Battery Management

LDB270

LDB270

Member
Jun 4, 2017
40
Richmond Va
Boat Info
'99 Sea Ray 270DA Sundancer
Engines
Twin 4.3 Mercs Alpha I
Im worried I've been doing harm to my batteries keeping them on the charger all the time so I'm trying to figure out the best way to manage them. I've got 3 batteries and I'm planning on dedicating a battery for each engine as a starting battery and the 3rd as the house battery. I'd isolate the starting batteries and only keep the house battery on the charger to run the pumps if need be. I used to leave my 22' Donzi on the side of the house with with no draw and they were good to go every time. I'd just bring em inside during the winter and put them on a maintainer. Sound like a good plan? Thanks
 
If your charger is working properly, and you keep the water levels up (assuming wet cells), there should be no problem leaving the charger on.

I leave my charger running continuously during the ~7 months mine is stored for winter.
 
Ditto. Other than winter storage, charger on and connected 100% of the time.

But if you are having issues, you may need a new charger. I had to replace mine as it started cooking my starboard bank. The modern era chargers are fantastic, they have automatic modes (charge, conditioning, etc) and actually prolong the battery life.
 
I leave my boat plugged in all year long.

Question: Even with battery selector switches in the off position .... does the built in battery charger/maintainer still do it's job?
 
If you have a multi-stage smart charger, then yes, you can leave it plugged in when boat is not in use.

In an ideal world, I would prefer the charger's leads be connected directly to the battery, so the switch(s) can be off when the boat is not in use.
 
I guess I was worried because my charger is a bit older. It's a Promariner Flyback 20-3. The build sheet says it was from the factory but someone has written "installed 2/2005" on the owners manual. I was afraid it was a bit antiquated and doing more harm then good. However, when I was at the boat the other day the charger was in float mode and the water levels on the batteries looked great. I'm gonna plan on just leaving them on the charger and keeping a regular watch on the water levels.
 
I leave mine on continuously as well but shut it off occasionally for a few days then check the resting voltage to see if they are staying up. I run with AGMS so water levels are not an issue. I just have to remember to shut off the cockpit fridge or the whole exercise is a bust!
 
I also have the Promariner Flyback 20-3. Have chargers developed enough the last 10-15 years that these should be replaced regardless of any detected fault?
 
My original 31 year old charger is still doing a great job keeping my batteries charged. Leave it on 24/7 all summer and check the water levels 3-4 times a year. I had a smart charger in my last boat fry a set of batteries so I'm not convinced that new and smart is not always better.
 
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