So With m y new boat I had them install a 24v TM however I am unsure if I have to do anything special to charge the two batts? I have not installed an on board charger yet but will in the next couple weeks.

I know the bats are tied together somehow but how do I go about charging them?

Thanks for your help!

If you are using a manual charger, just charge them one at a time. Be sure to get a good quality 2 bank on-board.

So even thought they are all wired up together I can just charge them as they are one at a time or do I need to disconect everything?

If you are using a portable charger disconect the jumper wire between the two batteries. If the wire is not disconected it could burn up the charger. Once you get an onboard charger you should not have to worry about disconecting your jumper.

no need to disconnect anything, just hook up your bench charger first to one battery and when it's done, hook up the other.

Can you please explain why you would disconnect the jumper? I have charged batteries for years and have never had a single issue.
I agree with jtexas, no need to disconnect anything.

I started disconnecting the jumper wire after burning up a charger trying to charge my trolling batteries. It takes less time to unhook the jumper from the battery than it does to hook the charger up to the battery. Just trying to stay on the safe side.

Triumph, are you sure that the jumper caused your charger to burn up or could it have been something else? I am not the most mechanically inclined person out there but I just can't see how a jumper could burn up a charger.
Please let us know so that we do not have any problems in the future.

Thanks to all for your help on this.

By disconnecting the jumper you isolate all the amperage the charger is putting out to one battery. If you leave the jumper along with the black and red wire hooked up while charging one battery at a time you will get some amps that leaks over to the other battery. This will make your charger work twice as hard. In time it will burn it up, however if you have a 2 bank or more onboard charger you don't have to worry about unhooking any wires because it charges the batteries at the same time rather than one at a time.

My TM batteries charge thru the same plugin connection that my TM connects to on the front of my boat. My TM is 12/24v but the switch on the TM is where it changes from 12 to 24 volt so i got a connector like the one on my TM and put it on my battery charger with pig tails and alligator clips so I can charge my starting battery.

Oh you will not burn your charger up by leaving them both hooked up. If you are using a single bank(garage) charger on each battery one at a time you will not have a problem. You can take two seperate chargers from your garage and hook one to each battery you can charge them both at the same time and leave the jumper between them and still have no problem.

You can do that on boats that have four wires that go from the batteries to the trolling motor pluf and have been able to do that for alot of years. We started Stayncharge almost ten years ago charging 24 volt trolling motors from your truck right though your plug on the front of the boat. I built the first Stayncharge Original because I was at a FLW tourney(Walleye) after I say all these old guys sitting at the dock with a charger out of there garage hooked into there bow trolling motor plug and a red charging plug. That was some funny stuff back then because I would ask these guys what they were doing and everyone of them told me stories on how they have been doing that for hundreds of years.hahahah.

electrically speaking, as long as the T/M is switched off, the connection between the batteries along the jumper wire is not a "circuit", and therefore no amps can flow. It's a physical impossibility.

When I hook my jumper up after charging my batteries I see small sparks as I touch the wire to the battery post. This tells me that amps can and do flow through the jumper and it does complete the circuit between batteries and trolling motor. My trolling motor was switched off.

Can't dispute your evidence - you definately have a closed circuit there, which means you have a parasitic drain on your trolling motor batteries.

A switch, when you switch it off, is supposed to put an air gap in between the contacts that opens the circuit and stops current from flowing.

Highly recommend you inspect your plug/socket for dirt/corrosion. Dirt retains moisture, which can be conductive.

Also inspect the cabling for signs of chafed insulation.

And maybe test the T/M switch for continuity in the "off" position.

It's possible that there is something wrong with my trolling motor switch. It has taken a little bit of a beating in the rough water.

aint no dumb battery question if you ask me..i am a battery idiot!