on the charger when you think the batteries are getting somewhat depleted from not starting the engines, running DC, etc,.

What was happening was I was keeping the charger on whenever we were in the slip and I believe I was frying the batteries. The water level in each was down a few quarts over the course of 2-3 months.

Just curious as to what others are doing.

Thanks

Pilot
 
I leave mine on 100% of the time. As long as the batteries are good and the charger is not malfunctioning it should charge them and shut off, it should not be frying your batteries. If you're boiling the water out at quarts over a couple of months something is wrong. I check my levels monthly and I only start to see excessive water being lost when one of the batteries begins to get weak/fail and this is usually due to age (40+ months). This is just my experience in my configuration with my equipment.
 
Yup - they shouldn't be losing that much water. The best thing you can do for battery life longevity is to always keep them on a charge.
 
This all depends on what type charger you have. If you have, as I have had, an older type "dumb" charger, you shouldn't just leave it on because it doesn't really gauge too well what is too much charge given your batteries' condition. But most people now have "smart" chargers which really do a great job of reducing the charge whenever needed, going automatically all the way down to zero charge, all the time having been left "on".
My ProMariner can be left on all the time, just gives a trickle if needed, and batteries are supposed to last longer that way.
 
All chargers are not created equal. Few OE built in chargers are suitable for continus charge. Yours doesn't sound as it should be left on since you are losing water. Instead of spending high dollars to replace chargers on my boat and rv with "smart chargers"I turn battery switch off then connect a Deltran Battery Tender to the batteries. Make certain bilge pump is wired to have power regardless of battery switch position. I credit the fact my batteries last much longer than expected to the Battery Tenders.
 
No question about it that all chargers aren't equal. But Sea Ray does use a quality smart charger and, unless there's something wrong with it (which is certainly possible), it can be left on indefinitely with no problems whatsoever. Mine is still the original from '99 and the charger is on 95% of the time year round. I think you'll find that leaving it on is more the norm, than the exception.
 
If your boat develops a leak while you are away, the charger will allow the batteries to supply constant power to bilge pumps.
 
Charger kept on 24/7 at the dock for me. How else do you keep the fridge and beer cold?? Or at least the condiments? I routinely check my charger to make sure the lights indicate its doing what it should be. Basically a trickle charge when fully charged up. I look at the level of my batters once a month.
 
I may be wrong here (and if so, someone please correct me), however I thought the bilge pumps only run off the battery. That would mean that if there were a problem with water intrusion that perhaps the bilges could address, they would only do so until the batteries run down. That's why I always leave my chargers on.

Paul
 
Mine is always on throughout the season. If you ever forget to turn off a light or the stereo you could kill the battery, but worse is what has already been mentioned - your bilge pumps fail while something lets go allowing sea water in and sinking your nice boat!!
 
Jackie J V said:
I may be wrong here (and if so, someone please correct me), however I thought the bilge pumps only run off the battery. That would mean that if there were a problem with water intrusion that perhaps the bilges could address, they would only do so until the batteries run down. That's why I always leave my chargers on.

Paul
Click to expand...

I think there is an echo in here.
 
I didn't see this post when I posted my own thread asking the same question. How do you know if your charger is a "smart" one, without doing a google search on its model? :)

I leave my boat plugged in, but didn't turn on the AC converter until last night. :) That's what I should do too right?

(And thanks for the "thread ride", if you don't mind thread hijacker, hehehe).
 
If it's the original from Sea Ray, it's a smart charger. You can google the brand/model to be sure or check your manual to see what would have come with it (There should even be a separate manual for it). There's been a few models used over the years, but you could post the brand/model here and one of might know... if you don't want to do the legwork yourself, that is! :smt001

No, always leave the AC Converter set to ON. Unless you have a separate switch labelled "Charger" (which I don't think your boat has?), the AC Converter switch activates your charger.
 
Last edited:
Hai Nhi said:
I didn't see this post when I posted my own thread asking the same question. How do you know if your charger is a "smart" one, without doing a google search on its model? :)

I leave my boat plugged in, but didn't turn on the AC converter until last night. :) That's what I should do too right?

(And thanks for the "thread ride", if you don't mind thread hijacker, hehehe).
Click to expand...

Yes, that is what you should do. If you look at your charger, it should have instructions right on it that tell you what the blinking colored lights mean. That will give you a pretty clear indication on whether you have a smart charger or not. I'm sure you do though. When mine gives a single green flash every 5 seconds, that means its fully charged and in trickle mode...

Tom
 
FYI, I was just looking through an old manual for something else and, by chance, happened to see a note in the electrical section that said "Leave the converter running at all times to maintain the 12v system voltage". I suspect your manual may say something similar.
 
Your 2009 Searay "should" have the smart type. The one I had was not a smartie, I spoke with the guys who made it (if I remember it was Raritan) They said "They made these so well that they're still working, but the technology is too old" Mine was original from 1982! Big old steel box with old school lights and knobs. Just got a new one last year after it finally started acting weird. I couldn't leave that one on all the time, but my new one I can and do.
 
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