Battery Care / Charger options

[FoggyNogginz]

I have the 2bank 10A NOCO, but I only use it in winter. Need to permanently mount it "somewhere" this spring. It drives me nuts to drill holes into a boat, but I need to get over it.

[waterlogged882]

I have the 2bank 10A NOCO, but I only use it in winter. Need to permanently mount it "somewhere" this spring. It drives me nuts to drill holes into a boat, but I need to get over it.

I don't know your setting for the boat, but I place all of my NOCOs on an adjacent shelf (or similar) and leave them there, plugging into a pigtail coming off the battery posts. Maybe I am missing something but I don't keep any of the charging units onboard. However I garage my boats and have power right there. Using the charger, it is easier than connecting a trailer light connector.

.

[Prostar 190]

I also use the NOCO stuff.

[RxMC]

Never heard of NOCO. Sounds like they're awesome.

[lakedrum03]

Never heard of NOCO. Sounds like they're awesome.

Headquartered in Ohio, so anything they make has to be good.

[tenmile]

I have a 2 bank NOCO on board, and realized the other day that I wonder if that’s counter intuitive with the automatic VSR that’s part of the factory electrical system. If the primary battery gets over 12v (ie engine running), it automatically connects and charges the second battery. So wouldn’t it be just as effective to hook up a single bank charger to the main battery and allow it to tend both batteries? If the voltage drops below whatever the maintenance charge is, it’ll pick up the voltage which would then open up the VSR and charge the 2nd one too…

I’m probably over thinking this, but curious if anyone else has just run a single bank charger because of this.

[MLA]

I have a 2 bank NOCO on board, and realized the other day that I wonder if that’s counter intuitive with the automatic VSR that’s part of the factory electrical system. If the primary battery gets over 12v (ie engine running), it automatically connects and charges the second battery. So wouldn’t it be just as effective to hook up a single bank charger to the main battery and allow it to tend both batteries? If the voltage drops below whatever the maintenance charge is, it’ll pick up the voltage which would then open up the VSR and charge the 2nd one too…

I’m probably over thinking this, but curious if anyone else has just run a single bank charger because of this.

In an ideal world, the VSR is wired so its isolated from the charger. This way, the dual bank charger can treat the main cranking battery and house battery differently, as they should be. One way to tell, when the charger is plugged in, are any of the VSR status lights on?

[tenmile]

In an ideal world, the VSR is wired so its isolated from the charger. This way, the dual bank charger can treat the main cranking battery and house battery differently, as they should be. One way to tell, when the charger is plugged in, are any of the VSR status lights on?

It’s the factory dual battery switch/VSR setup. When the charger is plugged in, the VSR light showing it’s passing current through is in which is what sparked my curiosity about using a single bank charger vs two…

[MLA]

It’s the factory dual battery switch/VSR setup. When the charger is plugged in, the VSR light showing it’s passing current through is in which is what sparked my curiosity about using a single bank charger vs two…

Then the factory wired it in a less then ideal configuration, with the VSR on the battery side of the switch.

[T-Rex]

Of all the factory options...aftermarket retro, the battery charger is the cheapest and easiest. Buy a ProMariner charger and a plug kit if you want, and with 10 minutes of work you are in business.